Anyone can learn to draw with a pen. Whether a student or a pensioner. Everyone once drew in the margins of notebooks. Some did well, some not so much. Some drew strange images, some skulls, and some little fairies, cuties from manga. And we all enjoyed it.

What do you need to start drawing? Of course, desire and patience. Without these qualities it will be difficult to learn anything in principle.

For any drawing, including with a pen, you need to become familiar with the basics of composition and the basics of drawing. For starters, you can just read it. Drawing theory has never been superfluous, and it is advisable to refresh your memory from time to time. I recently came across a book

If you compare a pen (liner, rapidograph) or a pencil, then these are quite different tools. With a pencil we can achieve airiness in a drawing, learn how to draw correctly on a sheet of paper (you can always use an eraser) and draw realistic portraits.

A pen, unlike a pencil, disciplines. If you draw it, then you draw it. But this does not mean at all that the pen fewer options maneuver. There are completely different techniques here.

Selecting a tool (handle).

Let's start by choosing a tool (drawing pen). After all, to draw well, you must have a convenient tool, so that, first of all, you like it.

1. The best one to draw is the one that doesn’t drip, always writes, and draws without obvious effort. It is easy and convenient to draw with this pen.

If you choose between ball and gel pen , then it’s better to choose the second one. I have been drawing with a gel pen for a long time. Most of my drawings before 2012 were drawn by her.

There are several tricks to vary the thickness of the gel pen line. If the drawing is placed on a stack of paper, the lines will be thicker. And if you put the sheet on glass or a bare table, the lines will be thinner.

2. Another option is liner or rapidograph. If a gel pen may not write over a pencil or for some reason does not want to work on the edges of the sheet, then a liner writes always and everywhere. practically does not get dirty, lays down softly, without unnecessary effort. Of course, it costs 4 times more than a pen and is not always needed. But if you still decide to buy, then it is better to take liners from Uni and Sakura. Liners have different thicknesses.

My preferences for tool thickness are:

a) the main drawing will be convenient to draw with a 0.3 mm liner;

b) objects in the background - 0.1 mm;

c) and if you decide to “bring it black,” then 0.8 mm will do.

3. The third option is . Many foreign illustrators work with such pens, such as Matthias Adolfson and. I use fountain pen hero 901 for sketches, and for graphics I continue to work with a gel pen.

Paper

Any paper will do. You can get a notebook with thick sheets so that you can draw on both sides. I have several types of notebooks. This is a watercolor notebook on a spring, moleskine, ordinary sheets for a printer, fastened with a metal spring, and which I sewed with my own hands. What's convenient about a notebook is that it's always at hand. Just don't take notebooks with textured paper. The texture is more suitable for watercolors. And for a full-fledged drawing, a regular A4 or A3 sheet, as well as any smooth thick paper, is suitable.

In 2017, I drew with a fountain pen on textured paper. The result was also pleasing, but it was still better on a smooth one.

Drawing process

1. Usually, when drawing with a pen, I don't sketch with a pencil. There are exceptions when you need to draw complex architectural buildings such as a city, streets, interiors and other complex objects. Everything that should correspond to reality.

To make outlines for the future drawing and avoid the fact that the drawing will ultimately not fit on the sheet, you can use dots. If we draw thin lines with a pencil, then with a pen we can put dots. And if you tint the drawing, the dots will merge with the main landscape and will not be conspicuous. But, of course, you can make a sketch in pencil, no one forbids it.

2. The drawing process itself should be fast. Draw lines quickly and confidently, even if the drawing turns out to be crooked. Curved drawings can be very lively and interesting. In any case, you need to get your hand used to the instrument. Don't stay in one place for too long.

Prepare plenty of paper and make one sketch after another. Always finish a drawing, even if you don't like it. In the end it can turn out very interesting.

3. What to draw? Draw everything you see. Start with ordinary objects, a lamp, a teapot, a mug, a computer, a cat, a dog, a chimpanzee. You can also draw while sitting at home. Exit to fresh air and drawing there would also be a good idea. Make your drawings more complex over time. Draw still lifes, interiors, streets, people. Let your notebook always be with you. The main thing is practice and more practice.

4. Don't evaluate yourself after every drawing. Turn off your inner critic. One drawing doesn't mean anything. Build up more luggage. At first everything will turn out clumsy and ugly. As our drawing teacher said: “quantity will smoothly develop into quality.” Patience and perseverance will help us here.

Southern Bay of Sevastopol. Series of sketches

Toning

1. Toning can be different. You can make a drawing in black and white (without gray tones).

2. Can be done with intersecting lines. The lines are superimposed one on one, changing direction. This tinting option will give you many shades of gray.

, Just . All crookedness will be immediately visible.

