Category Archives: inks

From a moving vehicle

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Ed Mostly

A collection of fast drive-by sketches; trees seen from a train, and vehicles from a car. The trees were glimpsed for a few seconds as we shot past, so a brush-pen was ideal for quickly capturing their individual shapes and key lines, with … Continue reading →

Posted in collections, coloured paper, from life, inks, journeys, monochrome, sketching, technique, trains, travel, urban, vehicles | Tagged drive-by sketches, individual trees, Lexington grey ink, sketching from a vehicle, sketching on coloured paper, sketching on the move, sketching trees, sketching vehicles, The Temptations, tree shapes | 2 Comments

Feather and tea

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Ed Mostly

A couple of sketches done using found/improvised resources during a trip to Grinda, the Stockholm island where I drew the 38 boats. The first was drawn using a dip-nib cut into the tip of a swan’s feather that I found (a bottle lid with … Continue reading →

Posted in dip pen, from life, holiday, inks, kit, Lexington grey, line drawing, monochrome, pencil, technique | Tagged Band of Horses, cutting a quill nib, dip pen, Ferry views, Grinda, improvised sketching resources, Lexington grey, monochrome sketch, quill nib, sepia sketch, sketching from life, swan feather, tea as wash | 1 Comment

One lump or two?

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Ed Mostly

Pencil, fountain pen and water-brush with Lexington grey, wine stain, A6 – 20 minutes Water-brush with Lexington grey, A5 – 10 minutes A new favourite toy model animal, the familiar but strange Dromedary (the one-humped camel of Africa, Arabia etc). It has the strong curves … Continue reading →

Posted in animal, brush pen, hatching, inks, monochrome, toys | Tagged Bactrian camel, camels, contre jour, cross-hatching, dromedary, shadows, Super Furry Animals, toy model animal | 1 Comment

Hyacinth’s decline

Posted on March 29, 2014 by Ed Mostly

Bamboo dip-pen pen with dilute Lexington grey ink, water-brush with acrylic ink, A4 – two hours This is probably the last drawing there’ll be of the hyacinth that I’ve been documenting since Christmas. Although the leaves have now collapsed under their own weight and … Continue reading →

Posted in botany, death, dip pen, flowers, from life, inks, Lexington grey, line drawing, monochrome | Tagged bamboo dip pen, Beatles, brown acrylic ink, decline, dying flower, hyacinth, leaf shadows, Lexington grey ink, long leaves | Leave a comment

Paint it black, or grey

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Ed Mostly

Lexington grey water-brush and fountain pen, A5 – 15 minutes Another late-night sketch of something close to hand, this time some well-worn shoes, in pen and ink. The shoes are really totally black, but I wanted the laces, soles and interiors … Continue reading →

Posted in clothing, Feet, from life, inks, Lexington grey, line drawing, monochrome, objects | Tagged creases, Feet, pair, pair of shoes, Rolling Stones, shoe laces, well worn | 1 Comment

Topkapi #2

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Ed Mostly

Water-brush, dilute Lexington grey ink, watercolour, gouache, A5 – 30 minutes Back in the Harem section of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, this time looking through to the Black Eunuch’s Courtyard, with direct sun on the columns beyond. One of … Continue reading →

Posted in buildings, coloured paper, from life, grisaille, inks, Istanbul, Lexington grey, museum, people, sketching, travel, urban | Tagged Andy Williams and Pearl Bailey, Black Eunuchs courtyard, decorative tiles, gateway, gold gouache, grey ink, Lexington grey ink, passers by, portraits, Topkapi | Leave a comment

Hyacinth revisitted

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Ed Mostly

Bamboo dip-pen pen and water-brush, dilute Lexington grey ink, watercolour, A4 – 20 minutes each Once the hyacinth that I drew a few weeks ago was in full bloom the fragrance/smell became too much, so it went outside. It survived the recent … Continue reading →

Posted in botany, dip pen, flowers, from life, grisaille, inks, Lexington grey, line drawing, monochrome | Tagged bamboo dip pen, blue flower, Dick van Dyke, flowering bulb, grey ink, hyacinth, Lexington grey ink, long green leaves | 1 Comment

Marlborough light

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Ed Mostly

1mm Pigma pen, white and blue Uni Posca brush markers, Lexington grey water-brush, dilute blue and brown ink for roof and chimneys, A5 – 30 mins line drawing on location, 20 mins adding ink washes and colour at home Wet … Continue reading →

Posted in Bath, buildings, coloured paper, from life, inks, Lexington grey, urban, white marker pen | Tagged Bath in Time, Bath stone, facade, Gerry Rafferty, Marlborough Buildings, royal crescent, streeview, symmetry, wind break | 3 Comments

Night vision

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Ed Mostly

Sketching at night presents some extra challenges; cold hands, low light, and increased self-consciousness (“What’s he up to…?”). So these two were done fast by the light of street lamps; the first while waiting for a bus in Larkhall (Streetview link), … Continue reading →

Posted in Bath, buildings, from life, inks, Lexington grey, monochrome, night, pencil, urban, waiting | Tagged Larkhall, night sketching, Sesame Street, Stevie Wonder, street lamps, The Star Inn, Uni Posca brush pen, white gelly roll pen | 2 Comments

Sketching fuel

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Ed Mostly

My sketching’s mostly fuelled by Lexington grey, a wonderful ink made by Noodlers in the USA. I use it in almost every sketch I do as it’s rapidly waterproof, but also safe for fountain pens. It works well with water-colour washes, and you … Continue reading →