WSOs and art pens

I have a small set of Faber Castell art pens, with brush tips. They are acid ree, light fast, fade resistant, waterproof pigmented drawing inks. I began using them on my trip for quick sketches and to do my initial drawings under the wsos. But as I have also used them to sign paintings (I'm terrible at signing with a brush) I thought why not see how they worked in combination with the wsos and not just for the underdrawing. I've used them in sparingly in a couple of paintings - just to define edges and get into corners where the colours match. They blend in a bit when the olis are not quite dry, and the tips of the pens don't get ruined as they would if I tried using them on not quite dry acrylics. I just completed a painting where I drew in my picture with the pens, painted it in glazes of wso with some walnut alkyd, and then went over all the fine tracery branches (which showed a bit still through the paint) over top of the oils to bring them back into focus. Only in some places did the pen bead up a tiny bit while applying it, otherwise it went on smoothly, just as it had done on the primed canvas, or when I've signed work. And when dry it is permanent. Here's the finished painting - 24"x24" canvas.

I think I like this the most of any of your paintings I have seen! I can't really tell where you used the pens and where you didn't, but I guess that's the idea of blending with the pens. I find myself really melting into relaxation while looking at your painting. Fabulous!

Dayle

Sofie - that's wonderful! And thanks for sharing your pen tips (or should I say nibs ). This could make for a lot less frustration for me when trying to deal with picky little details.

Sofie, I love it! The contrast is wonderful and the colors are great!

Thanks everyone

I took that pic indoors, but in a room with lots of windows and natural light. I need to take a proper pic outdoors but it's in a show right now. That's the bonus of using the alkyd - the thin glazes dry so quickly.

In the process, it was nice to be able to paint in the background over the tiny branches, so it had a natural flow, and then be able to still see them clearly enough to redraw them with the pens.

I don't think the pens would work in a painting with oils used thick from the tube, though.

Sofie, good luck with the show.

Sofie,
I love the clouds and sky showing through those wonderful tree branches. It feels so peaceful. The pen idea is great for signing. I've used them on dry acrylics and watercolors, but never thought they would work over the WSO. I'll have to give that a try. I never could figure out howpeople sign so neatly with a brush.

BTW... Hi from eastern South Carolina. I left the ocean behind for the tall pine trees.

Judy