This year Copic Design Team member, Debbie Olson, will assist Ken (President Emeritus of Imagination International, Inc., importer of Copic Markers.)

The plan is to spend two weeks at a tiny art school in Umbria (1 1/2 hours North of Rome), each day traveling to a nearby hill town to sketch, and returning to our base in LaRomita School Of Art. We are taken care of by two Italian cooks, and we stay there in apartments remodeled in a 15th Century Monastery.

The cost for this two week workshop is $3,600 plus airfare. It includes food, room, instruction, and all local transportation as we travel each day out to new hill towns. Other costs may include a few lunches, snacks and gifts.

If this adventure is of interest to you, please write to ken@copicmarker.com for more information and a list of FAQ.

0.03, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3, 0.35, 0.5, 0.7, 0.8, 1.0, Brush Small*, and Brush Medium, F01, and F02

*the BS tip is slightly different between the two pen styles

With the wide variety of Multiliner sizes, you are bound to find the perfect pens for your illustration work. A good range of sizes, at least 3 pens, allows for great illustrating flexibility.

1. Varying Line widths give the illusion of dimension. A simple circle becomes a ball by making one side of the line thicker.

2.    Varied line widths give the illusion of weight. An object becomes grounded or heavier when you have a thicker line on the bottom.

3.    Thick and thin lines give the illusion of lighting. When you see thick heavy lines, you can feel the shadow and where the light is hitting something.

4.    Line variation is dynamic and attracts the eye. If you write a word with a regular pen, it is not nearly as interesting as if you write the same word with a calligraphy pen. The eye is attracted to a line that changes widths.

When you are working in inking pen, you have only black and white to share the ideas of weight, dimension, and light. How do you share the feeling of “gray” or in-between black and white without using color or a gray pen?

A traditional technique for shading with inking pens is Hatching.

What is Hatching/Cross Hatching? Hatching is a way of drawing lots of lines close together to show volume or shading. Older illustrations used this technique commonly before technology changed the way people illustrate. Cross hatching is when you draw more thin lines in the opposite direction to darken up an area.

Depending on how fine your pen is and your technique, you can deepen your cross hatching from very light to almost black. The trick comes in learning to keep a steady hand and making your lines consistent and even. Illustrators a few hundred years ago created beautiful, detailed, and meticulously drawn work.

When used in conjunction with thick and thin lines, outlines show the full range of grays using simple black lines. This is the same concept computer illustrations are based on with pixels.

Below is a cube shaded using the cross hatching technique. The skill and effort good hatching takes, makes an exquisite illustration!

First please give us a bit of background Information-Where are you from, Education and Artistic interests?

I have no formal art training. Up until I hit 27, I my only artistic outlets had been music (clarinet player in several groups,) woodworking, and writing. My very artistic wife Teesha had started making hand bound journals, and it was through the freedom of keeping one of these on me at all times, that I began to relax and draw and doodle. It was a slow process, but now I cannot stand to be separated from my journal for any length of time.

What is your earliest memory of drawing or making art?

I doodled a bit in Elementary school. But I remember having a very negative art teacher in Jr. High that completely turned me off to art for many years.

What criticism from a teacher or mentor have you received on your work that really helped you develop?

My wife Teesha is brutally honest. And…shhh…don’t tell her this…haha…but she is almost always right. She has a clear vision that makes my head spin. She will look at something that I am working on and know instantly whether I need to take it further…or back off and stop. I completely respect this talent and have learned that while I don’t always agree at first…I almost always see that she was right when I put a little time on the clock and come back to it.

What inspired you to create?

Um…haha…well…my process mostly involves going to coffee houses and bars in between work meetings (I work in the construction industry)…and getting out my journal and playing in it. One of the things I love about the Copic Air Brush system is its portability. I keep a couple of the small air cans in my bag at all times and have no hesitation to whip them out and do a little airbrushing any where I happen to be. The air brush is a great conversation starter as well. I have met many interesting people while playing in my journals out and about.

What’s your favorite part about being an artist?

It is the worlds best stress reliever. I can be completely stressed out by work, life, whatever…and as soon as I open my journal and begin to doodle and draw and write, all my stress just fades away. It is a great soul cleanser.

What is the worst part for you about being an artist?

I rarely think of any negativity associated with being an artist. If I had to find something, I guess it would be the fact that I want to create art all the time, and I simply cannot afford to.

Who are some of your favorite artists?

Teesha Moore , Theo Ellsworth, Keith LoBue, Michael Deming, Sam Keith, Bernie Wrightson, and Bill Seink.

How did you come to know and use Copic Markers? Which are your favorites?

