pumpkin

Three large, quick sketches as I try out new tools:

A newly acquired Duke 551 fude nib fountain pen, which creates some amazingly expressive, broad lines;
Daniel Smith Walnut Ink, which I've had sitting on my shelf for the last 4 or 5 years, finally put to use;
and a cheap 11x17 size sketchbook bought at Homesense, which really lets me be much freer and looser... the broader lines really benefit from this kind of space. Surprisingly, the paper handled the ink washes quite well.

matsutake 松茸

A series of sketches of some of the wild matsutake mushrooms, generously given to us by a friend we visited last week -- a delicacy for us.

I sketched these with some fairly new pens I am still getting acquainted with, and they all have their unique personalities... 

The Pilot Custom 74 I bought in Japan earlier this year has been my reliable workhorse after ditching the Noodler Ahabs I had been using for the past few years. It doesn't give me quite the fine lines that the Ahabs did, but it's been way more dependable and I am really appreciating its fluid line qualities.

The Jinhao X750 has become a go to handwriting utensil -- a much more rigid, broader, and unvaried line which has its own merits, especially when paired with a lighter ink that can show some shade. It doesn't quite fit my drawing style, but as with all drawing instruments, it's the pen that conditions the sketcher, not the other way around, so perhaps worth experimenting with on larger sheets of paper, especially as it seems to write on the wetter side (at least the one I am using).

The Jinhao pen is quite inexpensive; I bought four of them. I've modified one of them to take a Zebra G, which is a typical, flexy dip pen nib. This means some extra thin linework combined with an array of line thicknesses, but it's often not as consistent as one would like, and the scratchiness is not the most pleasant on the upstroke. If the ink flow were more consistent, it might become my go-to pen for certain subject matter. There's something surreal when combined with a red ink.

The novelty item for me here is the Duke 209 fude nib pen. It allows for a brush-like thickness in addition to a more typical fountain pen line thickness, and I am loving the spontaneous effect. I don't think I am anywhere near mastering its possibilities, but find myself using this pen more and more...

1: Pilot Custom 74 Soft-Fine nib fountain pen, Noodlers Polar Black ink 

2: Pilot Custom 74 Soft-Fine nib fountain pen, Noodlers Polar Black ink 

3: Jinhao X750 medium nib fountain pen, Noodlers Polar Brown ink 

4: Duke 209 fude nib fountain pen, Noodlers Polar Black ink 

5: Jinhao X750 fountain pen modified with a Zebra G nib, Noodlers Fox ink 

6: Jinhao X750 fountain pen modified with a Zebra G nib, Noodlers Fox ink