It all seems very complicated, but at the same time so simple. If you put enough effort into it every day, everything will work out.

We continue to talk about how to teach a child to draw. Does your child refuse to draw with pencils or paints? This is because his shoulder girdle muscles are poorly developed.

You have to press down on the pencil and hold the brush suspended, it’s difficult. Try inviting him to draw with a gel pen. The line turns out clear and bright, it goes easily. The drawing with a gel pen is unique and beautiful.

When we say this unconventional drawing, many are surprised: what is unconventional about a regular gel pen? It's not the pen, but the drawing method itself.

The artist Dmitry Rybin works in this technique. His technique is called “Mystical Gel Pen Graphics”. In his opinion, anyone can learn such unconventional drawing. And for children, the technique of drawing with helium pens is suitable because by mastering it, you can learn to draw from scratch.

Gel pen drawing technique

Drawing according to Dmitry Rybin’s method is something between graphics and ornament (this is also suitable for working with children). Looks like zenart. This is a repetition of elementary forms, and not the creation of a “masterpiece” or a highly artistic painting.

Everyone can draw elementary forms, but, ultimately, it is from them that the picture is created. Many graphic elements are simple and accessible to children: circle, square, triangle, dot, wavy line, three crossed lines (snowflake) and others.

Despite the simplicity of the elements, the results are very interesting pictures, similar to graphics, Chinese or Japanese painting(drawing "Tree of Life"). The drawing is laconic and complete.

Materials and tools

What materials will non-traditional drawing with gel pens require?

Pens

1. Regular gel pens sold at any office supply store. Usually they draw with black paste on white paper. But if you want to draw a color picture, you can purchase sets of colored pens.
2. Capillary pens, if there are no gel pens. For capillary pens, you need to select paper. On some types of paper, ink bleeds. Essentially this is the same felt-tip pen with a very thin rod. It has a rod inside, like a felt-tip pen. For a pen that doesn’t write well, remember the refill a little – the pen will still serve. You can also use ordinary felt-tip pens for coloring.
3. When choosing handles, you should consider the following circumstance. Preschoolers or schoolchildren with impaired motor skills tend to initially put excessive pressure on the pen when drawing. In this case, capillary pens fail faster. Helium ones are preferable.

Paper

Paper white, smooth, dense. A piece of whatman paper size A5 is best. Sometimes, without really thinking about it, people buy sketchbooks. When choosing, pay attention to the quality of the paper.

Drawing Rules

1. The line must be continuous (therefore, with older preschoolers, you first need to draw short lines). Anxious children tend to circle the same pattern element over and over again. There should be one line. No shading. The exercise will provide smooth lines in your writing.
2. Each element should be clear and separate, without merging with other elements.
3. We outline the template, gradually moving from top to bottom, trying not to smear what we have drawn.

Where to start

You can start working with children from the age of 6, but this kind of drawing works best for schoolchildren. Let's remember ourselves, most of us in our school and student days drew something similar, bored in class.

We start by outlining the templates. The template can be an outline drawing of the item (a simple coloring with a small amount of detail will do). Pay attention! A helium pen doesn’t draw well with a pencil, so we draw an outline with a simple pencil very thin, maybe even a broken line.

A small child cannot draw like this; an adult draws the template. Or it prints out on a printer with a faint line. A photocopied picture will also not work for the same reason as a pencil. We simply scanned the samples and printed them out.

The child learned to trace the template carefully and beautifully. Let's make the job more difficult. Divide a sheet of paper vertically into two fields. On the right is a template for the outline, on the left is an empty space. We invite the child to first circle the template, and then on the left free space copy the pattern yourself. The work is difficult, but doable. At first, the copy will be deformed in shape or size (usually small). With the acquisition of skill and training of the eye, the quality of the copy improves.

Which is used every day office workers, school and university students, is also an excellent drawing tool. Gel pen graphics have a great advantage: the drawing is clear and rich. Although, on the other hand, it will not be possible to erase incorrectly drawn strokes with an eraser. Since the prices for pens are low, drawing with them is quite profitable and economical. Decorative graphics made with gel pens can become an original and interesting addition to your home interior.

Where to start?

For inexperienced artists who are just looking for their skills in drawing, black gel pens are perfect. They will help make the drawing refined and sophisticated. Graphics with a gel pen for beginning artists will not be difficult to perform, you just need to take into account some features.

Pressure

There are different ways pressing pens on a sheet of paper. To get a continuous thin line, you need to use direct pressure. The pen is placed perpendicular to the paper and a straight line is drawn. This method is perfect for drawing contours. You can draw by pressing the tool at an angle. The result is dull strokes. If you draw lines in one direction in this way, you can create halftone transitions. Intersecting lines will help deepen and enhance shadow areas.

