# Fountain pen



## Lashdown91 (Jun 9, 2015)

Here are some studies/doodles I've done with a fountain pen. 

Never really used cross hatching properly, but beginning to get used to it!


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## TerryCurley (Jan 4, 2015)

Really great work Lash, but I'm curious why a fountain pen? I would think a fine point gel pen would work fine...but then I don't know.

The picture of the fountain pen took me back to my childhood. The desks that we had in school when I first started school in 1953 had ink wells. The ball point pen was invented sometime in the 50's but I can't tell you when our school switched from ink pens to ball points. I know that still when I was in the upper grades of school we used Fountain pens that had cartridges of ink inside them instead of sucking up the ink from the well.


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## Lashdown91 (Jun 9, 2015)

Thanks Terry!

I've used ball point before, but always preferred biro. 

I found this fountain pen in my dad's desk so decided to give it go! bought some brown ink, although it's pretty much black (and looks it on the photos). Really like how you can change the line thickness, and how fine the line is when you make fast strokes. Really good for sketching, and a lot smoother than biro!


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## Lashdown91 (Jun 9, 2015)

Rollerball pen is probably what i was thinking of, not ballpoint, since biros are ballpoint? I think?


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## Sorin (Jun 15, 2015)

The best pens of that type are kinda hard to find and are small... Tips won't fit in the handle you show. I forget the name. The point is fine & has no ball on it. You can go from nothing to 1/16" in a single stroke, changing by pressure.


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## chanda95 (Apr 6, 2011)

Super nice work. You have a wonderful feel for the medium! I love seeing sketch work like this. I would not call them doodles..they are lovely pieces of art.


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## leighann (May 10, 2015)

You are correct @chanda95 definitely not doodles...at least not the kind I generate!! lol


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## dickhutchings (Oct 6, 2015)

How do you go from dark to light crosshatching? With a pen of all things! Nice work.


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## Bushcraftonfire (Apr 22, 2015)

Some great work.. I saw that type of pen last week in Hobby Lobby.. with different nibs. The reason that you would use these over ball point is the versatility.. Pressure variations, turning the nib, etc. Think calligraphy.. then try doing it with a ball point pen. It's kind of like using different brushes in oil or watercolor. Try doing a painting just with a rigger


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## Sorin (Jun 15, 2015)

Dick, its a matter of several things. Sometimes an outlining line offset by vacant area will suffice. Sometimes an area of lines all parallel will do it. Then you start adding zones of lines which cross each other. Then more lines going different directions. The idea is to lessen the amount of white. You eye "blurs" the lines into areas of varying dark. You can also use areas of dots, called pointilism.


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## Sorin (Jun 15, 2015)

*Sample for Dick*

Look closely at this sample, a drawing I did 30 or 40 years ago. See how the lines blend into zones of pure dark.


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