I have the green sailor fude, and I appreciate the reminder of why I have it. I will definitely try it for filling in. I think my felt tip pens are getting dry and tired, and there feels like a lot more drag on the paper. It is a lot more work work, for a not very opaque result.
I felt a little blah with my 100 day project this week. Only did 4 instead of seven. It feels like there should be more, and waiting for the paint to dry in my sketchbook is making it hard for me to do my regular sketching. I don't know where to go from here. Maybe a larger work on paper each week?
I love your project and oh my gosh the palimpsest is beautiful. I keep going down rabbit holes in my head about encaustic, because i love that cloudy translucency.
I continue to see my valued art community on our weekly drawing sessions. It remains my favorite part of the week. I have been spending a lot of time with my neighbors, which has been really fun. I have been walking daily with Pam and Bernadette (the older couple), and Celia from a block down (she is a librarian at our local branch) joined us everyday in the past week because she had a vacation. I have also spent time with Leora and Aviva (the mom and little girl next door) because he husband has been out on the town all week at sxsw. Augie has a really sweet relationship with Aviva (she is 2).
I hope your efforts to get your nib clean worked. You can always just let it soak in a cup of really hot water. I’m sorry that your watercolor abstracts aren’t keeping you engaged, but it’s okay if that happens. They are really beautiful, but I can see how the process would cause logistical problems for working on your pages. You could do them on separate sheets (like you showed in our call)?
Yeah….the group hour really is the best hour of the week. I think sometimes about the fact that some people have such interactions every day. LOL. Thank you for appreciating the palimpsest. I’m sure it shows my chaos in some ways, but I’m smitten. I’ve never looked much at wax…. Thankfully, I’m pretty good at limiting what I decide to try. But I will cheer you on if you try it and happily listen to a show and tell as you show what you made! (I’m so happy that your move has resulted in good neighbors and people you are really getting to know.)
Love this Amy! I ordered one of your suggestions, I needed something for a new ink color. I can never get my sailor fude to flow with the narrow side I think I may have damaged the nib. I’m reading Daniel Mason’s North Woods right now. Interesting conceit if a little uneven (a series of stories that follow one plot of land in western Massachusetts through its different tenants over time).
Fude doesn’t work when vertical? Or when flipped/reversed? I know people do reverse, but I didn’t really find enough flow that way. But I hope you enjoy whatever you decide to try. What color new ink? That’s the question! I haven’t heard of North Woods. You always have interesting picks.
I haven’t used fountain pens before, but now I’m intrigued. I do have a collection of calligraphy pens, some with cartridges of ink and some dip pens, which are so fun. I sort of love that scratch-scratch on the paper.
I just finished Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books, and just started a book with the most beautiful cover, The Teller of Small Fortunes. It’s rainbowy! Next week I have a book club about Tom Sawyer, so I’m reading that, too. In the past, I didn’t read so many books at once, but I’m reading one as an audio book all the time, to listen to while I’m doing mundane chores. It’s so easy now to find them for free at my library!
Have a wonderful week! Looking forward to your rainbowy contours next time you post. 😍
Thanks for commenting, Jen. I have to go look up that cover now. I have to see a rainbowy cover! I keep several books going, too, partly because I do listen to audio books as well, like you.
Fountain pens are wonderful. As I told Melissa (in another comment), I wouldn't suggest a fude nib as a first nib. I would suggest something like a TWSBI or Lamy. Or, if you really just want to try a fountain pen, the Platinum Preppy pens are durable and smooth. Fountain pens are kind of a way of life maybe?
Amy, another book I’ve been working through is Mira Jacob’s “good talk” - it’s a graphic novel but a very different style than I’ve ever seen before. The images are collage and very static. It goes well with the dialog-focus of the text. It was really moving. I loved her first novel and the graphic novel is more autobiographical including the process of her first novel, it was really special.
Didn't know Hongdian made a gold pen, but that might've been after my fountain pen craze a few years ago, which coincided with an artistic penpal exchange that lasted a few years and then seems to have died out.
