Colgrove Christmas Tour of Homes

By Ron Colgrove

Taking a different view

Many people think of pen and ink as a technical medium that’s a bit intimidating because each stroke of the pen seems so permanent and unforgiving. But that’s certainly not true in my experience. Although some of my work is very exacting in nature, I’m still able to create a completely artistic response to the world around me. This variety in my style and the ongoing decisions I make as I work, keep me and my customers-satisfied. So if you’ve been avoiding pen and ink, give my techniques a try. With a little effort, you’ll soon discover just how flexible and expressive this medium can be.

An organic process

Contrary to popular belief, pen and ink does allow for some spontaneity. In Apple Tree (pen and ink, 24 x 20), I started with the trunk and added leaves and limbs until the picture was filled out. I was careful, however, to not fill in too much of the trunk, so I could later draw in the branches that cross it.

By Ron Colgrove

Knowing when to stop

Once I’m satisfied with my overall composition, I put in the last of the details. If I’ve decided to silkscreen a drawing and sell the limited edition watercolors, I’ll draw the subject with less density and let the color I added later finish the work. Otherwise, I continue to enhance the textures and patterns with various dashes, dabs and marks. I may even darken some of the existing shadows by making the lines heavier, but not by filling in the space between the lines. That would cause the lines to lose their sharpness. With pen and ink, it’s important not to overdo things. I like to leave some white spaces and stop while the drawing is still fresh.

The importance of subtlety

I generally use a lot of ink when I’m creating a work of art, but in the case of Horseneck Beach (pen and ink, 18 x12).
I wanted to create silkscreen prints embellished with watercolor. When I plan to do that, I keep my lines simpler to allow the color to show.

By Ron Colgrove

Building light and shadow (cont’d)

You can also make changes and additions to your design as you work. For instance, you may decide to add a few more plants or suggest a human figure. You might also want to change a window into a door to vary the shapes across the front of a building. And the same holds true for textures. You may decide that a wooden wall would look more interesting if it were made of brick. These are the small—but often important—decisions you make along the way that keep the inking process exciting.

Before working right up to the edge of my drawing, I stop and evaluate my composition one last time. If I think that one area is more interesting than another I may decide to “shift” my drawing on the board to eliminate the less interesting portion while retaining my standard 12 x 18 dimensions. This technique gives me the flexibility I need to make adjustments and still end up with a clean, neat edge. By doing this, I can erase the abandoned sections of the original sketch that were never inked and frame my drawings without matting, instead of using a mat to cover up an area that didn’t work.

A Simple Approach Demonstration Item #5 of 5

PREPARING FOR THE FINISH. Although I didn’t make any major changes in the placement of the drawing on the page, I did make a few minor adjustments to the house by cutting off a few feet to make room for the trees and added a few more darks. After I inked in the last of the details, I had a giclée made of Pleasant View Road (pen and ink, 18 x 12). This allowed me to keep the original pen and ink drawing intact, and to make watercolor paper prints or canvas prints at a later time.

By Ron Colgrove

Building light and shadow

When inking in your drawing, pay close attention to the highlight and shadow shapes you indicated in your initial sketch. Treat the objects surrounding the light areas with special care so there’s a clear transition between highlights and objects. For example, if a wall is peeking through an opening in a tree, deliberately render the leaves surrounding the open area to look more realistic. When inking in the shadows, hold the pen almost vertically and lightly outline the overall shadow shapes with a fine line. Then fill in the shapes with vertical strokes. By doing this, the texture of the surface beneath the shadow shows through and causes the shadow to appear somewhat transparent. This is more interesting than having a completely black cast shadow.

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DEVELOPING SHAPES AND SHADOWS. I continued to
develop the pen and ink drawing, putting in more branches and leaves in front of the house, plus a small tree in front of the door. I invented panes of glass in the door to add more contrast to this area. Then I started to indicate cast shadows under the rooflines and from the trees, using only vertical lines and I put the darkest darks in the foliage by filling in alternating white spaces in the shadows. This gave the drawing a realistic shadow pattern of lights and darks.

By Ron Colgrove

Beginning to ink

I use only one pen—a Hunt Crow Quill No. 102 flexible dip pen—and India ink to create the final pen and ink drawing. I prefer to start in the approximate center of the image, working on the foreground objects first and moving progressively outward to the background objects.

