Pen & Ink Drawing Ideas – 24 Curated Video Tutorials and Demonstrations
Dive into the world of Pen and Ink art – a versatile technique for artists of any level. Armed with just a pen and paper you’ll be able to explore your creativity through these 24 inspiring video demonstrations. You’ll learn to master the foundations of the technique and explore subjects like urban sketching, line and wash and more. All in time for Inktober! Unleash your artistic potential, one inked line at a time!
Pen and Ink is a fantastic technique for artists of all abilities. It has minimal requirements – you only need a pen and some paper to get started – so it’s especially good for new artists looking to flex their creative muscles. Here we’ve gathered together 24 video tutorials and demos that are sure to inspire you – whether you’re gearing up for Inktober or simply aiming to enhance your skills!
The permanence of ink can seem intimidating – there’s no erasing your way to perfection! But fear not, these tutorials will guide you through every stroke and flourish. From the very basics to the intricacies of pen and ink work – you’ll be a master of ink in no time. Starting with some introductory tutorials, you’ll begin with the fundamental techniques to help you build a solid foundation. As you progress through the article you’ll find sections dedicated to various subjects. Why not give urban sketching a go or try line and wash for the first time?
We hope you have a blast exploring the world of pen and ink! Remember, it’s not about being perfect; it’s about letting your creativity flow, one inked line at a time. Let us know which tutorials you loved and let us know in the comments what you’d like to see next. If you’re eager to stock up on your inking supplies, we’ve linked to the materials the creators use – or their nearest alternatives.
Learning the Basics
Pen & Ink – Where do I Start? with The Mind of Watercolour
The perfect video for new artists wondering where to start with pen and ink! Steve Mitchell of ‘The Mind of Watercolour’ discusses what pen and ink is and how to get started. He covers the basic materials you’ll need as well as giving some historical examples of techniques.
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How to Shade with Pen and Ink 9 Different Ways
Learn straight from the master of inking, Alphonso Dunn! Author of the highly acclaimed ‘Pen and Ink Drawing: A Simple Guide’, Alphonso will guide you through 9 different inking techniques you can try out in your artwork.
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Beginners Guide to Inking with Mary Doodles
A perfect introduction to inking for beginners, Mary Doodles focuses on Liquid Black India Ink and how to use it. Mary touches on material, techniques and more – keeping it simple for absolute beginners!
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20 Ink Tips for Beginners with Devin Elle Kurtz
Learn the basics of inking with artist Devin Elle Kutz. A veteran of Inktober, Devin offers up 20 tips that will help you improve your inking in no time. Learn about different techniques that can help set your inked artwork apart from the rest!
Materials:
- Graphite Pencils
- Lightbox
- Sakura Pigma Micron Fineliner Pens
- Zebra Fude Brush Pens (the Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen is a good alternative!)
- Watercolour Palette
How to Draw with Pen & Ink like a Pro with Schaefer Art
Brandon of SchaeferArt shares some excellent tips for improving your pen and ink drawing skills. He covers the types of materials you’ll need, sketching tips, inking techniques and more! It’s the perfect crash course for improving your inking skills.
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Getting Started: Pens, Ink and Drawing Techniques with Sandy Allnock
Sandy Allnock offers up some great advice for artists starting out with pen and ink techniques. She highlights the versatility of ink using various mark-making techniques and provides additional resources for further exploration.
Materials used:
- Ballpoint Pens
- Gel Pens
- Fountain Pens and Dip Pens
- Fineliner Pens
- Ruling Pens
Working with Different Pens
Scribble Drawing Tips for Beginners with Liz Chaderton
Scribble drawing is a fantastic technique for artists new to pen and ink drawing. Liz Chaderton walks you through the technique, showing how easy it is to create a loose, expressive drawing. It’s a fantastic technique to ease you into drawing with a pen while warming up your drawing muscles!