Paper and its structure

When using a drawing method such as graphics with a gel pen, you must also take into account the structure of the paper. If you choose smooth paper, the lines will be clear and even. If you draw on a rough surface, the lines will turn out short and choppy.

Circuit

In order to avoid making irreparable mistakes in your work, you first need to draw an outline using a regular graphite pencil. Then minor mistakes can be removed with an eraser. This procedure must be done after tracing all the details with a pen. In this case, you need to wait until the drawing dries completely. The lines drawn with a gel pen are generally of the same thickness. It depends on the diameter of the rod. To draw lines of different thicknesses, you need to choose pens with different ball diameters. When drawing, it is better to use several gel pens, since different dyes have different densities. As a result, you can get lines of varying saturation, which will create a unique effect.

Patterns

You can draw anything using a technique such as gel pen graphics. The patterns, for example, turn out simply fantastic. When drawing patterns, you can allow yourself to embody almost any fantasy on paper. To make the drawing original and unusual, you need to use more than one gel pen. If desired, you can add colors to the pattern and take multi-colored gel pens. If the imagination does not allow the artist to go wild on paper and draw an exclusive pattern, then the Internet will provide a huge selection of various designs and ornaments. You can view such pictures, combine them, and ultimately draw something of your own, simply based on the selected pictures. Or just stop at one pattern and draw only that. In any case, the picture will turn out beautiful and interesting.

Some subtleties

The cores of gel pens are usually thick, which allows the artist to draw using an extraordinary dotting method called dotwork. Since colored tools always don’t draw very well, graphics with a black gel pen will be much richer and of better quality. It is important to remember that the gel paste tends to dry out quickly, so the stick must be used within a few weeks, otherwise it will stop drawing. Graphics applied with a black gel pen will lose some shine and color after 2-3 days from the date of drawing. You must draw lines on the paper very carefully, since it will be impossible to wipe them off. It is also important not to forget that you cannot touch the finished drawing, because the gel can be smeared on the surface of the paper.

What else is important to remember?

Graphics with a gel pen should be applied in accordance with the position of the fibers of the sheet, that is, from top to bottom. The painted part should not be touched with your finger, otherwise you can change the saturation of the lines. It is best to choose high-density paper for drawing, and work with light pressure, because the gel paste has the property of “pulling” the sheet. If gross errors occur during drawing, which simply need to be removed, use white or other covering materials. We must remember that graphics with a gel pen require the precision and accuracy of the artist. Of course, the first time the drawing may not be of very high quality. But everything comes with experience. Over time, the drawings will become clear, and the confident hand of a master of his craft will be felt in them.

Drawing techniques Zentangle, Doodling and Zendoodling.

Let's get acquainted with drawing techniques like Zentangle, Doodling and Zendoodling

I really liked the drawing technique; it is especially good (in my opinion) for those creative people who want to express themselves in drawing, but do not have classical skills.

Here, to achieve success, you need a lot of imagination and creativity and a minimum of drawing techniques, although spatial imagination will still be useful to us. The pictures are unusual and exciting; you can look at them and study them for a long time.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find information about these techniques in Russian, so I translated it from English sources (don’t judge my translation too harshly).

Zentangle is a small piece of art made with a fine point pen and graphite to highlight light and shadow. It is compiled in a certain order. Take a square of watercolor paper and use a pencil to place 4 dots in each corner about half an inch from the border of the paper. Connect these points with a pencil border, which can be either smooth or curved (irregular). Inside the resulting frame, “lines” are drawn with a pencil, the so-called crazy lines. This divides the drawing area into sectors of different sizes and specific profiles. Take a fine fountain pen and fill the shape with a variety of repeating patterns. Once you've filled in the gaps, the pencil lines are erased and then shading is added to give the Zentangle its shape.

If your drawing doesn't follow these guidelines, then it's not a Zentangle. Zentangle is an abstract design and can be viewed from any angle. If it has a recognizable image, such as a face or eyes or an animal, it is not Zentangle. However, it may well be stylized Zentangle or ZIA.

Doodle (translated as scribble) is a focused drawing made while a person's attention is occupied with something else. Doodles - simple drawings, which may have concrete representational meanings or may simply be abstract forms.

Stereotypical examples of drawing are found in school notebooks, often in the margins, made by students when they are daydreaming or losing interest during class. Other common examples of painting done over long periods of time telephone conversations, if you have a pen and paper at hand.

Popular types include cartoon versions, images of teachers or schoolmates, famous television or comic characters, fictional creatures, landscapes, geometric shapes and patterns, textures, banners with legends and animation scenes made in sequence on various pages of a book or laptop.

Zendoodling is a hybrid of Zentangle art with Doodling. Zendoodles often free form and has an abstract look sometimes with splashes of color.

