Delicacy and strength

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

■ How to handle a traditional pen holder and nib

■ Develop your drawing skills

■ Hint at your subject rather than draw every line

There is nothing like drawing with black ink to encourage directness and boldness. A black line is so uncompromising that it forces us to make firm drawing decisions and, when accompanied with the purity of transparent watercolour, we achieve the beautiful hybrid medium of pen and wash, long favoured by book illustrators and cartoonists for its great clarity of expression. Not any black line pen will do though, as the lines must be waterproof if they are not to run when watercolour is painted over them so, traditionally, we use a dip pen and Indian ink, which contains shellac fixative.

A few years ago, I was given a box of vintage drawing) is selling a Gillott’s pen and nib set for £12.49 (the price at going to press). It looks like Gillott’s still makes many different nibs for various uses, from the broad italic ones for calligraphy down to fine map nibs, which are good for close drawing work, but these days I tend to prefer the medium-sized nibs, which were once widely used for writing.