Tips for Drawing with Different Nibs with August Lamm
In this short but informative video artist August Lamm demonstrates how the width of your fineliner nib can influence your drawing. Using different widths of fineliner, August draws a series of roses showing how line weight can affect the way your drawing looks.
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How to Ink with a Brush Pen with Kesh
Join illustrator Kesh as he demonstrates how to use a brush or fude style pen. With a flexible nib, these pens are great for artists who’ve mastered inking with fineliners. Kesh highlights the importance of line control and practice. Don’t worry, it’s not as intimidating as it sounds! Remember, practice makes perfect, so grab your brush pen and start sketching like a pro.
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Ink Drawing: Learning to use a Dip Pen with Luke Ink
In this video Luke Ink demonstrates the basics of using a dip pen and ink. Dip pens have a steeper learning curve than fineliners, and are great for artists who want to take their inking skills to the next level. Luke covers all the essentials like materials, how to hold your pen and the strokes and marking methods you can use.
Materials Used:
- Dip Pen
- Black Indian Ink
- Hot Pressed Watercolour Paper or Bristol Board
Florals and Landscapes
Draw A Real Looking Tree in 3 Minutes with Stephen Travers Art
Stephen Travers Art demonstrates his quick and easy three step method to draw realistic trees. It’s a fantastic exercise for absolute beginners as each of the steps are simple and easy to follow. You’ll ink a forest of realistic trees in no time!
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Pen and Ink Tips for Beginners with Erika Lancaster
Join Erika Lancaster and watch as she creates this inked sunflower drawing. You’ll see Erika create the drawing from scratch as well as offering up her invaluable insight into inking techniques. She discusses materials and line weight, as well as encouraging you to embrace imperfections that can add character to your artwork.
Pen and Ink Still Life Drawing: Fruits Basket with Paint Academy
This pen and ink drawing demonstration by Paint Academy is a great resource for artists looking to improve their shading techniques. Perfect for beginners, this video offers valuable insights and tips to enhance your drawing skills.
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Two Ink Flower Drawings -Stippling and Pen and Wash with Louise De Masi
Learn how to use two different inking techniques to draw a flower with artist Louise De Masi. Louise does her first drawing with a stippling technique, while in the second she combines pen with a colourful watercolour wash – achieving two quite different results.
Materials used:
- Sakura Pigma Micron Fineliner Pen
- Arches Hot Pressed Watercolour Paper
- Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen
- Watercolour Paints
- Round watercolour brush
Drawing Landscapes with Grey Ink Pens & Watercolour with Smoothie77
Learn how to work grey toned pens into your pen and ink drawings with Smoothie77. These mid-toned pens are perfect for adding depth to your drawings and are great if you’re looking to take your inking skills to the next level!
Materials used:
- Faber-Castell PITT Grey Shades Brush Pens
- Uni Pin Grey Fineliner Pens
- Black Fineliner Pen
- Black Watercolour Paint
- Watercolour Brush
- Watercolour Sketchbook
How to Draw Landscape in Pen and Ink with Marc Kompaneyets
Marc Kompaneyets takes a deep dive into landscape drawing in pen and ink. Perfect for artists who feel like they’ve mastered the basic techniques and need more of a challenge! Marc discusses composition and also looks at examples of old master landscape drawings.
Materials Used:
- Smooth Paper Sketchbook
- Clutch pencil or other graphite pencil
- Waterproof Ink (for example Acrylic Ink or Black Indian Ink)
- Fountain Pen or Dip Pen
Urban Sketching
Pen & Ink Urban Sketching Series – An Old Shop with Candy Brush
Watch as Candy Brush creates this charming drawing completely from scratch. Using a single fineliner and a brush pen, Candy Brush builds up this detailed illustration using lines, strokes, scribbling and hatching. You’ll see the process from start to finish so there are lots of tips and tricks you can pick up along the way!
