Crow Quill Headache

[RemusWriter]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8WohL9cDLg&t=1m0s

I love my crow quill, I really do. But every so often I have one of those days where I'm on a roll with the best page I've ever drawn and then I accidentally black out someone's eye. The reason for this is usually that I've spent the last thirty seconds scratching at the same spot trying to get ink to flow, dunked it back in the bottle, spent another thirty seconds trying to get the ink to flow, dunked it again, and had it come out on the fifteenth attempt of round 3.

Anyway, do you guys have tips on avoiding flow problems like this? Before you ask, it's a fairly new nib.

[Mashiem]

This WILL happen. It doesn't matter how good you are or the quality of your tools, but if you use nib pens or brushes you WILL get an accidental spill sometimes.

That said, I've found it really help to have a piece of scrap paper nearby. Whenever I dip my nib I make a mark on the scrap piece. Not only does this make the ink start to flow, but also help if you've overloaded your nib. The excess ink will spill onto the scratch paper instead of your artwork.
Might seem like a lot of extra work to do this after everytime you load the nib, but it very soon become second nature.

Oh, and I suggest you get some "Deleter White 2". It's fairly cheap from Amazon, and works wonders for correcting spills and errors. Way better than the white acrylic I tried to use when I started out inking.

[scmarooney]

With newer nibs I usually run them over a candleflame or lighter flame to burn off any residual oil on the nib itself before using it the first time. I also keep a rag handy and a piece of scratch paper on the side.

Accidents are sometimes unavoidable with dip-pens, and they rarely seem like the "happy accidents" from a Bob Ross painting !

I use a bit of white gouache paint to cover up inking mistakes. Seems to not chip off as badly or run when you ink back over it, and takes ink much better than white acrylic paint or wite-out does (your mileage may vary).

[Smitty]

Hit the reset button.

Fair warning, it's scary the first time. As in, Chuck Norris would have a heart attack just thinking about it scary. Just trust that Uncle Smitty wouldn't steer you wrong. Make sure your pen is clean or in a place where splatter doesn't matter. Do this over mother's good linens, you're on your own.

Tynes flex. Because we're human, they never flex evenly all the way around. Eventually they flex out of alignment. Bad alignment = no flow. They need to be reset. Hold the pen, concave side up, as parallel to the board as possible, press down flatly, tynes should cross (and WILL splatter) with a click you can both feel and hear. Couple squibbles on scratch paper and you're good to go. FWIW, I got this from watching Joe Rubenstein who did it every 30-40 seconds without thought. It was simply part of his inking process. Rather than wait for bad alignment to stop him, he just reset constantly as part of the process.





Other considerations.

We are not making Xeroxes, we're making original art. It should look like it. A million shades of grey in your blacks is not a bug, it's a feature. It's what separates art from prints and gives art a sense of life that a print will never have. Solid blacks are for printers not illustrators. While I hesitate to suggest my beloved Pelican since prices have gone from $35 to well over $200 a liter, truth is, no ink matches the flow of Pelican. Use something as thick and gummy as Speedball, you need to thin it down

Do not let ink build up on the nib. Ink will not flow over dry, crusted ink as well as it will clean, shiny metal. Yasutomo's Sumi ink is especially troublesome. Yasutomo's will see your nib disappear under a large black "pea" in a matter of minutes.

Drafting tape makes a great starter pad (top side not glue side). Keep a small strip at the top of your board, reachable but out of the way.

Show it who's boss! Nibs will punish the timid. Frightened, timid petting will not provide the same results as bold, aggressive strokes. They don't look as good either. Ink it like you mean it.

Break a nib.

[50%grey]

Smitty , what do u mean by starter pad? is that where test the nib after a reset?

[Smitty]

You got it. When the pen doesn't want to "start" the tapes rougher surface seems to get things moving better than smooth surfaced paper. Plus, because it's tape, it's always where you left it.

[50%grey]

Nice, thanks..always wondered why nib inkers always had those long runs of tape on the sides of there art tables.

Smitty, when are you going to write a book man! you have close to 40 years working in comics, it's awesome.

[RemusWriter]

Is Speedball particularly thick? If so, that might have something to do with it.

[Symson]

I would suggest that you change your ink to something more fluid.

A narrow nib must use a fluid, fast ink and gives the best performance.
Broad nibs must use slow inks with higher viscosity.

Fast ink will leave the nib before or at first contact with the paper. A slow ink will stick to the nib.

If your style does not rely on thin and thick strokes, then NEVER touch the nib to the paper. Let your nib hover closely above the paper and let the ink forming on the nib provide the contact.

A rough paper needs a fast, fluid ink. A smooth plate glossy paper requires a slow ink.

The higher the angle of your drawing table, the more fluid the ink has to be to flow properly.
The lower the angle the slower the ink has to be in order not to flow too fast.