Brass pen drawings

 Lately I've really been enjoying drawing with Dan Berry's brass dip pen. Here's an Instagram demo. 

Buildings by the Thames, Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black

My favourite thing to use it for is probably architectural illustration. I've finally been out walking again lately and falling in love with London again.

Troublemaker Inks, Abalone (Cebu-made!)

I struggle with it sometimes, but I enjoy how it wants to draw straight lines when using the edge and wonky, expressive lines when using the flat. It feels a little like drawing with a knife, in a fun way.

Troublemaker Abalone

It makes really fun calligraphy too! Look up folded pen calligraphy for the full potential of this kind of pen.

Boku-eki sumi ink with wash

With a little patience and control, it can bring out some nice expressiveness in a comic style, almost like a brush or bent-nib pen. I'm excited to see what else it can do!

not Zentangles, just tangles

I often need to do meditative drawing to let off stress, but I can't do Zentangles at all because it's too abstract for me. What relaxes me is drawing hair.

It started as a metaphor for mermaids without actually drawing a mermaid, inspired by art my mom used to make for me of slender ladies with lots of wild hair. 

Over time I started drawing more and more hair. It's very calming to fill a page with curves and lines, and I enjoyed drawing the figures swimming in their own hair too.

I love slowly filling up the spaces with ink, breathing out along with the long lines. I also like drawing the figures first, their expressions and poses, and working their hair around that. I can choose to show the shape of the body beneath, or not.

The latest one was more personal, battered but triumphant. Drawing these lines was cathartic and purged a lot of the horror and frustration I was feeling over recent weeks.