I have 17 Hongdians in different colors, and only Hongdians. Tried Lamy early on and hated the way it forced my fingers into a certain position and was scratchy on the page. So it's been a couple years since I used fountain pens regularly. The nice thing about the Hongdians is that the model you show here and a couple others can interchange nibs, so I have extra fine, fine, and fude.
Recently I put a fude nib on one of the pens and tried writing with it. Ugh, lol. Oh well, I tried. I also have multiple inks in all kinds of colors. Favorite brand is Diamine.
Funny, Kate. I’m sure a fude nib isn’t for everyone, and I’ve been using fountain pens for years without thinking it had a place in my lineup. As with everything, we all find different tools fit the way we work!
Without any background in inks, at least no formal background, in anything regarding art or illustration, I find your pieces so enhancing of my desires to create more. Although I have done more than an armload of art, and have more than I need of PAST accolades, this is inspiring to see how unique you've made your site!
Thank you, Jill. I really appreciate this comment — I think pen and ink is a pretty friendly, and the illustrated journal is such a wonderful and personal project. I encourage jumping in, but I’m also happy just knowing that there were good things to look at and think about in what you saw today. Thanks so much!
Not only good things, but your illustrations are definitely fabulous and unique and communicate lots about the variety of rainbows that can happen in someone’s life, especially shared, creative, and varied.
This post was like reading a recipe where you don't recognize any of the ingredients, but the picture of the dish still makes you want to eat it right now! 😅
I'm delighting in your rainbow topography and, like you, was attracted to the weeds/reeds. I also think the one where you've overlain several on top of each other is fascinating. How the speed picks up! How, for me, it almost becomes audible.
I wish I knew more about ink and how you decide which colors to use. You say you've stuck with blacks, purples and grays, so I'm going to guess something way off in the other direction, inspired by your sunrise series: Maybe you went with something in the red/orange family?
How are your current projects going?
I assume you mean creative, but I'm answering from under a work hat: So-so. I'm more distractible than I used to be. And we are feeling direct impacts from the funding freezes. So that's hard.
Are you finding the community you need?
Yes, and I'm grateful for that.
What are you reading?
A lot of news analysis and more poetry than I've read in years.
That’s such a good analogy for reading this, so funny. But thank you! I’m glad you found it interesting in some ways. And thank you about the contour series. It’s a bit of colorful whimsy for sure. Likening the palimpsest to sound is a really fascinating way to experience it and think about it. I love that you gave the color question a guess. No. But that was a good stab at it! — I’m sorry about the work being more stressful and potentially tenuous because of the political landscape. Work is, really, dragging me under these days. It would be so much harder if the funding freezes were coming into play, so I do really sympathize with the stress of that. Poetry sounds like a good and maybe unexpected counterbalance — but maybe also a good way to work around distraction? Who do you enjoy?
Amy, I can't say I'm enjoying any one poet more than another. Just that I'm finding myself more attracted to the form. I subscribe to a few folks here (Julia Fehrenbacher, 26thAvenuePoet, Sherman Alexie), and read what comes my way, however it may. Thanks for asking.
I'm inspired to try a fountain pen! ..... My 100 Day project is slightly stalled but I hope it resuscitates itself when I start my drawing class on Tuesday! My first art class ever (besides elementary school). I also hope that will help me find a community ❤️❤️❤️
If you are going to try a fountain pen for the first time, I probably wouldn’t advise a fude, Melissa. While it’s versatile, I think you would enjoy something that you can simply hold and use the way you always hold and use a pen. Luckily, there are really good picks for inexpensive fountain pens. TWSBI or Lamy are both good options. I don’t think you can go wrong with a TWSBI, really. I’m sorry that the 100-day project feels stalled. It happens. And it’s okay when it happens. If you aren’t loving it, it’s always okay to move on. But your first art class! That sounds awesome. What’s the topic? (You are always welcome to join us some Sunday and see if you enjoy it. We’re a friendly group.)
