March 10, 2010

the Zebra G pen and How to Pen & Ink

I tried out the Nikko G pen nib awhile ago, but found it to be a little too stiff and broad for my tastes. People commented there and on my previous nibs post that the best G pen nib was the Zebra G pen. Thanks to Joshua Dodge mentioning that Zebra G nibs were often sold under the title IC Comic, I was able to order some through Akadot Retail.

The Zebra G is much nicer than the Nikko G. For one, it produces a much finer line. It is also capable of producing bigger swells. So it has a greater range overall. This coupled with the fact that it’s a very strong nib makes me see why it’s the nib of choice for many manga artists (the fact that they can buy it locally in Japan helps, too). The solidness of the nib, besides meaning it holds up for longer, means it’s a bit stiff. That stiffness means though that you can produce very consistent lines. Some artists love that level of control. So this nib is the opposite of the Hunt 100, which is incredibly responsive, giving the lines character while sacrificing consistency.

While the Zebra G nib is really nice and I want to spend more time playing around with it, I still prefer the Brause 511. This is all a matter of personal taste of course, but when I switch back from the Zebra G to the Brause 511 I immediately notice how much smoother the 511 is to draw with. It glides along the paper with hardly a sound. I just love the feel of that.

In my order of the Zebra G nibs, I also got How to Pen & Ink: the Manga Start-Up Guide. Now, I usually avoid manga how-to books. They tend to be about aping a drawing style that I have no interest in. How to Pen & Ink is different; while it does push for a “professional” manga style, the book is about technique, how to handle a pen. However, the book is strangely laid out. The design of it is too busy for my tastes. But once you get past that, it has a lot of good and very practical advice.

For instance, the second part of the book, entitled “Step 1: I Want to Draw Manga!”, emphasizes keeping a sketch book and thinking with drawings. The fact that this whole chapter is drawn in a simple line style makes the creation of comics seem less intimidating. The third section, or “Step 2″, is one of the most useful parts of the book and is what sets it apart from most pen and ink books. This section is organized around questions and answers and the questions are ones that many of us have had, especially when we were first starting out, like “what ink should I use?” and “how do I vary the faces of my characters?” This section even discusses burning nibs, which I brought up in an earlier post (the book says it’s a matter of preference).

The fourth part of the book, or “Step 3,” is the section about how to handle a pen. There is a lot of practical advice here and it’s broken down into a four week course, so the reader can try out one thing a day. While the advice in this section is nothing new–one can get similar instruction from older books, such as Guptill’s Rendering in Pen and Ink–the writing style and pictures are probably more accessible to aspiring artists, especially fans of manga.

So this is a great book. Keep in mind, that these tips and lessons are not set in stone. A pen and ink artist does not have to cross hatch like a machine, as this book implies. A true artist should take the tips here as suggestions and things to try out. While more practical than How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way, this book teaches a certain style like that book does. So keep in mind that it doesn’t teach the way to do things, but a way to do things. If you want a book that’s more about how to be creative with pen and ink, I strongly suggest The Pen & Ink Book by Jos. A. Smith.

And I just wanted to mention quickly that the first section of How To Pen & Ink showcases three manga artists. You get to see pictures of these artists drawing- though just their hands. What struck me is how they all hold their pens really low. One of them, Nightow Yasuhiro, even seems to have one of his fingers on the nib while he draws. Doesn’t his hand cramp up?

Vom Marlowe reviews the book here with some sample pages.

February 6, 2010

favorite nibs

My first post about nibs keeps attracting comments, so I thought I’d post about my four favorite nibs at the present time: the Hunt 100, the Gillott 303, the Brause 66ef, and the Brause 511. What I am always curious to see when I do internet searches about nibs is how they draw, what kind of lines they make. So I thought I’d focus on that. I’ve shown a bit of this in a previous post, but I haven’t done it for the Brause 511 even though I’ve mentioned it before.

Hunt 100

The Hunt 100 used to be my favorite nib. It’s called the “artist nib” and it’s incredibly smooth and flexible. The flexibility has a drawback; the nib doesn’t last too long.

It’s also not a very good nib for hatching. If you look at the example to above, you can see that I had trouble keeping the hatch lines at a similar width. This may be a personal failing, but I don’t have as much trouble with this when I use other nibs. So I think the Hunt 100 is best for contour drawing and not for consistent tonal work. I’d suggest using it when you want a really expressive line in a straight contour drawing.

Gillott 303

The Gillott 303 is a great sketching nib. It’s very strong and yet also offers a lot of variability. Though it may not look like it has the finest point, I’ve found that it produces a finer line that smaller Gillott nibs, such as the 1950. And it’s not as scratchy as the Gillott 170.

