Rediscovering the Crowquill

Katherine Tyrrell of Making a Mark has started a new project of reviewing drawing books (and encouraging us all to review them, also). She recently reviewed Jos. A. Smith’s The Pen and Ink Book, which I have sitting on the bookshelf, and I decided to take another look.

( One of the things I like about working in ink is its strength. You have to commit to your line in ink. But that doesn’t mean your line has to be overwhelming; Smith reminded me that using a very fine nib, say a crowquill, with ink can be delicate as well as strong. I hauled out some of my walnut ink from the fridge (the batch I made in 2001 is still going strong) and started dipping.

Drawing a bird a day — and posting it — has given me the chance to become more familiar with bird forms, a practice I welcome and am eager to continue. But I haven’t drawn a while lot else. So yesterday I did some studies of the cats and of Numenius while the baseball game was on…