Pen & Ink Lessons From The Masters: Copying Michelangelo's Satyr

[@erikafischer3049]

These are my favorite videos of yours - the ones that showcase drawings/techniques that inspire you and how you learn from them. Thanks for passing along the enthusiasm!

[@mkompan]

Thanks Erika! These types of video are really the most fun to do, and I’m planning to make many more.

[@TheDynamite333]

This type of content has no match on KZbin as far as I know, thank you Marc. Excellent work!

[@mkompan]

Thanks! These types of videos seem to have a limited audience, but I’ll keep making them.

[@saram5005]

These lessons from the masters videos are fantastic. I can’t wait for you to make more of them! Van Gogh did lots of drawings with a reed pen. That would be a fun one to study!

[@mkompan]

Van Gogh would be fun to study. I’ll put him on the list!

[@philipposargyris6867]

Congratulations excellent work

[@mkompan]

Thank you!

[@gerdbertling643]

you give a lot of information about hatching technics. Thank you so much!

[@mkompan]

You’re welcome!

[@dimitrioskalfakis]

well explained. challenging areas such as prominent elevations (cheekbones) can be dealth with contours instead of hatching using isopotential or isophote curves, in essence treating the head as a mountain on a map viewed either from the top or at an inclination.

[@mkompan]

Thank you! That’s an interesting idea to draw the human form using topographic curves. I’m curious to see how it can be blended with cross-hatching. It should make for some fun experiments!

[@jorgemarioconti]

Muchas gracias Marc, excelente explicación!!!!!

[@mkompan]

¡Es un placer!

[@juanmarialberdigaritaonand4153]

Thanks!

[@mkompan]

Thank you!

[@juanmarialberdigaritaonand4153]

I'd like some day you could share with us your knowledge on dip pen nibs. Thank you for all your good work.

[@mkompan]

You’re welcome! I will be sure to make more videos on dip pens in the future.

[@ichirofakename]

1.This looks like a great way to practice hatching, and line-making in general, without being a boring exercise. 2. Speaking of sculpture, I like drawing directly from (photos of) actual sculptures. Not to learn or practice anything, but as a subject matter.

[@mkompan]

1. Filling a sheet with hatching is good practice for complete beginners, but the best practice is just to draw what you love. In art the best way to improve is to try doing what you love, rather doing a bunch of rudimentary exercises until you get to some imaginary degree of skill. 2. I also love drawing from sculpture, particularly from the Middle Ages).

[@stefanschneider4532]

Amazing, thank you!

[@mkompan]

My pleasure!

[@simonblackbird4568]

Thank you Marc! Your content is so interesting 🙏

[@mkompan]

Thanks Simon!

[@madiko]

Amazing! You and your art work inspire me so much. Furthermore the background info on art history is very interesting and enlightening as well. Thank you for this incredible combination. Thank you for sharing your insights. This combination makes your videos unique. 💛

[@mkompan]

Well, thank you for those very kind words. These videos are pretty time consuming to make, so it’s nice to know they’re appreciated.

[@thekevermelho]

Very good insights on this one. I am following your lines on a sketchbook and it is incredible how we all instinctively want to do hatching on our own ways. Copying is also an exercise on being humble. By the way, I enjoyed your comment regarding Michaelangelo and La pietà. spot on! 🙂 thank you for these wonderful videos

[@mkompan]

Thanks! Cross-hatching does have a way of emphasizing individual style in ways that smooth, blended shading does not.

[@sallym3994]

Thank you for such wonderful videos. I just found your KZbin channel a few days ago, and I'm trying to learn and specialize in ink with watercolor. Thank you for going over the pen over watercolor vs. watercolor over the pen video you did. I appreciate all the tips. I usually try to do pen over watercolor. I'm self taught and I also used to sketch only with pencil, but trying to expand my skills to pen drawing and I really appreciate the cross hatching videos, because I didn't know different ways to cross hatch so thankyou. I love how you add a brief informational section on old master painters, as well as the pen drawing techniques older artists used. It's important to study, and I have been trying to learn. I watched this video and other videos you have and thought I'd comment today. I liked the ink wash painting with the pitcher and apple, too. Im looking forward to more videos you post. Thank you for the fantastic information, and I like how your videos are calming and interesting with facts and references to artists in the past, as well as showing and teaching us techniques. Sorry, my comment is so long.

[@mkompan]

You’re very welcome, Sally. I’m so glad you found my channel and that you’re finding my videos, (and my way of teaching) helpful. More stuff to come!

[@moonram4820]

Love your videos !! Ty. 😊 If possible I would like to know how you would render flowers in pen and ink.

[@mkompan]

Thank you! Flowers in pen and ink would make a great video.

[@magnuswootton6181]

nice video.

[@mkompan]

Thank you!

[@pogogogo9002]

Beune Bister ink can be purchased online from European art shops.

[@mkompan]

Which shops? You can buy bister pigment from Kremer Pigments, but the actual ink I haven’t seen anywhere.