Lots of great fude info here, Amy! I have the green sailor one, but I haven’t tried the others, so it was interesting to hear about those. I tend to stick with the zebra g flexible nib (as you know) and I also enjoy the maru since I learned about that from you. But I do find it nice how the fude gives you the consistent different line widths without worrying about pressure. (Can you say “consistent different”? Something about that sounds wrong.) I got a chuckle about the auto corrected “dude” nib.
Your work with the zebra g is always amazing. I am enjoying the fude because they are so loose and smooth -- and maru was exactly not that! But your work is more delicate and precise, I know. Even when I tried dip pen, I never managed to "use" the flex of the zebra g. I hope your new illustration project is going well. Thanks for commenting!
I will definitely need to reread this post because it is such an interesting topic. I vary between several different drawing tools -- for fp ink it's dip pen & flex nib. I like when you've used a nib so long that you know what it will do in every situation without actively thinking about it.
The stacked images are fantastic -- such an interesting tangent and happy to see it because I love digital layering of images.
And now I shall look at my inks and ponder what ink you have ordered...
Thanks, Tammy. I love how unique our tool preferences are! I guess this year has reminded me that our choices aren't set in stone, too. That's always good to remember.
Oh gosh, this is the most comprehensive - and beautifully-illustrated, of course - introduction to the Fude nib I've read, Amy! I love your passion for it - I need to give one of these guys a go!
So funny you mentioned that, Lea. I just noticed it recently, and it only happens in some settings — mobile, I think. I think I’ve seen it on iPad and on the phone. (I had checked because I was trying to see how footnotes (in theory at the bottom) behave with certain settings enabled on the page. And… they popped up instead of jumping to the bottom. I guess maybe it’s less distracting for people to jump down and need to return. It’s messing with my use of the margins though! Haha.
I have the green sailor fude, and I appreciate the reminder of why I have it. I will definitely try it for filling in. I think my felt tip pens are getting dry and tired, and there feels like a lot more drag on the paper. It is a lot more work work, for a not very opaque result.
I felt a little blah with my 100 day project this week. Only did 4 instead of seven. It feels like there should be more, and waiting for the paint to dry in my sketchbook is making it hard for me to do my regular sketching. I don't know where to go from here. Maybe a larger work on paper each week?
I love your project and oh my gosh the palimpsest is beautiful. I keep going down rabbit holes in my head about encaustic, because i love that cloudy translucency.
I continue to see my valued art community on our weekly drawing sessions. It remains my favorite part of the week. I have been spending a lot of time with my neighbors, which has been really fun. I have been walking daily with Pam and Bernadette (the older couple), and Celia from a block down (she is a librarian at our local branch) joined us everyday in the past week because she had a vacation. I have also spent time with Leora and Aviva (the mom and little girl next door) because he husband has been out on the town all week at sxsw. Augie has a really sweet relationship with Aviva (she is 2).
I hope your efforts to get your nib clean worked. You can always just let it soak in a cup of really hot water. I’m sorry that your watercolor abstracts aren’t keeping you engaged, but it’s okay if that happens. They are really beautiful, but I can see how the process would cause logistical problems for working on your pages. You could do them on separate sheets (like you showed in our call)?
Yeah….the group hour really is the best hour of the week. I think sometimes about the fact that some people have such interactions every day. LOL. Thank you for appreciating the palimpsest. I’m sure it shows my chaos in some ways, but I’m smitten. I’ve never looked much at wax…. Thankfully, I’m pretty good at limiting what I decide to try. But I will cheer you on if you try it and happily listen to a show and tell as you show what you made! (I’m so happy that your move has resulted in good neighbors and people you are really getting to know.)
Love this Amy! I ordered one of your suggestions, I needed something for a new ink color. I can never get my sailor fude to flow with the narrow side I think I may have damaged the nib. I’m reading Daniel Mason’s North Woods right now. Interesting conceit if a little uneven (a series of stories that follow one plot of land in western Massachusetts through its different tenants over time).
