DEMONSTRATION

Lobster on Board

STAGE ONE

Being right-handed I work left to right so that my hand will not rest on or smudge the wet ink. Working over a light rough pencil drawing will keep the work on track and help avoid placing marks where they are not wanted. A fine nib was used to build up tone using hatching and cross-hatching techniques, whilst a slightly thicker nib was used to build up scribbled marks, the dots and dashes that indicate the pattern, and texture on the lobster’s surface

STAGE TWO

I worked steadily, hatching and cross-hatching to build up the textures. It is better to underwork an area rather than overwork – more marks can always be added but it can be difficult, if not impossible, to satisfactorily remove them. Keeping the white of the support showing even in the darker passages keeps the drawing alive. Dense impenetrable dark areas tend to deaden the image and need to be treated with care

STAGE THREE

In order that the wooden board under the lobster did not overwhelm and to create a change in tone, I used dilute ink. The technique of application is the same but beware that the viscosity of the ink is changed, being thinner it is more liable to flow easily from the nib and create blots. Given the paleness of the ink this is not a huge problem but can be mitigated by making a few lines on a scrap piece of paper prior to applying the ink to the actual drawing