Class: Ballpoint Pen Drawing - Pen and Ink

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This lesson series features:
Nearly 3 Hours of Instruction
4 Videos

Lessons

Lesson 1: (1:08:14) Lesson 2: (26:05) Lesson 3: (44:17) Lesson 4: (59:23)

About This Lesson Series...

In this lesson series, we create a pen and ink drawing of a cat on Stonehenge Polar White drawing paper with Zebra oil-based ballpoint pens.

Lesson 1 (41:07)

In lesson one, we discuss the materials, experiment with the oil-based ballpoint pens and create the contour drawing of the cat with a graphite pencil.

Lesson 2 (26:05)

In lesson two, we begin with pen and ink applications on the face and head of the cat.

Lesson 3 (44:17)

In lesson three, we complete the ears and begin working down the middle section of the body of the cat.

Lesson 4 (59:23)

In lesson four, we complete the drawing by addressing the lower part of the body, the tail and the cast shadow.

Ballpoint Pen Drawing of a Cat

Resources for this Lesson...

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References

Photo Reference

Finished Result

Here's what you'll need...

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Lesson Discussion

  1. Love it Matt, I recently have been working on a piece using these pens for the first time. When sketching, I had some troubles with inky spots on my paper. I wanted to ask around tomorrow on Live Classes and here you are!!!

    Will sit, watch, learn andhave fun.

    Thank you so much for this brand new course,
    Buddy (who is practicing with purpose) 😉

  2. Dear Maki,

    Thank you so much for sharing your increadible art and technique with us. I always have been a fan of your pieces and am so happy, Matt liked the idea to try out these pens.

    Thanks,
    Buddy

  3. I enjoyed watching this “class” and like the idea of having more of them (classes) with a variety of media and/or papers. Thanks for being so responsive to the requests from your members.

  4. Matt,

    What a wonderful course. Will you be adding more to this course?

    I have truly enjoyed it and have done some doodling with my pens. I am getting ready to do this course after watching through this course.

    It is so inspiring to always have something new to learn. your hard work and dedication is very inspiring to the creativity we are developing on this journey and you.

    Greetings to your family,

    Teri

  5. Hello Matt,

    One thing that I forgot to say is that this class reminded me of the art-along that you did on YouTube last year. Those were really enjoyable to do.

    A live class where we can work along side the whole way without the distraction of the chat and all.

    Don’t take me wrong. The live classes are something I wait for every week, as well as the critiques. It’s a way I can have interaction with others.

    Everything that you are doing to improve the website does not go unnoticed.

    Thank you for constantly expanding.

    Teri (again

  6. It’s nice to see this little course on drawing with ballpoint pen! I made a few drawing with ballpoint pen myself. A tip to minimalise the blobs of ink that comes out often, is I like to have a scrap piece of paper next to my work. Sometimes you can see those blobs on the tip of the pen. When you see them or when you expect them coming, you can smear them off by making some marks on that scrap piece of paper. You can’t get rid of them completely, but that’s how I minimise them and sometimes you can hide the blobs by making the surroundings a bit darker in your artwork. Just blend them in.
    Are we gonna see a live lesson series of a getting sketchy episode with ballpoint pens as well? Would be lots of fun!

  8. Hi Matt, thank you for developing and offering this new lesson with a Zebra ballpoint pen.

    Your cat is marvelous…s/he is not scary at all, I can only see CUTENESS!
    Seriously, thank you for choosing a cat as the subject despite being so allergic to them.

    I totally agree with everything you are talking here…techniques, style development, most difficult part of drawing, patience… I had a really good time watching the whole videos!

    If you are planning to prepare some other lessons with a Zebra pen, I would recommend owls or fruits as the subject. They are such challenging subjects which require a really, really smooth transition of values gradation to make them look believable.

    Thank you!
    Maki

  10. Am anxious to begin your Pen and Ink course with Zebra pens. But my order arrived from Blick (a box of 10 identical pens marked “Zebra Sarasa MarkOn 0.5″ ??? ) . These are the wrong size, aren’t they” How do I identify what I want for your course? Thanks Matt.

    Regards,
    Tony Hathaway

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