Why I Draw with Ink
The ink stains on my fingers from my constant drawing prompted my mother for a while to give me the nickname "Inky." Here are some early ink drawings by me. This drawing of a bird looks very early (the early bird?) and looks like it was done with a felt-tip pen.
This is obviously a later drawing. It looks like it was done with a ballpoint pen, and seems like a combination of the Jetsons intro and the 1972 Fisher-Price Airport Playset. I like that I included a Go-Go bar!
Years later, in middle school, I bought India ink and pens with nibs at the local art-supply store. I liked Robert Crumb's cartoons, which I had mostly seen in reference books about the history of comics. Here's one of my drawings from that time--it's of SNL's "Coneheads."
This was around the time I first found out about another favorite artist who works in ink, B. Kliban. I loved his book "Never Eat Anything Bigger Than Your Head & Other Drawings." Nowadays, I especially love his cat drawings. Here's one of my many favorites:
Speaking of fountain pens, I've been drawing with them lately, and really enjoying it. This is a recent drawing I did with a fountain pen:
The question remains, What do I like about ink? I like ink because it's never hesitant, it's never indecisive. There's no eraser (not really) or Backspace. It can be painted over or scraped off, but in general it's there to stay. To most people, ink is connected to the quality of being indelible. I also like that ink is bold and definite. You generally don't have to strain your eyes to see it or understand what it means. I'm currently reading and working with Arthur L. Guptill's book "Rendering in Pen and Ink," hoping to sharpen my skills. In future posts on this blog, I will post the inky exercises I've been trying out, as well as some explorations of the artists I love who create their unforgettable works with ink!