As you can see, it’s not as fine as the Hunt 100, but the nib is a workhorse. And, as you can also see, it is capable of offering a nice range of line variability. There is a tendency for the 303 to lose the ink flow when it’s pressed too hard. This problem can be reduced by properly treating the nib, say soaking it in vinegar, and by making sure you dip it deep enough into your ink well.

Brause 66ef

I’ve been using this nib for Carnivale. This is a really nice nib. It’s probably one of the easiest to use finer point nibs I’ve ever seen. And doesn’t it look cool? It has a very springy feel, but it delivers a very stable line. One nice thing I’ve noticed about all the Brause nibs is that the ink flow is very consistent, no matter how hard you press the nibs (as opposed to what I said about the Gillott 303 above). Some sites about nibs refer to this as “consistent ink capacity.”

As you can see, the Brause 66ef offers very flowing lines. Also, the swell of the line is very consistent. What I mean by this is that as you change the pressure on the nib, the resulting line varies at an even rate. Compare the last line in the example above with the similar line in the Hunt 100 example. As you can see with the Hunt 100, as you release the pressure there is a sharp reduction in line width. The resulting line looks like a sharp slope. Conversely, the Brause 66ef widens and thins at a consistent rate. So if you want control, this nib offers much more of it than the previous nibs.

Brause 511

This is my new favorite nib. All the recent sketches posted here were done with this nib. It’s finer than the 66ef, but it’s not scratchy, which the Brause 513 is.

When I first used this nib, I thought it was too stiff. Yet that was before I understood that with a bit of pressure, the nib actually offered a lot of variability. So it’s not as immediately responsive as the Hunt 100, but it’s a more solid nib and it lasts longer. It also offers much more line consistency. Compare the hatch marks here with the ones done with the Hunt 100. The other advantage to this nib is that it works well on different surfaces. Recently, I’ve been using it over gouache, which is not possible with the Hunt 100.

February 21, 2009

of inkwells, pen holders, and nibs

My little journey through the world of nibs and the tools that relate to them has come to an end (for the time being anyway). So one last post to show you what I’ve discovered. First I wrote about the nibs I usually use. Then I tried out the Esterbrook 356. Then I got the Brause 76 Rose nib and the Rubinato Silver. After getting the Rose, I saw that Brause also had smaller nibs (the Rose was bigger than what I like to draw with), so I ordered some.

But I also finally broke down and ordered from Pendemonium. I have been looking at this site for over a year at least. It has antique inkwells and pen holders. They used to have this huge glass inkwell that was mounted on a wrought iron stand that was shaped like a dragon. They still have these dual inkwells that are shaped like snail shells:

 

I went for something more modest, but very cool and very much in my style.

It’s an antique inkwell made from rosewood. The top screws off to reveal a glass inkwell, like the size of an eyedropper, mounted inside:

The whole thing is only two inches tall, but it fits nicely into my hand. That means I can hold it while I’m inking. Since it’s wood, it warms nicely in my palm. I can’t tell you how nice it is to draw with.

I also got some antique penholders.

The one on the bottom is really cool. You can barely make out the word “Czechoslovakia” embossed on the side. So I guess it was made in a country that no longer exists. But what’s really neat is the locking mechanism. There’s a lever on the underside that pulls out to release the nib (here a Rubinato Silver).

The nib slides into the collar, the lever gets pushed back until it lies flush with the body of the pen, and the nib is held tightly in place. The lever is attached to a metal bar in the body of the pen that presses the nib against the wood. This holder only works for larger nibs.

I also got an old Eagle pen holder (the first one in the picture above). The Eagle 1040 has a collar like one in a nib I inherited from my father (I call it the red pen holder). Basically, the nib rests between two curved pieces of metal. It’s a very snug design, and much better than the four metal tines that most contemporary pen holders use. Those tines bend quickly and soon don’t hold your nib very well. So I had been looking for a pen holder with the same mechanism as my red pen holder, especially since my red pen holder has seen better days.

Not only is the Eagle 1040 I got in better condition, the pieces of metal in the collar are longer and hold the nib better.

Nibs!
Okay. I also ordered a few nibs from Paper & Ink Arts. I received the Nikko G Pen (which many people swear by), the Brause 511, and the Brause 513.

Here’s a comparison. On the top left are a Brause 66ef and a Hunt 100. To the right of them is the Nikko G pen. Below the Hunt 100 are the Brause 511 and 513. I put a Gillott 303 and a Gillott 170 to the right of the Brause 513 to show the color similarity.

Nikko G Pen
This is a nice nib, but it’s wider and less flexible than what I prefer. It feels a lot like older nibs, like those made by Esterbrook. That’s a compliment, since those nibs are well-made and smooth. Still, I prefer a thinner and more variable line.


