Welcome to

BEGINNER’S INK DRAWING:

INSECTS

with Solstice Handmade

Materials:

Paper - smooth finish is best. If you’re unsure, test a sheet with your pen for bleeding
Fudeshenko brush pen, Fine tip marker
Pencil and Eraser
Coloring supplies (optional) watercolor, colored pencil, crayons

TECHNIQUE WARM UP: GETTING COMFORTABLE WITH NEW TOOLS

BRUSH PEN: LINE WEIGHT

We will practice a series of drills to explore the Brush Pen’s capabilities. I tapered-tiped brush will work also- like a Crayola broadline.

-Thin and Thick: Draw a series of lines as wide as you can, using the side of the brush as you drag the pen across the paper. Then, draw a series of lines as thin as you can, focusing on the tip of your pen.

-Tapered Lines: Draw 10 1in long line, starting by pushing the brush hard against the paper for a wide line, and releasing pressure as you move across the page. This difference in thickness of line is referred to as line weight. Next, Draw 5 (about) 8in tapered lines that span the width of your paper. Think about smooth transitions-can you spread out the change in width gradually and evenly?

-Circles - Draw 10 1in circles on your page. Push hard on the downstroke for a wide line, then lighten pressure for a thin line as you come around upwards to complete circle. Focus on consistency- can you make all of your circles identical?

PENCIL: OUTLINING

Pencil will give us structure to our drawings. We want to use pencil as minimally as possible. Do NOT gauge the paper by pushing down hard while you draw- make as light of marks as possible. Just skim the paper’s surface with the graphite.

Draw 2 rows of 5 1/2in circles. Use a penny or dime as a stencil if you have one handy! Label the circles with the percentages seen in the photo-

FINE TIP PEN: BUILDING VALUE WITH MARKMAKING

Our Fine Tip pen will be used for adding detail, value, and fine marks. Value is created by building up small lines and dots, known as hatching and stippling.

-Stippling uses a series of small dots at different densities to create a textured, speckled, scale of light/dark. Try to keep your dots evenly places- and don’t slam the pen! Just tap lightly to preserve the fine tip.

-Hatching uses a series of fine parallel line to create

STUDY THE SUBJECT: PHYSIOLOGY BASICS

I have found drawing an important way to study insects and get to know them on an intimate level. Studying what you are drawing and taking time to know and understand the parts of a bug is very helpful in portraying it accurately and effectively. As an example, we will look closely at beetles first.

If you aren’t sure what kind on insect you are studying to draw, it is helpful to use physical characteristics to determine the order of the insect. If you aren’t sure, try Bugfinder.

The diagram below is helpful to visualize how different insect orders are related.

As you can see, even within one order of related insects, there is diversity in their anatomy. Orders can be broken down further into families that share characteristics.

watch video

Then, let’s take a look at insect anatomy, so you know what features you are looking at.

It is also important to consider where the insect is in it’s life cycle- larvae? immature? adult? The same insect can look vastly different depending on the stage. For example, below is a diagram of a Stonefly’s life cycle, as well as a beetle.

APPLYING TECHNIQUE: DRAWING FROM LIFE

I encourage you to draw from actual plant specimens as often as possible! Today we will use photos to tackle a few species.

My method of drawing is quick, great for field sketching! Our goal is to capture identifying characteristics and imply a light source.

PENCIL OUTLINE: JUST THE BASICS

Look back at the diagrams above before you draw! We are only capturing the edges of the shapes we are seeing here. Don’t add any detailing or value yet - light outline only

Start by drawing general shapes of the insect, try to capture all of it’s body parts - it’s ok to draw ugly at first! Gradually refine drawing, referring to photo to check angles of feet, wings, ect.

INK OUTLINE: BRUSH PEN

Focus on line weight here.

Where are there shadows present? Where is the light coming from?
On the light side of the object, use fine lines. On the shadow size, use heavy, thick line weight.
Where are the most extreme values- lightest lights and darkest darks? Make a note, mental or sketched, to leave these areas completely white or fill in completely black.

ADD VALUE AND DETAILING: FINE TIP PEN

Here is where our markmaking comes in to play! depending on the texture of the surface you’re trying to draw, use stippling and hatching to add detail and value.

Ask yourself- what surface details are significant to identifying the plant? Striping, patterning, hairs, ect. Draw these first!
Next, start adding value with markmaking. Look at photo often, and pay attention to the line weight you have drawn so far. Stay consistent!
Where you use hatching, pay attention to the shape of the leaf/petal/part that you’re working with. Curve your lines to fit the shape- but keep them parallel!
In general, objects farther away from you have less detail and contrast. This means if there is a leaf behind the stem, or a petal on the back of the flower, anything that’s not in the foreground should be drawn differently to establish depth. I like to fill in these shapes with a 50% hatching and omit most textural details. This helps your eye focus on the foreground detail.

ADD COLOR: OPTIONAL

Watercolor

paint light-handed- don’t scrub the paper of the ink will likely bleed
use a pale color (lots of water, little paint) so you can still see your linework
consider painting after the pencil sketch step, and inking on top of paint

Colored Pencil

again- don’t press too hard, the wax and color will obscure your ink lines!
DONT do colored pencil first and attempt to ink over top- the pencil will not allow the ink to settle on the paper

Marker

Work in layers- go over an area quickly, let it dry, then add more in necessary to avoid smudging your linework!
consider adding colored linework instead of just filling in the space- where can you make the color darker to match the lighting of your drawing?