Sketching with a copperplate pen

I wondered what sketching with a copperplate fountain pen might be like, as theoretically, it should be able to do variable lines, depending on the pressure. I like the Noodlers Flex pen, but for sketching would prefer a finer nib.

A woodcarver from The Book of Forgotten Crafts. This is a great book for practising sketching people from different angles, as it has some terrific photos in it, and was a fascinating read too. 

 Above: A potter from the same book, looking down at his work.

This was also done with the copperplate pen, and is based on a sketch by R Campbell-Smith in the book Drawing for Pleasure by V Douet. I really like his style of drawing and how he does his lines, almost reminiscent of a woodcut sometimes.

Anyway, I liked the scratchy look of the Copperplate, which was almost as if I were drawing with a dip pen, but being a fountain pen, is much more portable and practical for sketching on location. However, the ink flow in a Copperplate pen is not so good for times when you want to sketch fast. The Noodlers flex pen coped better with that. I probably need to find an Osmiroid fine rollatip nib.

A gratuitous photo of some pelicans at Toukley, Central Coast, NSW, Australia

Sketchcrawl at Kelburn

It was an overcast mid-winter day for the Wellington Sketchers meetup for the 40th Worldwide Sketchcrawl. You can't quite see it from this photo, but the peaks of the Tararua mountain range to the left were covered in snow. Wellington Harbour is always so beautiful.

We started out at the lookout near the top of the cable car station, which unfortunately was totally covered in scaffolding and almost completely demolished! That was unexpected! Anyway, we sketched around Kelburn Lookout and I drew the view looking away from the lookout, towards the gardens. I loved how Narnia-like the paths leading off to the Botanic Gardens looked. There is something kind of mysterious for me about how these paths wind off into the forest.

This was done with Noodlers black ink and my Shaeffer medium nib fountain pen. I love how smooth the fountain pens glide across the paper.

Then we went onto the Carter Observatory and drew outside. There wasn't so many people about today, and particularly around this area. The Carter Observatory still had lots of Matariki posters out the front. Matariki is the start of the Maori New Year (for many iwi), and it falls in mid-winter when the Pleiades star cluster (Matariki) are first seen in the morning sky, usually around June.

I haven't drawn buildings so very much, so I just focused on sketching rather than trying convey any sort of mood (other than the quiet early-morning serenity of the area). This was done with grey super-fine felt tip pen. I have almost never sketched with it and thought I would give it a try. I was pretty happy with how it worked.

Then the sketching group went off and had a lovely lunch, which I always enjoy, and looked through everyone's sketchbooks. I really enjoyed it.