SPQR Blues Chapters I-V

Pens! The current arsenal:

There are a few more I haven’t taken out of their packages yet. I have a pen addiction, I admit it.

Testing out the pens (don’t ask me why I’m drawing feet, because I honestly cannot tell you):

Some more thoughts (if you’re not into rambling about pens, you might want to escape now!):

I switched from using Micron pens to Copics (the three silver pens in the bottom row) because I find their ink blacker, that it holds up well to erasing underlying pencil marks, and their finest-line pen is finer and sturdier than the Micron. The Micron tips fray more easily, and I consider myself to have a gentle touch. I didn’t like the Micron brush pen. I didn’t give it much of a chance, but I wasn’t enjoying working with it.

I should do more erasing tests with all of the new pens. I’ve only really tested the Kuretakes and the Tombow. The Tombow is pretty much a hard, stiff tip, but I like it for precise work. Except that it needs to air out each time I uncap it, or it’s wet and sloppy. (I don’t know if that’s from taking it to high elevation—the plane trip did a serious number on the blue-black Tegami.)

The Kuretake No. 7 feels great—smooth and springy and alive—but I’m not entirely happy with the resulting line. The Kuretake Fragrant Ink and Clean Color are synthetic-hair brushes and very loose, a bit dry, not suited for my sort of drawing. The Pentel Pocket Brush calligraphy pen also has synthetic bristles but gives a little more control.

I could see drawing a whole comic with the Kuretake Bimojis, especially the fine tip, if I drew at a larger size. It’s smooth, stays just wet enough, and I can give the line a lot of personality. I tried it on a couple of SPQR Blues, but it doesn’t fit in with what I’ve been doing so far, so it’s waiting for the next project.

I’ve been calling the Uniball and Pilot Brush Sign Pens my “wet” pens. They’re very slick and put down a lot of rich ink with a very variable line. The ink with the Uniball is a bit shiny, the ink with the Pilot is very black and matte. I like the feel of them, but they aren’t good for my drawing style. I’d like to do more sketches with them, though.

My Faber-Castell Pitt pen dried out before I ever got around to using it, so I’ll have to get a new one and draw some feet 🙂