Portfolio Beginning Pen Ink Tips and techniques for learning to draw in pen and ink by Desarae Lee (z-lib.org)

Now it’s time to dive into the ink work. I like to start with an outline of the
subject to give myself some boundaries, but you can skip that step if you wish.

Start by hatching in a base value for the octopus. It has light spots and an even
lighter underbelly, so leave those areas blank for now.

Pay attention to the top and bottom of each tentacle, making sure to hatch all the
way to the edges. In areas where a dark upper part of the octopus meets a light
part underneath, add gradients (see here) to gently blend the values. Because this
octopus has smooth skin, use even strokes and avoid overlapping.

With a second layer of pen, crosshatch over the entire octopus, except for its
underbelly and the bottom of its tentacles. Hatch right over the spots.

Now that you’ve laid in the basic values, use your next round of marks to create
emphasis and depth.

This next step is a bit more complicated. I’ve included a labeled guide here so
that you know where to place your marks.

A: Draw details using short, curved lines and hatching. Erase pencil marks as
you go.

B: Bring attention to the eyes by creating high-contrast areas. Using less pen
work to create a lighter value around the eyes sets off their dark value, which in
turn contrasts with the reflections.

C: Crosshatch to create darker values in areas that are farther away from the
imagined light. Make the edges of the tentacles darker to create the illusion of
round, cylindrical shapes.

D: Thicken the outlines around the octopus. Use thicker lines at the bottom and
slightly thinner ones at the top to create weight.

E: Use value to create distance by paying attention to where part of the octopus
would cast a shadow on another part.

F: Use curved lines for shading, following the contours of the shape of each
tentacle to enhance the illusion of depth.





Before finishing up your piece, look at it as a whole. Is there any part that
awkwardly stands out and needs to be toned down? Did you forget to shade one
of the tentacles? Does the focal point (the eyes) stand out? Try turning your
octopus upside down to get a new perspective. Does it need any more lines?

USE A SHARP COLORED PENCIL TO LAY MORE PIGMENT ON
THE PAPER AND A DULL ONE TO LEAVE LESS PIGMENT
BEHIND.



Finally, use colored pencils to enhance the area around the eyes. Start with
white, and gently give the octopus brighter reflections and highlights. White can
also be used to lighten the value of the underbelly, although I used a very light
peach color. You can stop here or continue to pick out hues that work with your
color scheme to make gentle color changes over the entire body of the octopus. I
chose bright salmon, yellow, purple, and blue-green. Concentrate these colors
around the eyes, fading them out slightly as they move away from the focal
point.



Capturing Movement

This next piece uses basic shapes to convey movement in the form of a dancing
bear.

MATERIALS
Various reference photos, mechanical pencil, kneaded eraser, technical pens of various sizes,
travel watercolor set (any kind of watercolors will do, but look for a small, pointed brush), water,
paper towel

Start by lightly penciling in some circles and a sinuous S-shape.



Refine the circles and basic shapes.

I used reference photos from the internet to familiarize myself with the
appearance of a bear’s head as well as a bouquet of roses, and then I tried to
capture those shapes in my drawing.

Now it’s time for pen! As usual, I drew on top of the pencil marks, knowing that
I could erase them later. If you plan to do the same, you might want to check that
your ink will remain stable while you erase.

In some of the projects in this book, you might have noticed that I started with
outlining basic shapes and filling in values, and then I added textures. In this
drawing, I want to show you another possible approach: working from top to
bottom to add outlines, values, and textures all at once.

Add the bear’s soft, hairy texture using long lines going in a single direction. Pay
attention to the bear’s anatomy to determine which parts to darken and which to
lighten.

To offset the light values of the bear, keep the values of the flowers and leaves
relatively dark.

Erase the pencil lines as you go so that you are less likely to miss some of them
later.

When the bear is complete, thicken and darken the exterior lines to distinguish
your subject from the background, or negative space.

If the bear doesn’t stand out as much as you’d like, add a neutral value to the
background.

I used a simple diagonal hatch to add a darker background, so the white of the
bear looks more striking.

Use a small brush and watercolor paints to add color to the flowers.

Lights & Darks

For this project, practice combining lights and darks in new and unexpected
ways.

MATERIALS
Hot-pressed watercolor paper, reference photos, mechanical pencil, kneaded eraser, felt-tip
drafting pen

Start with a pencil drawing. Don’t worry about penciling in fine details yet;
you’ll add those as you move from section to section.



Start with the chandelier. Outline the space that will be filled in with the
background value as well as the spaces that will be lighter or darker to represent
the light fixture.

Next, move to the curtains. Imagine light coming from the chandelier, and fill in
the darkest values accordingly using a vertical hatch stroke.

Use crosshatching to lay down values for the curtains, paying attention to the
light and dark areas. Use outline and contour shading to give shape to the folds
in the fabric.