Brause 511 and 513
The Brause 513 is a very fine nib, and a bit scratchy. It doesn’t have as much variability as the 511. But if you’re looking for a very fine hairline, this is the nib. Though apparently Brause makes and even smaller nib, the 515. The 513 feels a lot like the Gillott nibs, especially the 303 and the 170. Maybe it’s because they are made from a similar metal.

The 511 is a really nice nib. It is strong and solid, capable of fine lines, and a good amount of variability. It has a hard feel to it, but with a bit of pressure you can get a fairly wide line for such a small nib. The firmness of the nib attests to its longevity. The 511 feels a lot like the Rose nib (the 76), but the line is much finer. The 511 seems like a very reliable nib. I need to use it some more, but I think it’ll be one of my favorites.

Hunt 100
So this brings me back to the Hunt 100. This has been my favorite nib for awhile, but it’s been a great source of frustration in my life. The nib is extremely responsive and flexible. Just the lightest pressure makes the line swell. This incredible, brush-like responsiveness makes for a smooth and expressive drawing experience, but it also has some major downsides. One, it’s difficult to get a consistent line width. Since a very small amount of pressure affects the line width, it’s hard to keep each line consistent. The second, and more major, problem, is that in order to be so responsive, the tines of the nib are very flexible, which means they get bent easily. It doesn’t take long before the tines get misaligned and the ink starts having trouble flowing freely (see picture of the red pen holder above, a Hunt 100 is mounted in it and you can see that the tines are already separating). It’s these two problems that have sent me on my little nib adventure which I’ve been chronicling here.

Conclusion
There’s no nib like the Hunt 100 for smoothness and responsiveness. Yet, the Brause 511 has a similar amount of flexibility, though requires more pressure. The Brause nibs are the best made of the contemporary nibs. They feel solid when you draw with them. The lines they give are of consistent width and the ink flow is good. Except for the 513, they aren’t scratchy.

The Hunt 100 is a sportscar that has an incredible zero-to-sixty, but breaks down at 100,000 miles. The Brause 511 is a sedan that can reach similar speeds in time, but lasts you a lifetime.

I can’t believe I just used a car analogy. At least it wasn’t to talk about sex…

February 5, 2009

nib porn!

I have many things I’ve been meaning to write: reviews, comics theory ideas… And there are many things I’ve been meaning to draw: Carnivale, “The Boy”… But I’ve been really busy: grading papers, trying to herd squirrels in the 6-9 year-old Aikido class… But I always have time for one thing: nib porn!

Look at those curves! The long shaft! The supple metal tip waiting to spread at the slightest touch! The rose tattoo!

I just got a shipment from Paper & Ink Arts (first time trying them; really fast service). The thing I was excited about is pictured above: the Brause Rose nib (no. 76). It’s a beautiful nib, very strong and yet very responsive. The line is a bit broader than the nibs I normally use, the Brause 66EF and the Hunt 100, but the variability in the line is tremendous. Yet it’s not a shaky variability, like in the Hunt nibs. The metal in the Brause nibs is of such high quality that it holds its form at whatever pressure you use. I don’t know if I’ll switch to using the Rose or not, but it’s clear to me that Brause makes the highest quality nibs these days.

Here’s a better shot of the nib and a size comparison against the Brause 66EF and Hunt 100:

While ordering the Brause Rose nib, I saw this wild looking nib on the site:

It’s called the Rubinato Silver. The nib doesn’t deliver a lot of line variability, but it’s very smooth. It feels really good to write with. I think I’ll try using it for lettering. I love how it looks like some kind of ornamental spear head.

I also picked up a Pentel water brush. I’m intending to use this to do water color and gouache when I’m traveling. Water stays in the blue reservoir of the handle, which you squeeze to get the water to the tip. The brush is a very fine synthetic fiber. You can dip the wet brush into a half pan of watercolor or dried gouache. A simple wipe on a cloth removes the color so that you can move to another. The cap keeps the brush moist and from leaking in your bag. I’ve read various blog entries in which people raved about this water brush. It seems like a great tool. I always intend to do more watercolor, but I hate carrying around little bottles of water and pans to dip the brush in.

If this wasn’t enough, you can read Richard Thompson drool over the Hunt 101 and the Leonardt EF Principal.

I promise I’ll post something of more substance and less geekishness soon.

November 12, 2008

nibs again: the esterbrook 356

In the last nibs post, I mentioned that I might try to get the Esterbrook 356 off of eBay. Well I did.

Ten Esterbrook 356 nibs arrived in the mail today. I was getting ready to go to work and had drunk too much coffee when I opened the package, but I wanted to see how the Esterbrook 356 compared to the other nibs I had. So while the lines below are a bit shaky, they give you an idea of the different qualities of the various nibs.

