Tuesday 10 June 2008

Giant squid - Let's talk pens



A little sneak peek of the giant squid as the one in my sketchbook posted earlier. It's not finished yet, but it's getting there.

I'm using my new Farber-Castell PITT pens, highly popular amoungst illustrators worldwide. The brush pen is nice and smooth, but a little soft for me and the ink is not as dense as I would like it. I'm not easily pleased when it comes to pens. Staedler Lumocolors are pretty dense, but bleed too much. Same for Zig Brush Pens. I've tried dipping, but I hate the fact I can't control the ink flow. Besides, metal nibs are too rigid for my hand, they make me draw too slowly. Bamboo pens are much smoother, you can carve them any way you like, but they don't hold much ink. You'll be dipping till you drop. Fountain Pens are great, I prefer Pelikans, but the ink is crappy. If only the people at Pentel would come up with a lightfast, waterproof version of the Tradio- a pen with the perfect tip as far as I'm concerned- I would be one happy camper.