Drawing Portraits In Ink Pen #1

I love drawing in ink, but I’ve also always been a bit intimidated by it because of its permanence.  Making mistakes in ink are much harder to attempt to fix or cover up than other, more forgiving materials, such as pencil or charcoal.  Drawing with ink requires you to really consider each stroke before you lay it down.  It takes skill and confidence to use ink, and it is a fantastic teacher.  In the past I have always used a light pencil sketch, before applying ink as this eases the fear of making mistakes, and the result of this typically produces a very neat and organized drawing.  This is great, however I also feel its like a safety line.  I have been a huge admirer of certain artists that can just go directly in with a bold pen and make magnificent creations, in particular, master Kim Jung Gi (RIP).  I am just in awe of his skills, and confidence, and wish I could do what he could do.  Well, I began to experiment with different pens, and got questionable results, nothing I felt that I could share publicly.  Until now!

As mentioned in my previous posts, I have taken an interest in urban sketching, and some of the tools that often come up are fountain pens.  I had tried just about every other pen, except fountain pens.  I have used dipping pens, that are similar to a fountain pen, and I do really enjoy those, but the nature of working with dipping nibs is somewhat restrictive from my experience.  So I ordered the pen that is commonly recommended as a great starter fountain pen, the Lamy Safari.  From the moment I used it I was very impressed by the smooth flow of ink which you can use in any direction.  This smooth flow lets you be very loose with it, and work quickly.  I attempted a few portraits directly with the pen and was pleasantly surprised how well they came out.  I was not able to achieve these results before with a pen. I even tried using my other pens as a comparison and the Safari gave me a much better aesthetic.  So I thought, I am finally ready to make a video of portrait sketching with a pen!  Granted, I am NOWHERE NEAR what master Kim can do, but I now feel that I at least have crossed that threshold into drawing directly in ink.  I hope you enjoy the video and if you want to try a Lamy Safari for yourself, please use my affiliate link here: https://amzn.to/3Tug52B