The Hunt 100 still provides the most flexibility (at least out of the nibs pictured here). The Esterbrook 356 is a really solid nib, like the Esterbrook Falcon 048. But also like the 048, the 356 is a bit stiff. This means that it will probably last longer, but it also means there is less variability to the line. The line is slightly smaller than the Hunt 100’s line. The Brause 66ef produces a slightly thicker line than the Hunt 100 and the Esterbrook 356, but it’s a very responsive nib. The Gillott 170 (I didn’t mention the Gillott nibs in my previous post, as Mahendra Singh pointed out) has a light feel, but it’s not as flexible as the Hunt 100 and the Brause 66ef.

Here’s a closer look:

I added the Gillott 303 to the line-up above. This is one of my favorite nibs also, and I didn’t mention it last time. It actually produces a thinner line that the 170 and it has more variability of line.

This image also show the color variations in the nibs. Both the Hunt 100 and the Brause 66ef have a traditional steel look. Some Hunt nibs have more of a copper color. The Esterbrook has a gold tone, which came out more coppery in this photo. The Gillott nibs all have this cool blue steel color to them.

Obviously, what nib you use is a matter of taste. As you can probably tell, I preference flexibility and smoothness of feel over stability. That’s why I still really like the Hunt 100 with all its faults. But I’m looking forward to actually drawing with the Esterbrook 356.

I want to end with a story. I saw Jim Woodring give a talk in San Francisco a few years ago and afterward I asked him what nib he used. He told me that he used the Hunt 100 Imperial:

But he said that he was dissatisfied with how much ink it held. It tended to run out of ink before he was able to finish a complete line (take a look at the long lines he uses in his art through the link above). The way he found to solve this problem was to attach a piece of tinfoil to the nib so that it would hold more ink. I think he just wrapped it around the base, but I’m not sure. I just wanted to share this, because it’s not something you’d learn about in a traditional how-to book. It also shows you to what lengths pen and ink artists will go to keep using their favorite nibs.

And I think that’s about enough geeking out over nibs…

November 8, 2008

nibs, nibs, nibs

I love dip pen nibs. I spend time on various websites looking at nibs. I know that many artists don’t use these anymore. I was listening to an interview with Trevor Alixopulos and the the interviewers- Thien and Rina- said that Trevor is the only comics artist they know who actually uses dip pen nibs. Cartoonists used to ink with them all the time, but they’re difficult to use at first and so many artists nowadays get discouraged. The reason I use them is that my dad told me, when I was twelve or so, that dip pens were the hardest things to draw with. As soon as I heard that, I knew that I had to draw with them. I guess that tells you something about my personality.

These two are my favorites. The Hunt 100 is extremely supple. The downside is that it is so flexible that it doesn’t last long and probably 2 out of every 5 nibs I buy are unusable. I get frustrated with this nib every few months and draw with something else for awhile. But I always come back. I’ve learned a few things over the years that help keep the frustration at bay. One, I throw away nibs that are giving me a hard time. Forcing a bad nib to work is an act of self-hatred (or so I now tell myself). Two, I torch the nib. You can see the discoloration in the photo above. According to Jos. A. Smith in The Pen & Ink Book, many nibs come with a film around them that prevents rust, but that also makes the ink not flow properly. You can soak the nib in vinegar, but I’ve found that this encourages rust. A few seconds over a match seems to work better. The 512 is my lettering and bordering nib. It has a bowl tip, so you can draw complete circles with it. I used these nibs for “My Grandmother’s Funeral.”

I discovered this nib on-line a few years ago. The Brause nibs are very well made, much stronger and longer lasting than the Hunt nibs. Unfortunately, they are harder to come by. I got mine through Scribblers, a UK store. The Brause 66ef is a great nib. It has a slight bowl tip so it doesn’t catch on the paper like most nibs. It also holds ink well and lasts a long time. It also looks cool. It’s not nearly as supple as the Hunt 100, but no nib is. I think the Brause 66ef would probably be the easiest nib to learn with for a beginner. I’m using this nib for Carnivale.

And on the other side of the same penholder, a Brause 361. I use this for bordering (there’s no lettering in Carnivale). This nib has lasted forever. And look at how gunky it is! I really do clean my nibs…

I found this nib the other day when I was going through my art supplies. I don’t know where I got it or when. I think I got it from my dad when he gave me all his old art supplies. Anyway, it’s an Esterbrook Falcon 048. Esterbrook isn’t around anymore, so I guess this is a vintage nib. Though it may be hard to tell from the photo, this nib is huge. Yet it actually produces a fairly fine line. It’s not a very supple nib, but it’s extremely solid and easy to use. You can tell it was made in a time when people used nibs on a regular basis. You can still find Esterbrook nibs on-line. I’m going to try to get some of the smaller ones, the 356, on E-Bay. I want to see how it stacks up against the Hunt 100.