Pen And Ink Lessons From the Masters: Copying Anders Zorn

[@plwarren]

love your dry sense of humor stop. learning alot stop. hope you can keep doing this work. stop. see ya. stop.

[@mkompan]

Thank you for the telegram stop. I don’t plan to stop stop. :)

[@plwarren]

also, you have great taste in music. try glenn gould playing js bach partitas. the best. on youtube

[@mkompan]

@@plwarren thanks again. Gould’s recordings of the partitas are some of my favorites.

[@plwarren]

I want to be buried with Gould playing BMV 933-938. I listen to them while trying to learn hatching.@@mkompan

[@entretantosmundosgaming4974]

Love your tutorials. Especially when you analyze the masters. Keep ‘em coming. Thanks for sharing the knowledge, Mark.

[@mkompan]

Thank you! I will keep keeping ‘em coming.

[@davidallsebrook8523]

Insightful and inspiring. Time for me to start copying master drawings.

[@mkompan]

Thank you! I’m glad this inspired you to try this valuable practice.

[@karenturner-cf7vq]

I have been interested in this form of art, so learning Cross hatching from your demonstration was useful. Thankyou

[@mkompan]

My pleasure! I’m glad you found it useful.

[@Mike-pt8lz]

That was excellent- thank you!

[@mkompan]

My pleasure!

[@blueravenforhim]

Thank you for the exhaustive description of the process.

[@mkompan]

My pleasure! Hopefully this was only exhaustive, rather than exhausting.

[@anthonyw2931]

i hit the subscribe button so hard I may have cracked it. Speaking of which, if I was ever acting Swedish and wearing red suits (not to mention have a miniscule of skill as Zorn), it will be my life's mission to stay away from any cure! Thank you.

[@mkompan]

Thanks for the subscription! And you're right, being a Zornling isn't the worst thing in the world. :)

[@acanbelina]

I’m brand new to ink drawing (besides doodling in school) and I learned a lot just from this alone, thank you!

[@mkompan]

My pleasure! I’m glad you’re finding my videos helpful.

[@tatyanastepanova8341]

This is brilliant

[@mkompan]

Thank you!

[@pilatusk2]

Thank you. very good.

[@mkompan]

My pleasure! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@zBr2805]

Never seen something like the Zorn Style, incredible video, Marc.

[@mkompan]

Thank you! Glad to have introduced it to you.

[@zBr2805]

I would love to see you giving a deep dive in the Gustav Doré techniques @@mkompan

[@mkompan]

@@zBr2805 on the list!

[@1mulekicker]

As a "Newbie" to this hobby with a small amount of mechanical and drafting instruction, the pen and ink format drew me as I have a touch of color blindness. I've watched and enjoyed dozens of Bob Ross episodes, but your channel has made me curious enough to try my hand. Ironically most of my life I created art with a welding rod as my trade while listening to classical music. What you do here is "Very Cool".

[@mkompan]

Thank you! I’m glad this video inspired you.

[@patrickleduc7712]

Great! Thanks

[@mkompan]

My pleasure!

[@marshallerskine355]

Thank you. enjoyed this one a lot!

[@mkompan]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@sophia192]

Legend!!! I'm so glad I found your channel

[@mkompan]

Thanks! Glad you found me.

[@Bitwise1024]

Thank you for sharing your years of experience, artistic insights, and taking the time to give us an historical background of the artist whose work is being examined. What a great lesson!

[@mkompan]

Goodness, you're very kind! Thank you for the compliments. Viewers like you make all this work worthwhile.

[@madiko]

It's amazing, what you came up with in your own drawing. I like it a lot! So much atmosphere. I almost hear them talk and make fun of each other (though they are thinking and pondering here). Or your sister getting up to run away from the table to fetch something. Love it!

[@mkompan]

Thank you! It was so fun to make my own Zorn. I like this technique a lot and will be doing more of these.

[@alungkarnchubua2126]

love this channel! i am in love sketching with fountain pen. please make more precious videos, it really helps me improve my drawing and i hope it helps others too.