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Urban Sketching Tutorial – Pen & Ink Sketch with Will Kemp
Learn how to combine multiple pens into one drawing with Will Kemp. Will uses fineliners, brush pens and gel pens to create a lively urban sketch that utilises a number of mark making techniques. He includes lots of practical advice on creating your own dynamic sketches.
Materials used:
- Pentel Brush Pen
- Faber-Castell PITT Artists Brush Pen
- Black Gel Pen
- Sakura Pigma Micron Fineliner Pen
- Drawing Paper
Drawing Potraits
Ballpoint Pen Tutorial – How I sketch in Pen with Sara Tepes
Illustrator Sara Tepes shows how you can create amazing drawings using the most humble art supplies. Armed with only a ballpoint pen and paper Sara demonstrates how she draws her signature portraits and offers up some great advice for artists worried about working in a permanent medium!
Materials Used:
- Ballpoint Pen
- Drawing Sketchbook
Step by step drawing tutorial (Pen and ink portrait sketch) with Sketching Scottie
Sketching Scottie demonstrates how to build up a portrait sketch in pen in this simple step by step tutorial. For beginners Scottie provides a template to help you get the perfect facial proportions – but if you’re pretty confident in your inking skills you can work without the template. There’s also some great advice for livening up your backgrounds and adding a splash of colour.
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How I Use Pen and Ink When Drawing Portraits with Carolin Peters
In this video artist Carolyn Peters demonstrates two different methods for creating pen and ink portrait drawings. First she uses a dip pen with a classical technique, while her second method utilises the humble ballpoint pen for a loose, more expressive style.
Materials used:
- Dip Pen
- Ballpoint Pen or Fineliner Pen
- Bristol Board or other smooth Drawing Paper
- Walnut Ink
Adding Colour to Pen and Ink
Which comes first in Pen and Wash? with Liz Chaderton
Join one of our blog contributors Liz Chaderton and learn how you can liven up your ink drawings with a watercolour wash! Perfect for artists looking to take their inking skills to the next level, Liz answers the question – Which comes first in Pen and Wash? Find out more about this technique in Liz’s blog post!
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Easy Line and Wash Watercolour Step by Step Tutorial with Karen Rice
Perfect for absolute beginners, this demonstration by Karen Rice shows you how to create a loose sketch of a flower pot. Working in quick, loose strokes you’ll create a characterful drawing then add a touch of colour to bring your linework to life.
Materials used:
- Uni Pin Fineliner Pens
- Sakura Pigma Micron Fineliner Pens
- 140lb Watercolour Paper Block
- Round Watercolour Brushes
- Pencil
Easy Line and Wash Lesson for Beginners – Pen and Ink with Watercolour with Matt Fussell
Join Mark Fussell and learn how to combine pen, ink and watercolour to create a line and wash bird drawing! Mark covers all the basics of creating your own basic line drawing, before adding paint for a splash of colour. It’s a fantastic technique to practice once you’ve mastered the basics of inking.
Materials used:
- Dip Pen or Fineliner Pens
- Black Acrylic ink (if using dip pen)
- Arches NOT Watercolour Paper
- Cotman Watercolours
We hope you feel inspired by these tutorials and demonstrations! We’d love to see what you create. If you need to stock up on your inking materials we stock wide range of art supplies on our website. This includes pens, ink, paper and more! We’ll have you covered whether you’re an absolute beginner or a seasoned professional.
Want to know more about Pen and Ink Drawing?
Check out some of our other blog posts:
- 9 Easy Pen and Ink Techniques for Beginners
- Get to Know Artists Pens – Fineliners and Technical Pens
- An Introduction to Line and Wash
I’d also find that useful! Pen with acrylic inks or Indian inks with acrylic inks. Very interested in experimenting with combinations but it’s difficult finding tutorials that do this.
I would like a tutorial on acrylic coloured inks.
Hi Prudence! Thanks for your comment and feedback! I’ll pass your comment on and see if it’s something we can add in the future.