When you’re drawing, hold the pen at the far end (away from the point) for a freer feel. This type of pen can be an expressive instrument, like a brush, so vary your marks and line widths for interest. To make wide, dark strokes, press down with your pen. To leave a fine line, hold the pen almost vertically so it doesn’t catch on the surface as much. Try dotting, dabbing and hatching for texture, but don’t use a straightedge to draw straight lines—they’ll stand out like a sore thumb. Instead, do them freehand so that the “wiggles” are compatible with the rest of the lines in your drawing. If you need a long straight line in ink, turn your paper so that the line is vertical and “pull” the dip pen toward you with a steady pressure and pace. Every 10-15 minutes, use an X-Acto knife to scrape the dried ink from the inner and outer edges of your pen nib.

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INKING IN THE FIRST LINES. After tracing my sketch onto 100 percent rag illustration board, I started drawing in India ink using a Hunt Crow Quill No. 102 dip pen. I pressed the pen down firmly to create bold strokes, and I lightened the pressure to make thin lines. I even turned the pen sideways. I’ll do anything to create an interesting line. I started with the large tree and the small branches that overlap the house so I could adjust how much of the building would show through.

By Ron Colgrove

Developing an idea (cont’d)

Once that’s done, it’s time to transfer the drawing onto a 20 x 30 piece of heavyweight, 100 percent rag illustration board. (I prefer this rougher, cold-pressed surface because it’s non-yellowing and has a nice texture for inking.) To begin the transfer process, blacken the back of your final sketch with a soft graphite pencil. Then center the vellum drawing, face up, on top of the illustration board and trace over the sketch with a blue ballpoint pen so you can see where you’ve been. I always create 12 x 18 pen and ink drawings with a 3-inch border, but no matter what size you choose, transfer your drawing to an oversized sheet in case you want to adjust the placement later.

By Ron Colgrove

Developing an idea (cont’d)

To decide how much of the reference photo to use in the initial sketch, I look for the most intriguing aspects of the photo to find my focal point. From there I may decide to crop out some or all of the rest of the photo and put in parts of other photos for the final pen and ink drawing. As I develop my sketches, I pay close attention to perspective and composition, or the “design of the page,” to make sure that the objects rest correctly on the ground and that my arrangement is balanced.

As you work out your compositions, you may need to make little adjustments, too. For example, if a tree in the reference photo looks as if it’s leaning too much to the left, you can add a branch on the right and let it grow a few more limbs to help balance it out. You can also improve your compositions by including extra objects, such as a figure or some bushes, or by simply suggesting textural details to be inked in later to create interesting patterns. But don’t feel as if you must work out every detail at this stage. There’ll be plenty of room for changes when you’re inking in your drawing.

Before going to your actual drawing surface, I recommend making a clean, full-size drawing—again on vellum—with just enough detail to indicate the correct position of things. If necessary, use a straightedge to pencil in any long, straight lines in your subject.

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SKETCHING THE COMPOSITION. My first goal for this preliminary sketch was to get the perspective correct, which I did by using the base of the house as my horizon line and projecting a few vanishing points. After these elements were established, I focused on my overall composition without going into too much detail.

By Ron Colgrove

Developing an idea

I frequently come across buildings, landscapes and beach scenes whose shapes and shadows catch my eye. Sometimes I’m able to stop and do a felt-pen sketch on-site, but other times I simply shoot photos for reference. Either way, when I’m back in my studio with my reference material, I begin producing a rough preliminary sketch on vellum tracing paper. In some cases the sketch will become a strictly pen and ink drawing, but in other cases it’ll become the basis for a limited-edition silkscreen print that I enhance with various strengths of watercolor washes.

Pleasant View Road in the Summertime

Pleasant View Road in Winter

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PHOTOGRAPHING THE SUBJECT. I found the textures and shadow patterns in this abandoned old house near my home to be appealing, so I photographed it in both summer and winter. This allowed me to get good reference photos of the house and the surrounding foliage.

By Ron Colgrove

I’ve always enjoyed pen and ink drawing because it offers unlimited opportunities for creative expression. By varying my line widths, using different types of pen strokes and accentuating my values, I’m able to create works that range from loose and lyrical to pointed and precise. The lone problem I encountered with the medium, however, was its apparent inflexibility. I felt confined, as though I had to finish a drawing exactly the way I started it. But over the years I’ve developed processes that allow me to change or restructure each drawing as I create it. These techniques have freed my creativity so that I can follow new directions and enhance the aesthetic appeal of my work.

Kelly's Place by Ron Colgrove

A stretch of the imagination

When I was mostly finished with Kelly’s Place (pen and ink, 24 x 18) I noticed that there was a big empty space in the middle. Deciding I needed to add something; in this case, a hillside and cabin, I made a sketch of it on tracing paper and then moved it around to check for placement and perspective. Then I inked it in.