Doodles the left page were done with brush pen while the right was done with a paintbrush & ink (my preferred).

I’m honestly not sure I can tell the difference :/

  • insomniac_lemon@lemmy.cafeEnglish
    5·
    3 days ago

    What about usage? Seems like there’s possibility for longer continuous lines with a brush pen.

    I have an empty brush pen intended for watercolor, it might make more sense for that as it allows for controlled dilution without needing to dip. Though I have thought about filling it with some alcohol-based ink (I guess I could use a dedicated brush just as easily, though).

    • Monstrosity@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      Yeah, you are right, especially with tiny brushes that don’t retain a lot of ink. But imo, it’s still the most versatile & cheap tool out there. $14 US for a pure Kolanski hair brush (sable is also good) that will last me dozens, probably hundreds, of hours.

      Btw, what does adding alcohol to ink do? Does it thin it out enough for brush pens? I never knew this.

      • insomniac_lemon@lemmy.cafeEnglish
        2·
        2 days ago

        Btw, what does adding alcohol to ink do? Does it thin it out enough for brush pens? I never knew this

        I mean maybe, but no I just meant the formulation of ink so it’s not (very) water-soluble. Y’know, ink for line-art (/heavy shading) and after that watercolor for fill.

        EDIT: I actually haven’t done much with either medium (or much else tbh). Sharpie and cheap office ink pens are closest I have to ink now, and some ink pens (like gel pens) bleed which could be intentionally used for shading (similarly, pencil and watercolor pencil of which I have black-gray-white). Or drawing on top of water-color, particularly white to adjust highlights.

        Pairing dipped ink with a brush pen filled with alcohol or gray/white ink could probably be useful for softer shading, though.

    • BallShapedMan@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      3 days ago

      I see what you mean, but had to look at the image directly to get it. The right one is a little less intense and has a bit better separation due to the variation in values in the black line work.

      I don’t know that I would have noticed why without you. But I did feel the right side was less intense but I thought initially it was composition–6 boxes vs 2–but now I think it’s values more so.