It is not strictly called Zentangling because it does not use the "line" method, nor does it require black and white execution.
Zendoodles are created using black ink on any type of colored background, not necessarily white paper. The use of watercolors, pencils, chalk, markers, etc. is also allowed. at your discretion.

A tattoo is a special image on a person’s body, often conveying his thoughts, principles of life and desires.

To choose a tattoo, just look at hundreds of examples and come to the artist with a sketch. Before making a permanent drawing on the body, it is recommended to conduct an experiment.

A pen tattoo on a hand or other part of the body is used to understand how the drawn symbol and picture affect a person.

If, after spending a week with the drawing, the person’s condition has improved, you can safely apply the drawing forever.

Pen tattoos are widespread among children and teenagers. They are done quickly and easily.

All that is necessary is to redraw the selected picture onto the skin, maintaining the similarity with the source. Even a small child can draw easy and simple drawings.

A temporary tattoo can be done with a black pen; for this it is important to choose the right quality of the tool. A gel or ballpoint pen is suitable for this work.

In some cases, you can get a permanent tattoo using a needle and gel pen.

Let's look at how to draw with a pen, as well as the duration of this procedure:

1. Prepare materials: a gel pen of the desired shade, a simple pencil, scissors, paper or tracing paper, cotton swabs, talc alcohol and a solution for treating wounds.
2. Select a sketch or stencil. Before starting work, it is recommended to select a drawing.

   Depending on the purpose of the tattoo, these can be inscriptions, pictures, photos famous people. The main thing is to have sufficient artistic drawing skills.

3. Translation. Draw a picture on tracing paper and carefully shade along the outline with a gel pen.

   In the future, this blank will be needed for a temporary tattoo, which needs to be done quickly.

4. Choose a location. For girls, the designs look good on the wrist; for boys, the tattoos look impressive on the shoulder.
5. Translation of the drawing. Place the prepared template with the pattern down on the skin. Take a cloth soaked in water and apply it to the tracing paper for 1 minute.

   Carefully removing the paper, check to see if the tattoo has transferred.

You can make a tattoo with a needle, by making holes in the skin and filling them with paint from a pen. This method is considered painful, but less traumatic than applying it with a machine.

The work will take no more than 15 minutes, depending on the complexity of the drawing.

Simple Sketches for Beginners

In order to apply a drawing for the first time, experienced craftsmen recommend choosing the simplest sketches for beginners.

You should not assume that drawing a tattoo with a pen takes a long time - this process takes no more than half an hour with proper skill.

Pay attention! The most simple sketches options without detailed picture details are considered. The inscriptions will also be interesting as a primary application to the skin.

Small pictures are good for the first time. When your hand is full, you can move on to more complex types medium-sized and large sketches.

Let's consider several options for pictures for self-application at home:

Sketch	Description
Geometric patterns	You don't have to be a professional artist to draw beautiful patterns. Just look at the sample and draw it on leather or parchment. Popular geometric patterns include Greek, Roman and Scandinavian patterns.
Flowers	Drawings of flowers can be applied with a blue pen, and the stem itself can be painted black. It is better to choose simple versions of roses, peonies, orchids, daisies - they are well suited for images on the lower part of the leg
Natural drawings	Tree branches and leaves are patterns that any beginning artist can handle. Acorns, chestnuts, nuts, and berries - all these pictures are made in half an hour, because they do not have detailed details
Insects	The easiest insect to draw is a butterfly. Two wings, an insect body in the middle - the drawing is ready. A good image of a wasp, beetle or snake is obtained
Skulls	Guys often choose brutal body designs: invite them to apply an image of a stylized skull. There may be red roses with leaves on the sides: such a sketch always causes delight

Beautiful pictures for girls and boys

To test the pen, the artist always chooses mini-images that can easily be hidden behind clothes.

Tattoos with a black gel pen are no exception, which, if unsuccessful, can be hidden behind textiles.

A selection of several beautiful, but simple options will allow you to decide on the choice for girls and men:

1. Bow. The image is perfect for teenage girls.

   It is better to apply it on the back of the neck - that is where it looks attractive and romantic.

2. Animal faces. Cool but cute sketches are always a delight: try drawing a funny cat's face on one of your fingers.

   The tattoo will look great when paired with a stylish ring.

3. Sheet music or treble clef. This option is relevant for female music lovers, as well as for those people who play music. It is recommended to apply the pattern on the wrist.
4. Marine theme. Well suited as men's or women's tattoos.
5. A flock of bats. The drawing is relevant for real boys: it is simple to execute, but looks amazing.

We draw all the images in stages: first we visually highlight the main parts of the picture, after which we move on to painting the sections. Small elements draw carefully on last stage work.