Fude doesn’t work when vertical? Or when flipped/reversed? I know people do reverse, but I didn’t really find enough flow that way. But I hope you enjoy whatever you decide to try. What color new ink? That’s the question! I haven’t heard of North Woods. You always have interesting picks.
I splurged on the R&K sketchink in a blue and a rust. I hope they are as waterproof as the other ones I’ve tried.
Oh, nice! I hope they work out! I hope we’ll catch a glimpse of those colors in something you post.
I haven’t used fountain pens before, but now I’m intrigued. I do have a collection of calligraphy pens, some with cartridges of ink and some dip pens, which are so fun. I sort of love that scratch-scratch on the paper.
I just finished Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books, and just started a book with the most beautiful cover, The Teller of Small Fortunes. It’s rainbowy! Next week I have a book club about Tom Sawyer, so I’m reading that, too. In the past, I didn’t read so many books at once, but I’m reading one as an audio book all the time, to listen to while I’m doing mundane chores. It’s so easy now to find them for free at my library!
Have a wonderful week! Looking forward to your rainbowy contours next time you post. 😍
Thanks for commenting, Jen. I have to go look up that cover now. I have to see a rainbowy cover! I keep several books going, too, partly because I do listen to audio books as well, like you.
Fountain pens are wonderful. As I told Melissa (in another comment), I wouldn't suggest a fude nib as a first nib. I would suggest something like a TWSBI or Lamy. Or, if you really just want to try a fountain pen, the Platinum Preppy pens are durable and smooth. Fountain pens are kind of a way of life maybe?
Amy, another book I’ve been working through is Mira Jacob’s “good talk” - it’s a graphic novel but a very different style than I’ve ever seen before. The images are collage and very static. It goes well with the dialog-focus of the text. It was really moving. I loved her first novel and the graphic novel is more autobiographical including the process of her first novel, it was really special.
Didn't know Hongdian made a gold pen, but that might've been after my fountain pen craze a few years ago, which coincided with an artistic penpal exchange that lasted a few years and then seems to have died out.
I have 17 Hongdians in different colors, and only Hongdians. Tried Lamy early on and hated the way it forced my fingers into a certain position and was scratchy on the page. So it's been a couple years since I used fountain pens regularly. The nice thing about the Hongdians is that the model you show here and a couple others can interchange nibs, so I have extra fine, fine, and fude.
Recently I put a fude nib on one of the pens and tried writing with it. Ugh, lol. Oh well, I tried. I also have multiple inks in all kinds of colors. Favorite brand is Diamine.
Funny, Kate. I’m sure a fude nib isn’t for everyone, and I’ve been using fountain pens for years without thinking it had a place in my lineup. As with everything, we all find different tools fit the way we work!
True dat!
Without any background in inks, at least no formal background, in anything regarding art or illustration, I find your pieces so enhancing of my desires to create more. Although I have done more than an armload of art, and have more than I need of PAST accolades, this is inspiring to see how unique you've made your site!
Thank you
Thank you, Jill. I really appreciate this comment — I think pen and ink is a pretty friendly, and the illustrated journal is such a wonderful and personal project. I encourage jumping in, but I’m also happy just knowing that there were good things to look at and think about in what you saw today. Thanks so much!
Not only good things, but your illustrations are definitely fabulous and unique and communicate lots about the variety of rainbows that can happen in someone’s life, especially shared, creative, and varied.
Thank you!
This post was like reading a recipe where you don't recognize any of the ingredients, but the picture of the dish still makes you want to eat it right now! 😅
I'm delighting in your rainbow topography and, like you, was attracted to the weeds/reeds. I also think the one where you've overlain several on top of each other is fascinating. How the speed picks up! How, for me, it almost becomes audible.
I wish I knew more about ink and how you decide which colors to use. You say you've stuck with blacks, purples and grays, so I'm going to guess something way off in the other direction, inspired by your sunrise series: Maybe you went with something in the red/orange family?
How are your current projects going?
I assume you mean creative, but I'm answering from under a work hat: So-so. I'm more distractible than I used to be. And we are feeling direct impacts from the funding freezes. So that's hard.