[@booshkoosh7994]

Thank you for the video! I've just got some new ink (walnut) and it reminded me of the old masters. I am certainly a beginner in ink drawing, and I really needed this guidance. If you could, would you be so very, very kind as to suggest a practice route? Who to copy, maybe. Just one suggestion would go a long way; I'm really eager to learn, but I don't what to create any bad habits. Thanks again! You've been a big help!😄👍

[@mkompan]

You’re welcome. My first advice would to copy who you love, whose style you would like to emulate. If those drawing are too difficult to tackle, you can try copying smaller details. For life drawing I think Raphael is a great starting point. His hatching technique is easier to do than Michelangelo’s.

[@booshkoosh7994]

@@mkompan Thank you so much! It's always nice to be reminded to follow your heart. I admire Raphael quite a lot; and I can't wait to start cracking-out my copies, and learning from them. You've really got something here! Thanks again for everything! 🖌😃👌

[@ChelseaFX66]

I would really like to see you do some hatch studying of a contemporary Japanese artist such as Kentaro Miura or Takehiko Inoue.

[@mkompan]

Thanks for the recommendation! I don’t know those two artists, since my area of specialization is Western old masters. I love discovering new artists, however and will look into them.

[@ChelseaFX66]

@@mkompan I think Inoue's work in Vagabond would be particularly interesting for you. A more realism based art style that mixes hatching, ink wash and brush work.

[@atelierthhun1165]

Thanks for more inspiration and instruction. I've found lots of "school of" drawings done over a pounced outline - presumably from the masters own work. Then the chalk and ink over that. (This too me explains why so few drawings survive as they not only get filthy but also would fall apart if used like this.) Since this seems to be such a usual method of transfer for students do you fancy trying it as a first layer ? I'd be fascinated and grateful.

[@mkompan]

You’re welcome! I’ll have to research this way of training, but to me this seems to have limited benefit since the copy is done over a “tracing” of the original. The results might be frustratingly less accurate through free handing, but the instructional benefit is greater.

[@renskee.jellema8697]

The usual method was to prick the lines of the original drawing with a needle, laying a sheet of paper under the original to create the transfer sheet. This sheet was taped over a blank sheet of paper and powdered charcoal was rubbed across the surface and forced through the holes. After the pricked sheet was removed, the pattern of the dots could be traced.   Outlines were drawn first. Cambiaso’s heavy lines required a blunt quill. The quill had to be held quite upright to prevent blots. Iron gall ink dries slowly, and a line must be dry before it can be overlapped with another line without causing pooling at the point of intersection. Wet-into-wet crossings can be seen in Cambiaso’s drawing. Working on several copies helped me to understand that Cambiaso’s drawing is carefully choreographed, despite its apparent vigor. This is clear in the calligraphic lines that articulate the torso of Jesus. When all the lines were thoroughly dry, different values of wash were brushed over the drawing. Iron gall ink washes are quite pale at first, but they darken considerably upon exposure to light, so I had to make my dilutions much weaker than I would have expected. Iron gall ink remains water-soluble, and the initial line work was somewhat blurred by the washes. In a final step, important contours were reinforced with the pen and undiluted ink.

[@mkompan]

@@renskee.jellema8697 thanks for that information! The pouncing method was used to transfer cartoons (full sized sketches) onto walls for fresco, but I was unaware that it was also used to reproduce drawings. I’ve never used iron gall ink. It sounds like the darkening effect would make it very difficult to work with in washes. I’m surprised to hear you say that it remains water soluble since most texts I’ve read say it’s waterproof. Do washes of diluted iron gall reactivate the dried ink? If so, perhaps the washes were done with a different ink, avoiding the issue of darkening and reactivation?

[@canalcerrado2433]

Did you ever make those videos on how to make bister and the feather pen ?

[@mkompan]

I made one on the feather: kzbin.info/www/bejne/epnQZ2t7rZ2mY9E I still need to do more research on bister ink before making a video on it.

[@canalcerrado2433]

@@mkompan cool thanks

[@marjanbakhtiarikish6433]

Thank you! What is your preferred paper for pen and ink drawings? I experiment a lot with this medium and I find it a challenge to find a paper that helps the nib move fluidly on the paper....Many thanks

[@mkompan]

You’re welcome. This is as much about the pen as the paper, but I enjoy working in my Talens art creations sketchbook. The paper is smooth, but not slick, and resists feathering and bleed through.

[@marjanbakhtiarikish6433]

That's great, Thank you! @@mkompan

[@yukanguis]

I wanted to do a copy of this sometime ago but it was overwhelming

[@mkompan]

It was pretty difficult. I suggest starting by copying a few details for practice before doing the whole thing.

[@ichirofakename]

What modern inks approximate the color and properties of bister ink? And, are there currently available papers that are similar in color to that used in the Renaissance? TIA.

[@mkompan]

The color of bistre varied greatly depends on what wood was used, with oak creating a dark brown, and birch creating a light yellowish brown, for example. Many dye based brown fountain pen inks have similar transparency and working properties. As for paper, there was quite a bit of variation in color, but yes you can still find paper made in the ild way. Saint Armand, a Canadian paper mill makes papers of many traditional colors.

