Newest Map Commission

Here is my latest commission - Dighton, MA. (Click any of the images for a closer look.)

The Latest Map - Newburyport, MA

Here's my latest commission - Newburyport, MA.  This one took 10 hours to complete from start to finish.

Two hours in - penciled and the inking has begun.

More inking and all of the pencil lines have been erased.

The inking and lettering is now complete - 7 hours in.

After just under an hour of stippling.

Aged with a wash (note the high tech and very expensive aging board used in this step).

10 hours in total, and ready for a wall.

Faber-Castell PITT Artists Brush Pens Review - Set of 12 Colors

In between surveys, I’m trying to complete reviews on all the amazing complimentary art supplies that I have received from various vendors. This review is part two in the series on Faber-Castell PITT products sent to me by Lisa Brophy. You can read the first review here.

(As always, click any of the pictures for a larger view.)

This is the 12-color set of Faber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pens. These brush pens are filled with odorless, waterproof, permanent and lightfast India ink. They have durable nibs that give you the ability to get different thickness lines.

They come packaged in a sturdy case. The 12-color set includes; Middle Purple Pink, Pink Carmine, Orange Glaze, Cadmium Yellow, Dark Phthalo Green, Leaf Green, Phthalo Blue, Indanthrene Blue, Purple Violet, Cold Grey, Caput Mortuum and Black. There are a total of 48 colors in the PITT Artist Brush Pen line.

The caps go on with a satisfying click, so they won’t dry out quickly.

A sample of the colors.

Here’s a Marvel character totem pole I drew to color with the brush pens.

As you can see the colors are very vibrant. I usually do my non-digital coloring with either watercolor or colored pencils, but I really like these brush pens and see myself using them a lot. My only complaint and it’s more of a “want to have”, is that this set does not come with a peach or flesh colored pen. I ended up using a colored pencil for a couple of the faces above.

Overall, I feel that the Faber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pens would make a great addition to anyone’s art supply arsenal. They are fairly priced, easy to use, comfortable in the hand and lay down a lot of color.

Thanks again to Lisa Brody at Faber-Castell for sending me these fine Faber-Castell products to review. Click here to see the entire line of Faber-Castell art and graphic products.

Watch this demonstration on tips and techniques for using the Faber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pens.

And, check out this video of Chicago artist, Don Colley as he draws from life using Faber-Castell PITT Pens.

Thanks again Lisa for sending out the pens to review!

I also highly recommend the two books I used in the backgrounds for a couple of the above photos. First is Tom Richmond's "The Mad Art of CARICATURE!" It is simply one of the best books I've ever read on caricaturing. You can order your very own signed copy by going to Tom's Deadline Demon Publishing website.

The second book is "Mail Order Mysteries" by Kirk Demarais. Filled with great photos and write-ups about those novelties that were sold in vintage comic book ads. 

Check back soon for more Cartoonist Surveys and art supply reviews including Sakura, Strathmore Artist papers and Pilot.

Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens Review

Lisa Brody at Faber-Castell was nice enough to send me a package filled with various PITT Artist Pens to review. I will be breaking down the different sets of the Pitt Pens she sent me into multiple posts.

This first review is of Faber-Castell's set of four Black Fineliner PITT Artist Pens. The set comes with four different sized nibs, X-superfine, Superfine, Fine and Medium. The ink in the PITT Artist Pen line is great for everything from sketching to finished inking and because they are waterproof they also work great with watercolor paint. The reusable pouch they come in makes this a great little set to have for home use or travel.

This is a sample of the line width of the X-superfine nib.

Here is the Superfine nib.

The Fine nib.

The Medium nib.

I used the Superfine sized nib to sketch out these mash-ups of Peanuts characters with superheroes.

I finished inking them using the Medium, Fine and X-superfine nibs. I then colored them with colored pencils.

This is Charlie Brown as Captain America.

Here is Lucy as Wonder Woman.

Pig-Pen as The Thing.

Linus as Batman.

Woodstock as Robin.

Sally as the Invisible Woman (Sue Storm).

And finally Snoopy as the Green Lantern.

The group inked and colored.

Overall I find the Faber-Castell PITT Black Fineliner Artist Pens to be workhorses that I use everyday. Whether it's just sitting around watching TV and sketching or working on a finished piece the PITT Artist Pens are always my first choice. The ink quality is consistent, they are reasonably priced and they last quite awhile.

Thanks again to Lisa Brody at Faber-Castell for sending me these fine products to review. Be sure to check back for future reviews of Faber-Castell products as well as more product reviews of Pilot Pens and Strathmore Artist Papers. Of course there will also be more Cartoonist Surveys. Both of the next two upcoming Cartoonist Survey participants have received awards from the National Cartoonists Society, FoxTrot's Bill Amend and illustrator Mark Brewer.