Are you finding the community you need?
Yes, and I'm grateful for that.
What are you reading?
A lot of news analysis and more poetry than I've read in years.
That’s such a good analogy for reading this, so funny. But thank you! I’m glad you found it interesting in some ways. And thank you about the contour series. It’s a bit of colorful whimsy for sure. Likening the palimpsest to sound is a really fascinating way to experience it and think about it. I love that you gave the color question a guess. No. But that was a good stab at it! — I’m sorry about the work being more stressful and potentially tenuous because of the political landscape. Work is, really, dragging me under these days. It would be so much harder if the funding freezes were coming into play, so I do really sympathize with the stress of that. Poetry sounds like a good and maybe unexpected counterbalance — but maybe also a good way to work around distraction? Who do you enjoy?
Amy, I can't say I'm enjoying any one poet more than another. Just that I'm finding myself more attracted to the form. I subscribe to a few folks here (Julia Fehrenbacher, 26thAvenuePoet, Sherman Alexie), and read what comes my way, however it may. Thanks for asking.
I'm inspired to try a fountain pen! ..... My 100 Day project is slightly stalled but I hope it resuscitates itself when I start my drawing class on Tuesday! My first art class ever (besides elementary school). I also hope that will help me find a community ❤️❤️❤️
If you are going to try a fountain pen for the first time, I probably wouldn’t advise a fude, Melissa. While it’s versatile, I think you would enjoy something that you can simply hold and use the way you always hold and use a pen. Luckily, there are really good picks for inexpensive fountain pens. TWSBI or Lamy are both good options. I don’t think you can go wrong with a TWSBI, really. I’m sorry that the 100-day project feels stalled. It happens. And it’s okay when it happens. If you aren’t loving it, it’s always okay to move on. But your first art class! That sounds awesome. What’s the topic? (You are always welcome to join us some Sunday and see if you enjoy it. We’re a friendly group.)
Thank you for the pen info ❤️ I'm taking the basics of drawing - very beginning! I would love to join you sometime! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Lots of great fude info here, Amy! I have the green sailor one, but I haven’t tried the others, so it was interesting to hear about those. I tend to stick with the zebra g flexible nib (as you know) and I also enjoy the maru since I learned about that from you. But I do find it nice how the fude gives you the consistent different line widths without worrying about pressure. (Can you say “consistent different”? Something about that sounds wrong.) I got a chuckle about the auto corrected “dude” nib.
Your work with the zebra g is always amazing. I am enjoying the fude because they are so loose and smooth -- and maru was exactly not that! But your work is more delicate and precise, I know. Even when I tried dip pen, I never managed to "use" the flex of the zebra g. I hope your new illustration project is going well. Thanks for commenting!
I will definitely need to reread this post because it is such an interesting topic. I vary between several different drawing tools -- for fp ink it's dip pen & flex nib. I like when you've used a nib so long that you know what it will do in every situation without actively thinking about it.
The stacked images are fantastic -- such an interesting tangent and happy to see it because I love digital layering of images.
And now I shall look at my inks and ponder what ink you have ordered...
Thanks, Tammy. I love how unique our tool preferences are! I guess this year has reminded me that our choices aren't set in stone, too. That's always good to remember.
Oh gosh, this is the most comprehensive - and beautifully-illustrated, of course - introduction to the Fude nib I've read, Amy! I love your passion for it - I need to give one of these guys a go!
Thanks so much for the comment, Rebecca. If you are already a fountain pen user for your art, the fude can be an interesting twist!
We have talked about the footnotes and just today I realized they pop up in the text and don’t take you to the bottom ha
So funny you mentioned that, Lea. I just noticed it recently, and it only happens in some settings — mobile, I think. I think I’ve seen it on iPad and on the phone. (I had checked because I was trying to see how footnotes (in theory at the bottom) behave with certain settings enabled on the page. And… they popped up instead of jumping to the bottom. I guess maybe it’s less distracting for people to jump down and need to return. It’s messing with my use of the margins though! Haha.