Years ago, we stumbled across Copic Sketch Markers and realized how amazingly long they lasted and how much we loved using them in our journals. Teesha used the Brush Tip ends for writing on her journal pages and I found and loved the Air Brush adapter. We began wholesaling them and taking them to the rubber stamp shows all over the United States with our company Zettiology Rubber Stamps. I do a lot of demoing and have a blast showing people how much fun, and how easy air brushing can be with the system.

Tell us about your upcoming Journalfest, how it got started and where it is today?

As for Journalfest, this event grew out of our love of journals, and journaling. We have a large art event we do every year up in Port Townsend Washington called Artfest. Every spring over 500 artists gather at this wonderful fort which is nestled right on the water. They come to be with a superb community like minded artists and participate in a great collection of classes taught by around 40 amazing teachers.
We have been doing Artfest for 12 years now, and last year we decided to put on an
event solely devoted to journals. Both Teesha and I have been avid journalers for
years. Our rubber stamp company, Zettiology was started all from random drawings
from our journals. We have come to realize that our journals are a driving force in most
of the art projects and events that we do. As such, it seemed only fitting that we plan
an event featuring classes relating to the making and filling of journals. Last year was a
huge success. One hundred and fifty journal enthusiasts gather here for classes, parties,
journaling, and a vendor night full of some of the most unique supplies and hand made
journals you have ever seen.

Visit Tracy & Teesha elsewhere on the web:

teeshamoore.com

zettiology.com

sustainedconfusion.blogspot.com

facebook.com/tracyvmoore

If ink is not flowing properly from your pen, the ink cartridge should be replaced.

There are two sizes of cartridges: Ink cartridge A refills sizes 0.03, 0.05, and 0.1. Ink cartridge B refills sizes 0.2, 0.25, 0.3, 0.35, 0.5, 0.7, and BS. To put in a new ink cartridge, pull the old cartridge out from the bottom, by using the larger of the two openings on the SP Changer or by simply pulling it out by hand. Next, push your new cartridge, without the lid, up into its place. Download this pdf for a visual explanation.

Replacing Nibs

To replace the nib, use the SP Changer. This product can be used by placing the small opening around the metal indent towards the bottom of the nib and pulling upward. To put your new nib into the multiliner push it into the pen and make sure the wick makes clear contact with the ink reservoir. Download this pdf for a visual explanation.

Avoid frequently pulling the nib in and out, this will cause damage to the wick and result in poor ink flow.

Line Variation

You can achieve the thick/thin line variation when drawing by pushing heavier or lighter. Even though the pen tip is very firm and has no flexibility without breaking, it is still possible to push less or more. The trick to this is have something softer under your paper other than just a firm table surface. Always keep a few sheets of scratch paper under your work, the added depth has a slight give to it so you can push harder without damaging the pen tip. Working in a sketchbook is a great way to get this line variation.

Paper Use and Care

Copic Multiliner inking pens work best on very smooth grained paper. The Copic Multiliner inking pens also work well both with watercolors and on watercolor paper. When working on rough surfaces, caution is recommended while using the finer nib sizes.

Check out illustrator Stuart Immonen‘s drawings of people he finds on Flickr. A great idea for photo reference and some really nice caricatures.

via Drawn!

If you haven’t heard about the 1000 Journals Project then you really should check out their site. I’ve had this book sitting on my desk for months and pick it up all the time for inspiration or just a quick visual break. It is a great reminder of the flexible nature of visual communication. Everyone has their own approach to mark making, drawing or doodling. There is a great deal of mixed media/ collage work in here as well. Makes me want to get up from the computer and go to my drawing table with nothing but a pile of old magazines, a glue stick and my favorite drawing tool.

From their about page;

The 1000 Journals Project is an ongoing collaborative experiment attempting to follow 1000 journals throughout their travels. The goal is to provide a method for interaction and shared creativity among friends and strangers.

How it Works:

Those who find the journals add something to them. A story, drawing, photograph, anything really. Then they pass the journal along, to a friend or stranger, and the adventure continues.

It has become pretty popular and so it may be difficult to get a hold of a journal to add to. Nevertheless, their FAQ page provides insight on how to be a part of it. Or you can get involved in the 1001 project, an extention which aims to provide more people with a chance to make art with others.

Nicholas Stohlman, 2008

Found this artist today. He has some great conceptual, pen and ink stuff. I love this kind of quick sketch. Check out the rest of Nicholas Stohlman‘s work.

Heather Plank is a graduate of the University of Oregon and former Director of Ucross Foundation in Wyoming. The above drawings were made during her travels in the western desert of Egypt.