[@mkompan]

Thank you! I’m going to keep making video far into the future.

[@alvarocafe]

I learn a great deal from these and even started making my own copies from artists I admire, inspired by your work! Thank you and please keep it up!

[@mkompan]

My pleasure. I’m glad I could inspire you to start copying. Will keep on keeping it up!

[@atelierthhun1165]

I'm glad that the inexpensive paper held up to this technique. Thanks for an amusing and informative video. Your sensible advice about copying was great. There are so many times when one can do a copy when the circumstances don't permit other work. Many thanks.

[@mkompan]

My pleasure! The paper in the Talens art creations sketchbook is really pretty good, considering how thin it is, and stands up to quite a bit of abuse!

[@thekevermelho]

Very inspiring. I was not aware of Zorn’s work beyond his painting. Excellent work Marc. I will try this, Pilot 74 SF and all 🙂

[@mkompan]

Thank you! Zorn's graphic work definitely deserves to be better known.

[@Art_culture_livin]

Love it ,

[@mkompan]

Thank you!

[@stellahaenig6846]

Mille grazie per averci fatto conoscere l'artista Zorn .. Apprezzo molto il tuo impegno di insegnarci tecniche grafiche guardando l'opere di artisti/ maestri di epoche passate. Le tue spiegazioni sono veramente utili. Grazie di cuore

[@mkompan]

Piacere mio! Questi video non ottengono il pubblico che hanno ricevuto alcuni dei miei altri tipi di video, ma sono i miei preferiti da realizzare, perché è dove mi sento più utile.

[@coopergurl90]

Such a lovely video! To the point yet full of countless gems! Subscribed!

[@mkompan]

Such a lovely comment! Thank for the subscription. I promise many more videos like this one.

[@nicolasjoly1755]

thank you , I watch them all, and I love your intros with classical or romantic music, away from the pop music doxa.

[@mkompan]

My pleasure! I'm glad you're enjoying the intro's. I wish I could use better classical music, but that means having to pay a licensing fee.

[@JohnnyEldritch]

As always an insightful and very interesting video. Very much appreciated.

[@mkompan]

Thank you so much!

[@biffandhapp418]

Fantastic! I really like your videos. This one is awesome and inspiring.

[@mkompan]

Thank you so much!

[@LovinLnCottage]

So exciting! I have never seen Zorn’s pen and ink work anywhere before this. Thank you so much for doing this inspiring video. I am going to try this style of working in pen and ink. Copying the work of artists I love is a wonderful way of learning that is very old and the concern about not developing one’s own style is spurious, IMHO. The only “danger” one might encounter is that, in a contemplative state of mind, one might begin to actually channel the original artist of the work. LOL. That would be a startling development!

[@mkompan]

Thanks for the kind words! Zorn's graphic work deserves to be better known. As far I know it's only been published once. And I agree, we fetishize originality, as if that in itself is the only quality on which art is judged.

[@anthonyw2931]

well said.

[@anthonyw2931]

@@mkompan hear, hear.

[@TheDynamite333]

Excellent tutorial as usual, thank you very much Professor. "a little too much coffee", hmm that must be the real trick here :). For the wash part, water proof Indian ink is also usable I guess?

[@mkompan]

My pleasure, as always! Yes, waterproof India ink will work perfectly for this.

[@tripp8833]

Nice. Im beginner level but thinking of copying an ink drawing myself. Any advice for a beginner level person doing this? Thanks. Love your videos

[@mkompan]

Thanks! I have an introduction to cross hatching that will get you started. I’m planning on doing more introductory videos soon. Stay tuned!

[@zazzenfuk]

Any chance you might revisit this type of work with Gustave Dore?! Im wondering how to learn his style of art as im at a loss of how Etching was done comparative to modern works. His long lines and incredibly detailed images are awe-inspiring

[@mkompan]

Dore is on my list of tutorials to make. Etching is closer to drawing, in that the lines are scratched free hand into a varnish covered metal plate, which is then immersed in acid. Dore’s medium was engraving, a much more laborious technique where the lines were physically carved into the metal plate. Dore used a variety of mechanical aids to create his straight lines, which makes his work difficult to copy free hand, but we can give it a try.

