This year I decided to have yet another go at Inktober but this time, ditch the source sheet and do something that I have wanted to do for a while – illustrate some classic gaff rigged boats. And so Classic Boatober came to be.
Of note, pre fountain pen ink project I was a keen watercolour painter. And as I also spent a lot of my time sailing, unsurprisingly, much of my subject matter was marine based – and if you want to see what I used to get up to all those years ago, here’s a link.
Sailing for me is something quite special. The wind, tide and sea state change constantly and these impact not just the shapes of the clouds, colours of waves and skies but the sounds of the wind in the rigging and the boat rushing through the water also. You are most definitely in the ‘now’ and the power of nature is omnipresent. There’s nothing more exhilarating than sailing fast with huge loads in the sails with the rigging bar tight with the wind howling through it.
So getting hold of exciting reference was crucial. Luckily there are fellow enthusiasts who record such experiences on camera and a small handful very kindly let me reference some of their images and footage for the challenge. And I’m delighted to say that most of the illustrations are of scenes on the East Coast of the UK where I live and most of the boats and locations are very familiar to me.
As always, the main point of this challenge is to showcase what has come out of the ink experimentation and investigation. Utilising fountain pen inks with good chromatic and tonal ranges is paramount but new on the block this year are some amazing fountain pen friendly pigment inks from Octopus Fluids which I am using more and more.
With the standard inks, it was a case this year of reaching for my trusted favourites: the usual suspects from Robert Oster(of course), Nick Stewart Randall and Twilight Black (of course) and some new ones including: Fountain Wheel Press Land of Shangri-La, Dearest Navy and Atlas Iron Ore all of which are stunning plus Nahvalur Forest Green and several Diamine regulars.
Also of note, is the simplicity of my art equipment comprising: a big watercolour brush for wetting and washes, rigger brush for painting and detailing, Noodler’s Creaper pen for linework, pencil, rubber, ruler, bleach and a french curve for getting the curves in the sails and rigging visually credible.
Of interest, Cult Pens are in the process of pulling together an art bundle featuring all my main fountain ink art equipment which will be available from their website very soon and at an unbeatable price too! More about that in my next post.
To conclude, I have really enjoyed this year’s challenge. 31 days of pure joy. Thanks to all of you who followed along with your likes and comments. Thanks also to @glassonion68 @phil_polden @doug_jackson @mfob.association @throug_a_saiboat_lens @buildandexplore @lurch1e and Traditional Sail periodical for the reference. And as a little something for you, here is a downloadable pdf of one of my mini books featuring one of my sailing adventures which appeared in Yachting Monthly many many years ago. Click here.
AND HEY! If you’re interested to know more about how to use fountain pen inks in more creative ways – whether it’s simply to observe their chromatic behaviours, or, to recreate one of my swatch cards, or, to learn how to use them in watercolour painting, illustration and calligraphy, why not check out my online course ?
FOUNTAIN PEN INK ART 