Thoughts on drawing with ink

I recently learned how to draw with a nib pen and India ink in a comics class. I had been drawing with micron pens for years but had stayed away from nibs because it seemed a lot harder. I put up with pens that ran out of ink, had no line weight variation, and were never really black enough. When I was forced to use a nib for class, I was kicking myself for not trying it sooner.

I tried out a number of different nibs from the Speedball Sketching Pen Set and found that I like the ones that allow you to draw in any direction and have a rather low line weight variability (but still more than microns).

I was scared to start using them because of the risk of ink blots or knocking over your jar, and just the way you can ruin your art so easily. I was already familiar with the permanence of ink, having heavily used microns, india ink with a brush, and also watercolour, which I think is something that puts a lot of people off of ink. Since having some time to practice with nibs, I realized that if I'm just careful, it's unlikely I'll get an ink blot or knock over my ink.

Ink and nibs are now my go-to medium when I have a project. I find it so satisfying how deep black india ink is against bright white bristol. I also like how I have to be paying attention as I draw because any major mistake is going to be harder to deal with than if I was using my ipad. I like my shaky lines and inconsistent hatching because it gives me something to work on improving.

Arcturus Beaming, 2024

It's Cold Outside but it's Warm in Here, 2025

This first illustration is one example of something I made using microns and India ink with a brush. I like how this illustration turned out, but making it was a bit of a frustrating process of fighting my tools. My pens were running out of ink by the end (they were already a few years old) and it's hard on the hands to hatch with them because of their shape. Making the background fully black by painting on the India ink was a fun process, but very stressful going around the edges of the figure.

I made this second illustration with India ink using nib pens and a brush. I had a lot more fun and felt a lot more playful with the mark-making in this piece than the previous piece. Part of that came from the variety of objects and textures in the composition compared to the last piece, but also because of the freedom and confidence I feel with a nib pen.