[@Kite7077]

Hello Marc, I absolutely love your artwork and your videos as they are so helpful and insanely easy to understand. I was wondering what paper you generally use and if it is advisable to use Bristol paper(smooth) with fountain pens.

[@mkompan]

Thanks for the very kind words! I use a variety of papers, depending on what I’m doing. Bristol is ok, but can feather with certain inks, and isn’t good for washes. I find hot press watercolor paper (Arches is a good brand).

[@Kite7077]

@@mkompan does arches have larger paper sizes, I am wondering as I usually would like larger paper. I generally use Bristol with my fountain pens and they perform fairly fine which is good, but i was also wondering if fountain friendly papers are like crucial to using fountain pens.

[@mkompan]

@@Kite7077 you can buy arches in large sheets (22x30”). And if want to go even larger, I believe it can be purchased in rolls, but I can’t remember the dimensions. Fountain pen inks are not as well behaved as drawing inks, and have a greater tendency to feather and strike through, but I think generally any paper that is ink friendly, will also be fountain pen friendly.

[@Kite7077]

@@mkompan Oh yea, I was checking the arches brand out and they seem to have a few good products out there for watercolor papers and such, I was not that aware that fountain pen ink is not that well behaved however, but yes it is true that it can be really annoying sometimes, I feel really thankful that i discovered this channel as it is really helpful and i find the videos to be insanely easy to watch and understand despite the amount of detail. Anyways thanks a lot for the advice, im going to be spending a lot of money lol.

[@ichirofakename]

1. There was a Zorn show up here in SF a while back, mostly/all oils. Lotsa technique. So Sargentesque. 2. It's very interesting to see how the wash can soften the brittle sharpness of the pen lines. I like the effect you can get by using a different color of wash. 3. I wonder if you could do the same thing with one of Seurat's charcoal drawings. He speaks to me much louder. Though the difference in media and paper may make the endeavor hope- and/or point- less.

[@mkompan]

1. Zorn is perhaps a touch better than Sargeant, but I can't say I'm a huge fan of either as painters. Both are too slick and superficial for my taste. But their off-hours work, etchings and watercolors, are wonderful, full of inventiveness and daring, missing from their official productions. 2. It was surprising how the wash and the ink worked together in Zorn, so much so that it was sometimes difficult to see where an effect was created by wash, or by hatch. 3. I'm planning to expand this "lessons from the masters" series into other media, and I think Seurat's tonal masterpieces are good candidates for copying.

[@ichirofakename]

@@mkompan 1. Those of us acutely aware of our own shortcomings of technique are sometimes seduced by brilliant technique in others, even if it has little to say.

[@renskee.jellema8697]

Hi Marc, Thank you for this demo. Just one tip: the ‘A’ in Talens is pronounced more or less like the “A” in father.

[@mkompan]

My pleasure! Thanks for the tip.

[@cassidavinci7714]

I liked very much this lesson, also I like Zorn drawings, it’s like drawing like a painter the way he does, what artists you will cover next?

[@mkompan]

Thank you! I’m not sure who to cover next. Perhaps a landscape artist? Claude Lorraine or Van Gogh? I have other videos to do first, which gives me time to think about it.

[@cassidavinci7714]

@@mkompan Van Gogh is a good one to think about, also Goya or even Kley are good bets too, or you can try to experiment to covering artists that are not in the classic/fine art sphere, but you decide, it’s your channel

[@hippopotamusbosch]

I think the copying was partly more difficult because the original’s marks were left handed; you’re clearly right handed.

[@mkompan]

Copying work done by lefties is more difficult, but mostly because I'm filming. When I'm off camera I rotate the paper to get a more comfortable angle. Not that it matters, but I'm copying a print, so the original marks on the etching plate would have been flipped.