Pens and ink
Biros
Biros are good for drawing fine lines. They respond to changing pressure by leaving marks that range from very fine and faint to bold and solid.
Biros can be very expressive and are useful for exploring crosshatching or other ways of building up textured tonal effects.
It is worth experimenting with different colours of biro to create different tonal effects.
Fine liners and felt tips
Fine liners can be used to create bold, definite lines that have an even thickness. Felt tips give a thicker line. Both types of pen can be used for stark black and white images or to create bold, richly coloured drawings.
Tone and colour can be built up using hatching, cross hatching or by dotting your surface with the end of your pen.
It can be difficult to create areas of flat solid colour with felt tips. The way you applied them will usually show through, so you should think about which technique will best fit with your style. Some fine liners or felt tips can be used with water. This makes them act more like ink and can be used to make more even washes of colour.
Light colours of felt tip can easily pick up darker colours from your drawing surface. You can avoid this by working from light to dark.
Drawing ink
Drawing ink can be used with a pen nib for drawing and crosshatching. This technique gives you lots of control and will let you produce precise and detailed work. or with a brush for a softer effect. You can use a variety of objects with ink to create textures and marks. Inks can be used with wax resists for interesting effects.
As well as the nib pen you can use a stick (which could be sharpened to a variety of points/thicknesses) to create rougher more expressive marks within a drawing.
A cocktail stick is an excellent tool to create finer more delicate marks. A cotton bud would create thicker lines and would be easier to block areas of ink.
Using a paintbrush and water with the ink can create ink washes which help to make tonal variations within a drawing.
