Reed Drawing

In an earlier blog I mentioned a reed drawing class I had attended. I'd like to show you the drawing I did in that workshop. I loved the technique and plan to use it in the future. The instructor was kind enough to cut me some nice reed pens. His pens were much better than the ones that I tried to cut myself. He also provided me with a jar of his homemade walnut ink. (You can't buy the ink and making it is a long drawn out process.)

Drawing with reeds is great because the slightest turn of the pen gives you great variation in line, as you can see. This was my first attempt at reed drawing. We were not allowed to use pencil at all, just the reed. That was tough to jump right in without first planning your work. But sometimes those spontaneous pieces turn out OK because they're not overworked.