Some More Critters

"I act as a sponge. I soak it up and squeeze it out in ink every two weeks." - Janet Flanner

 
Here's a quick sampled handful of some student pen & ink assignments from the drawing class, all based on field sketches while out on our trip to the museum. Nice range of marks and textures conveying depth to the forms - as frustrating as this medium can be to the inexperienced I think it can also be very rewarding to experiment with. Some take to it and others suffer cramped hands (along with a cramping brain) and wistfully look back on charcoal with newfound appreciation and regret. But for every turn-off there's an inky-stained lightbulb going on over somebody's head and another convert finds something that they like working with.

It always reinforces one of the constant topics brought up over and over in class: investing time on a piece really shows up on these spot illustrations in particular. During the review of the works, it's immediately obvious who sat down and diligently, patiently   applied themselves to the task at hand. Hatching, cross-hatching and stippling rewards the methodically disciplined with nice results even if the underlying sketch is somewhat wonky - there's still a practical, aesthetic appreciation for any display of craftsmanship evident in drawings such as these. Plus the bonus application of an immediately useful work in an illustrative sense - these critters can easily find their way into print somewhere for something. Besides here.

"No pen, no ink, no table, no room, no time, no quiet, no inclination." - James Joyce