Happy February! The groundhog says we are to expect an early spring!! XO
Although it is the shortest month of the year, there is still plenty going on. This month we are a set of Faber-Castell PITT artist pens in SIX Shades of GREY. These are terrific for cartoons, manga, architectural design and any kind of sketching you can think of!
Grey is interesting, and most think of grey as one color. But all my art friends will know that grey can be cool, warm, or even neutral. The PITT Faber-Castell pens are permanent and water resistant.
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I love black and white and grey--and I hope you do too. Good luck! Enter below. xo
The internet has made what Disney called a small world even smaller. We get information in the blink of an eye, and we are exposed to far more than any other time in history. We can get news from the other side of the globe faster than if your neighbor ran over from next door. What was once underground and very hard to see can now be considered mainstream.
The web has leveled the art playing field somewhat--what was once relegated to a very select group can now be viewed by millions with the right amount of retweets or shares. We see hundreds if not thousands of images a day as visual artists. We are lucky enough to look at the work of our peers, and in a matter of seconds we can find millions of images to help as reference points for our work. Looking at other beautiful artwork can certainly elevate our practice, but I feel it can't help but influence our style, too. When we see a color combination we love we get excited and want to try and incorporate it into our work too. A new medium can have us running to the store so we can try it at home. It is hard enough to develop a style that is recognizable yet unique, and now we have to contend with the daily hyper-viewing of images. I am not complaining! I love the web and I love that I can see all the lovely art I could I ever dream of. But I am just a tad more aware of the fact that I need to stay true to me and my style, and not get seduced by something bright and shiny. Every Friday I will be sharing a video that is geared towards helping kids learn to draw. I will be demonstrating in a way I liked to learn as a child--with fun and fancy images that are easily repeated and not too complicated. This week it is the grumpy bunny from the image above.
Please feel free to share this post or video with any artistic little ones you may know.
This is an image from a book I illustrated a few years ago for author David Rowinski called The Open Pillow. Another style for PPF.
So get going! Draw draw draw with abandon--and help your kids do the same. Before you know it you will have your own amazing style.
As an I artist I love trying new pens and markers. I was looking for some brush pens because I was starting to practice script writing. I also read that many were using these brush pens to outline art or create beautiful pictures. I Googled around and found that Jet Pens had a sample set of five brush pens, one each from Kuretake, Pilot, Pentel, Zebra, and Tombow. I've used the Pentel brush pen and have a colored marker set from Tombow, both of which I am very happy with. The other three will be new to me. (Love JetPens.com BTW. Easy ordering and super fast delivery--and no, they do not pay me.) I was looking forward to trying the Kuretake pen because I heard it had a very springy tip and lasted a very long time. I was also excited to try a brush pen with a super fine and hard tip like the Zebra because I'd had no experience with them at that point. Getting the delivery was exciting. All of the pens are made in Japan, and the packaging is different from what we are used to in the USA, and it made it very interesting to open and begin. A big PLUS for me--all of the brush tips are made from felt or synthetic hair so NO animals are hurt in the process. Below are writing samples from each pen.
Below is a video describing from Jet Pens describing each pen and showing it in action.
The Kuretake pen had a nice solid tip. The ink flowed well but not too fast. It allowed for nice control. I like the feel of this pen.
The Pentel pocket pen is the most popular brush pen on the market. It is a refillable pen with a springy tip and a heavy flow. Although I loved writing with it, being a beginner it allowed for the least control of all the pens. That being said, I loved it and feel it will be worth it to continue using it and improving.
The Pilot soft brush pen is very interesting. The ink flowed very dark and nicely, but if too much pressure was applied on the down stroke the entire tip lifted, and the point of the tip would pop off the paper. BUT--that makes for very interesting lettering and the ability to stylize. It was the only pen that squeaked as I wrote.
The Tombow pen was an all-around nice pen. Good control and good ink flow.
My favorite of the pens was the Zebra fine. To me it was the closest to a Crow Quill or calligraphy pen with a nib. It offers great control and the ink is very dense and black. It also makes a slight scratchy noise as you write. I like that.
Here's a short video of me using each pen. I've just started with script writing with a brush pen so my samples are not beautiful like some other videos out there.
I have a feeling that as I improve and get used to using these pens that I may change which is my favorite.
This drawing was done with the Pentel brush pen.
If you would like to enter a giveaway to win the all the pens in a JETPENS sampler set, click HERE. All entries will be entered into Random.com on February 1st and the winner will receive the Brush Pen Sampler that I reviewed above! Winner will be notified by email and announced in a post on this blog. If there is no response from winner within one week, a new winner will be chosen. Brush pens will be sent to winner within thirty days.
So please follow my blog and enter the contest for more art, kid lit, pen addiction posts, and a chance to win!
