Pen and Ink Drawing
Rika’s Roadhouse pen and ink drawing ©Niebrugge
During the early 1960’s when I studied commercial art, the process used to create black and white artwork for publication involved producing ink drawings by hand using multiple techniques with pen and ink to create various shades of gray. Cross hatch, parallel lines, stipple, curves, squiggle, and any other method an artist could devise were employed using different pen points of varying thickness. One way to distinguish between mediocre ink drawing and excellent work was to evaluate the quality of the ink line.
Ink drawings that looked as if they were produced mechanically, using lines of equal length without variation in thickness, did not have the grace and style of drawings with irregular lines. Some of my favorite pen points were map drawing nibs, tiny metal points that could be placed into a wooden handle and dipped into the inkwell. Line variation was created by the amount of pressure applied to the nib. Often, if the artist was unskilled, too much pressure created an ink blob. As students, we were encouraged to incorporate mistakes such as these unexpected blobs into the artwork, and not to try to cover them up. I found ink drawing to be fun, challenging and something that required incredible skill.
Today, commercial artists create drawings on the computer using a mouse instead of a pen. Artwork is pixelated automatically by clicking the mouse on a menu offering a option to the number of pixels to the inch needed for the intended use of the art. Line color can change by a simple selection in the color palette and can be altered over and over and over again. Endless copies of the artwork can be saved with minor adjustments by using the many preferences available in the toolbar. Images can be stretched, inverted, mirrored, resized, the list of options are endless. Commercial artists are highly skilled in their use of the computer, the artwork is astounding and can be done quickly. But, what is missing is the quality of line. Computer programs still have not been able to replace the quality of a beautiful irregular line made by a nib from a pen dipped into ink.
Often, for a break in my schedule of painting, I will sit down at the drafting table and produce a pen and ink drawing using some of my favorite outmoded pen nibs and a crusty timeworn bottle of india ink. As I work I still feel the joy of creating a beautiful line drawing by hand, and when the work is complete I take pride in the quality of the line. Currently I use pen and ink drawing as a way to capture the images of historic places and ancient buildings that are scattered throughout rural Alaska. I have a number of drawings in my portfolio of sites that no longer exist, they have suffered the ravages of time and have collapsed into a pile of rubble or burned to the ground. My ink drawings are a contemporary record of the history of the wonderful wilderness frontier that is quickly disappearing in Alaska.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
