Artwork: ink and dip pen (mostly)

Ah dip pens! They’re fiddly to start with and messy as hell but they quickly reward effort. The dip pen’s unpredictability means a lively line – which is hard to get with more stable media.

Here’s what I use to create my black and white ink illustrations.

If you haven’t used a dip pen before just practice making a few marks, getting used to the restrictions of the pen and to dipping it into the ink frequently. Then try drawing a character or a few small objects around you. I find ornaments and plants good for a warm-up, or whatever’s outside the window (in this case a scheming, egg-stealing crow):

And some neater, scratchy little birds.

For an actual composition, I get started by sketching lightly in pencil on the paper, just to get a rough idea of where to put the ink. Then I get brave, making the key marks using my arm and wrist to control the pen, rather than my fingers.

I’m right-handed, so I work from left to right, to avoid smudging the work.

Once I’m happy with the key lines, I start making things messy – thinning down some of the ink and spraying it on with a toothbrush, or sucking it up with a pipette and dribbling and trailing ink all over the page. I splash, spatter and scrub with brushes of different sizes (especially the busted ones), and dab the areas I don’t like so much with paper towel (to absorb areas of ink) or use the towel to smear other parts of the page.

Then I try to be patient and let it all dry.

Finally, I go back and add detail. I water down the ink a little to add lighter lines, or background elements, and I get out a white gel pen, or white acrylic paint to go over mistakes (though PhotoShop is invaluable here for book illustration)

Good luck!