Add horizontal hatch marks to the back wall. Leave the area around the
chandelier empty for now. This area should appear lighter, so you’ll add one less
layer of hatching.

Continue crosshatching the background wall, including the area behind the
chandelier, with a diagonal stroke.

Continue with the background, crosshatching diagonally in the opposite
direction. Pay special attention to the area around the chandelier and the figures,
taking care to keep your hatching even all the way up to the edge.

Use cluster hatching to add value to the floor. Add a cast shadow underneath the
figures using vertical strokes.

So far, you’ve mostly used midtone values to fill in the background and
surrounding environment. The figures in the foreground are the focal point of the
piece, so you should use the lightest and darkest values to contrast against each
other and draw the eyes to the foreground. You can also use thicker lines around
the figures to set them apart from the background.

Pencil in the details on the two masked girls.

Add detail to the figures in the foreground, remembering to use contrast (darks
against lights) to create the focal point. Continue using line thickness to separate
the figures from the background.

Use layered hatching for the tiger’s fur stole. Then add hatching to create cast
shadows behind the figures and distinguish them from the background.

Before finishing your piece, look at it upside down, searching for any areas that
appear inconsistent or stand out. I added extra hatching to the baseboard in the
background when I noticed it catching my eye because of its light value.

WHAT'S

Next?

Honest Feedback

Find people whose work you admire, and ask them for honest feedback. Seek
out local artists’ communities or critique groups, and share what you’ve made
with people who will tell you what they really think—both positive and
negative. Most importantly, listen to the feedback you receive. It won’t help you
if you don’t hear it with an open mind.

Encouragement

Learn to tell the difference between encouragement and critique. It is your
mother’s/partner’s/best friend’s duty to like all of your drawings, and this will be
incredibly useful on the days you get discouraged. Sometimes we just need
someone to tell us that what we’re doing is valuable. Revel in the encouragement
of the people who love you.



Mentors & Masters

There is no better way to learn drawing than from someone who has mastered it.
You may be lucky enough to have someone in your community who teaches
workshops or classes on drawing with pen and ink. If not, the internet is a great
source for instruction from all kinds of experts. Spend time studying the work of
masters past and present. You’ll learn a lot just by taking the time to notice the
ways they use line, texture, and other techniques in their work.

Art Shows & Competitions

Local competitions and art shows are fun to enter and can be very motivating.
They will also help give you a sense of how your work is received. Remember
that many factors go into deciding who is chosen for a show or who wins a prize,
so don’t get discouraged. Rejection is just part of the game and there are lessons
in every failure.



Practice

As with anything, the key to mastering pen and ink
drawing is practice, practice, practice. Drawing may
come more easily to some than others, but nothing is
free for anyone. If you are serious about honing your
drawing skills, as a hobby or otherwise, set aside a
certain amount of time—daily if possible—to regularly
put pen to paper. Go out of your way to practice the
things that are difficult for you, and push yourself to
try new techniques.

Experiment, Play, and Have Fun!

Don’t forget why you started this in the first place. Drawing is wonderful and
expressive, and every once in a while, we are lucky enough to make something
honest and beautiful. Don’t lose the sense of excitement that you felt when you
started this journey. Enjoy yourself. Play. Find new ideas where you least expect
them, and define your own version of success.

About the Artist

Desarae Lee is a fine artist and an illustrator
from Salt Lake City, Utah. Her art has
appeared in galleries and art shows across the
United States, and she has won numerous
awards for her work. She is a published author
and was a co-author of Artistry: Pen & Ink
(Walter Foster Publishing). Desarae serves as a
founding board member of Salt Lake City’s
Downtown Artist Collective, where she
occasionally can be found teaching drawing or
printmaking.

Desarae’s technique revolves around using line
to create value and texture. Working primarily
with pen and ink, Desarae balances exact,
meticulous line work with natural, flowing
compositions. Over time, her work has
developed to include watercolor, tea staining, and printmaking. This shift results
in more organic drawings that still maintain her original intricacy.

Influenced by personal trauma and struggles with depression and anxiety
disorders, Desarae creates work that revolves around themes of finding humor in
pain, beauty in the grotesque, and light in the darkness. As comfortable
referencing geek culture as she is baring the depths of her soul, Desarae’s work
ranges in theme but is always, as she says, “an attempt to connect the hidden
places in myself to the hidden places in the viewer, to somehow create a bridge
of communication over the immense expanse of our differing perceptions,
beliefs, and experiences.”

When she is not drawing or printing, Desarae can be found roaming the Rocky
Mountains of Utah with her ever-patient partner, Jared, and stubborn Schnauzer,
Boris.

© 2019 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.
Artwork and text © 2019 Desarae Lee

First published in 2019 by Walter Foster Publishing, an imprint of The Quarto Group.
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Digital edition: 978-1-63322-768-2
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Digital edition published in 2019