Starting to sketch with fountain pen

This spring I wanted to get back in to sketching and drawing a lot. That is something I used to do as second nature. But to start up again I knew I wanted (and needed) to get some new tooling.

It had been a long time since I really dived into the world of art supplies. While looking for India ink in the bookstore I by mistake purchased fountain pen ink (Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Schwarz). After some thought I decided to try using a fountainpen. I saw it as a better, more mobile version of a dip pen. No need to dip ;)

The choice

I ordered a TWSBI 580 Diamond from the Swedish supplier penstore.se. “Why this pen?” you might ask. Well, I knew I wanted a good filling system. I liked the demonstrator quality. It had a nib with fine size. And with those properties, it was the only pen I could find relatively affordable and readily available at the time.

I started watching the Youtube-channelse of The Goulet Pen Company and sbrebrown. I learned how to clean the pen, different types of pens and a lot more. And I started to sketch. Here are some of the results from my first time with the TWSBI 580 Diamond:

Quinn, TWSBI 580 and Pelikan 4001 Brilliant black

Christina reading a book, TWSBI 580 and Pelikan Brilliant Black.

Talmadge, TWSBI 580 and Pelikan Brilliant Black.

Churchill, TWSBI 580 and Pelikan Brilliant Black.

The WW1 Flying Ace Richthofen (The Red baron), unfinished,
TWSBI 580 and Pelikan Brilliant Black.

Portrait sketch, TWSBI 580 and Diamine Oxblood.

Figure study, TWSBI 580 and Pelikan 4001 Black

After some time I realized that the inks I were using was not fade resistant, I got deep into finding permanent inks. I also started bying other pens for different effect. But that’s for future blogpost(s).

The pen, TWSBI 580 Diamond pen maintenance.