Urban Sketching with Fountain Pens
With the warm and sunny days slowly outnumbering the cold ones, we at the store are enthralled by the arrival of spring. And what better way to shake off the hibernation than an event for our treasured community! Onthe morning of April 6th, we held an urban sketching event at our shop in collaboration with Lamy and local artist Marek Badzynski, showcasing all the ways you can use a fountain pen to take in the world around you. We thought we would share some of what we learned!
Marek demonstrating all the fantastic drawing techniques and wonderful sketches that you can make with a simple Lamy Safari Fountain Pen.
Tools of the trade:
As far as pens for sketching go, the world is your oyster, but there are some that stand out from the crowd for us.
The Lamy Safari Fountain Pen is a perennial favourite with many of our customers here at Phidon.
The Lamy Safari Fountain Pen is a great starting pen in general, but it also has great merit as an artistic companion for its variability. Its stainless steel nibs are interchangeable (by gripping the sides firmly and pulling outwards), with Lamy offering nibs ranging from an extra fine to a broad 1.9mm chisel tip. They are also wonderful on-the-go pens as, kind of like a Nokia phone, they are pretty much indestructible.
If you’re up for the learning curve, the Sailor Fude De Mannen Fountain Pen is well-loved among our staff and urban sketchers alike! The unique bent nib on this pen allows for a variety of line weights depending on the angle you hold it at. Lean fully on the bend and you get a line similar to a chisel tip, but then lift to the tip of the nib and it will act like a medium nib! You can even turn your pen 180 degrees write and get a fine line! Its potential for many lines in one pen makes for an excellent travelling pen.
But as we know, pens are only part of the equation! For paper, ideally look for something smooth and thick. We recommend SM.LT glued Bristol pads. Ultra smooth and glued down on one edge, they make sure your art work stays in place while you’re working, and when you’re ready to share your work with the world, the glued pages release seamlessly. Traveler’s Company watercolour spiral ring notebooks are a great sketchbook-like alternative. Their watercolour paper can take ink washes and we love that the pages aren’t too textured, so your lines will stay crisp.
Technique:
Urban sketching is really about exploring and documenting your finds through art, so go on an adventure! And the journey doesn’t need to be long to be eye-opening. A day-trip to a neighbouring town or a walk around your neighbourhood can reveal something that catches your interest. A lot of urban sketchers like to draw buildings, such as beautiful churches or sentimental business like your favourite restaurant. Once you’ve found your subject matter, settle in and begin to play!
You can sketch in any number of ways. But if you’re just beginning to discover your process, you can start by breaking your sketch up into three stages:
Laying down the shapes
Putting in your mid tones
Adding detail and heavy values
If you’re just starting out and a little skeptical about boldly starting your drawing, lightly lay down very basic shapes. Let it be your guide for other shapes. Chart the basic building forms and then look to other defining features, like windows, ledges or rooflines. Once you are satisfied with how your shapes are laid out, use water and a brush to spread ink over your drawing where there is shadow! It will give your illustration some depth and make it feel more complete. All that is left from there is to add more detail and your darkest areas. For example, maybe text on the doors or black trims on windows!
At the store, Justyna Sokolowski’s Journaler’s Toolkit Workshop on April 27th will actually include some in-person guidance for urban sketching if you’d like a more hands-on experience! There is also a local chapter of Urban Sketchers here in Waterloo region who meet twice a month, you can find upcoming events on their facebook page! We hope you take a chance on urban sketching this sunny season. It’s a great way to explore and take in travel destinations and old haunts alike.
Thank you to all our guests who attended the event! We hope you learned as much as we did.