How to draw with pen


Whether you prefer ballpoints, fountain pens, felt-tips or fineliners, this guide provides everything you need to know about drawing with pen

drawing-with-pens

Drawing with pen is a low-cost, convenient and evocative art form. And unbeknown to most beginners is the variety of mark-making possibilities the medium offers.

Not only does this guide show you how to use pen to create shape, form and tone, it also reveals what pens can be used for drawing. Just to note – they are all portable pens that draw from an internal reservoir of ink, in contrast to dip pens and brushes that require a separate pot of ink.

WHAT PENS CAN I USE FOR DRAWING?

how-to-draw-with-pen-materials

1. Fountain pens

Fountain pens with nibs that are suitable for drawing are expensive, refillable and a portable alternative to a dip pen. Their lines vary with the angle at which they are held and also the pressure placed on the nib, which splays the tines of the pen, dispensing more ink to the page.

2. Fude nib pens

Fude nibs are a rare and versatile variation on a fountain pen – the bent tips make a broader, brush-like mark that varies with the angle of the pen and they can be flipped for a finer line.

3. Felt-tip pens

Felt-tip pens come in a variety of widths and create a bold line that starts dense and solid when the pen is new and becomes lighter and broken as the pen runs out of ink. This creates a new type of mark which can potentially be used to great effect. The width of the felt-tip mark will vary with pressure and pen angle.

4. Fineliner pen

Fineliners are disposable and affordable drawing pens, which are sold by line width (often ranging from 0.05mm to 1mm) and make a consistent, even mark. The plastic nibs gradually wear down, creating an angled or flat nib over time, and eventually wearing back to the metal when they should be thrown away. Technical drawing pens with steel nibs are an expensive, refillable alternative that won't wear down.

5. Ballpoint pens

Ubiquitous, disposable and cheap, ballpoint pens are liable to be your most readily accessible writing and drawing medium. Ballpoint pens make a fine, occasionally unreliable mark that can be varied with pressure.

HOW DO YOU VARY THE MARKS?

Your grip

Experiment with holding your pen in different ways to create a wider variety of line. Gripping the pen as if you were writing will provide control and suits short, consistent marks. Meanwhile, a looser pinch of the barrel further from the tip reduces control and creates a more gestural and varied mark.

Hatching

how-to-draw-with-pen-hatching

Hatching involves building up parallel marks of varying density. Experiment with horizontal, vertical and diagonal hatching or a mixture of all three.

Cross hatching

how-to-draw-with-pen-cross-hatching

Blocks of hatching can be layered in different directions to create areas of increasingly dense tone.

Contoured hatching

how-to-draw-with-pen-contoured-hatching

As you become more confident with cross hatching, adapt your lines into curved marks that follow the form of an object and suggest rounded surfaces. This can simultaneously build up darker tones and sculpt form on the page.

HOW CAN I USE PEN TO DRAW?

In this fountain pen study of a hand, you can see how to put hatched marks into practice.

1. Initial drawing

how-to-draw-with-pen-hands-01

A swift, gestural sketch establishes the overall shape of the hands.

2. Defining shape

how-to-draw-with-pen-hands-02

Refine the edges of the hand in pencil.

3. Contours

how-to-draw-with-pen-hands-03

Draw over the pencil contours in pen, erasing the former when the ink is dry.

4. Hatching

how-to-draw-with-pen-hands-04

Use parallel marks to establish simple tones over the entire image.

5. Exploring form

how-to-draw-with-pen-hands-05

Explore the surface of the form with sculpted, curving lines.

6. Cross hatching

how-to-draw-with-pen-hands-06

Layer marks in varying directions to create darker tones.

Read more:

  • Top 5 tips for drawing in biro
  • How to draw with charcoal
  • How to draw with ink
  • How to draw with graphite
  • 6 top daily drawing tips

For more artistic advice and inspiration every month, subscribe to Artists & Illustrators magazine.

Read More

  • Abstract
  • Acrylic
  • Animals & Wildlife
  • Art Theory
  • Article
  • Blog
  • Buildings & Architecture
  • Contemporary
  • Drawing
  • Family Art
  • Floral & Nature
  • Framing & Varnish
  • Illustration
  • Ink
  • Landscapes
  • Marketing your art
  • Oil Painting
  • Pastels
  • Portraits & Figurative
  • Printmaking
  • Sculpture
  • Still Life
  • Watercolour