[@MrEllinan]

Despite being humble your copy is definetely inspiring, I have a question though, in the video of the three cross contour drawings you stated, with the chisel one, that the first layer is for value purposes, how can you tell, while copying, which is the direction of the base value or you took some liberties to do so? Can't express how thrilling would be a tutorial for crafting materials and supplies like the old masters :D thanks for another great video, Marc

[@mkompan]

You’re welcome! It’s impossible to know the order in which the hatching layers were done, so I made an educated guess. Usually the base layers are the longest with subsequent layers becoming shorter and shorter as the forms are refined. But systems are for beginners at Michelangelo’s level there might not be a strict order of doing things. And yes, I’m excited to do those videos on traditional materials. Traditional inks are particularly fascinating and relatively easy to make.

[@MrEllinan]

@@mkompan Amazing, thanks for the insights. Looking forward for those tutorials!

[@henksmith8611]

Did old masters also make drawings with pencil before using ink? Or did they just go in with ink the first try? Im new to ink and am sondering if underdrawing with pencil is the standard practice.

[@mkompan]

There are many pen and ink drawing with indications of underdrawing and many without. There was no standard practice but must have depended on the objective. Accurate drawings necessitated underdrawings, looser sketches did not.

[@wyk3982]

How long did it take to create the copy and your own drawing?

[@mkompan]

Hmmm…I think about an hour each.

[@JayJayYUP]

not joking when I say this, but i think your wrestler drawing was better than Michelangelo's in a lot of ways. Granted the primary thing missing is something possible gated by time (the paper, the type of ink and chalk available back then, etc.. even though you said you could procure the materials to close that gap if you wanted to). So if you had access to some of that to bring out more of the glowing rustic look of many of these old master type drawings - I think at that point this drawing you did was better than his. Now the only question is, was that drawing he did from imagination :-O As for who to study.. That's not a problem personally, but it's a similar type of problem of problem when trying to study Michelangelo, in the fact that you realize really quick how you're going to get wrecked most of the time you try lol! So ironically, it's a big problem.

[@mkompan]

That’s very high praise, but thank you. I do think that my drawing is better than my copy, but the original drawing is levels and levels above anything I can do. Michelangelo smokes everyone, perhaps with the exception of Rubens and Durer. It’s a mistake to think that using historical materials will somehow improve your work. Sure, a little more transparency in the ink would have been nice, and quills are wonderful tools, but the deficiencies in my drawing are caused by technique and not materials.

[@JayJayYUP]

@@mkompan Exactly why I said if you had the materials, your version would be better than his :D Michelangelo smokes everyone in overall talents (goodness was there any medium he wasn't a master in that he worked with?). But for strictly pen and ink, I'd take Wrightson/Virgil any day, those guys were unhealthy levels of good with that craft. One thing I always wondered about Old Masters. Life was tough in those days, there wasn't the internet or much of anything outside of art schools.. How did they have enough time to eek out a living while also making everyone else even in the modern day look like a joke? Now we have so many amenities, yet idk, I'd imagined the work an average artist today would be far more capable than any old master (in the same way any mathematics major today would make most mathematicians of centuries ago look silly). Can't make sense of that reality >_

[@mkompan]

@@JayJayYUP I believe I was making the exact opposite point about materials, but thank you. :) In all seriousness, I spent many years researching and recreating old master methods when I was younger, and can confidently say that most of the art materials available today are miles better than what was used in the past. If you think about, it's no surprise that the old master's were generally better. Many artists started their training at 9 years old, when they were apprenticed to a master. From that point on they did nothing other than make art. Most artists today take their first drawing classes in their teens, and don't get to pursue art seriously until art school. Also, let's not forget that Michelangelo studied under Ghirlandaio, who likely studied under some very good Florentine masters, and that there was an unbroken line of evolving knowledge being passed down for several generations. Such continuity of craft was completely lost in the 20th century and we're still in the process of recovering it.

[@JayJayYUP]

@@mkompan I find it interesting to think about that they were nurtured from such a young age to pursue art. You think that modern day stigma still existed back then? You know the thing when parents or friends hear someone wants to be an artist and think they should instead try to be a lawyer because it's "risky" or "you won't be able to make a living"?

[@mkompan]

I remember reading somewhere that Michelangelo's father initially had some reservations, but they came from an impoverished banking family, so there was a concern over the lowering of social status. In many cases artists came families of skilled tradespeople such as goldsmiths, or other relatively humble middle class occupations, so the study of painting (which was considered a respectable skilled trade) was probably viewed as a lateral move. Keep in mind, there where way more opportunities to make a living as an artist in those days, and it wasn't as risky as it is now. Nowadays most of us have to scrape together what they can by posting dumb videos on KZbin. :)

[@TJRostas]

Thanks!

[@mkompan]

Thank you! Much appreciated.

[@plwarren]

Thanks!

[@mkompan]

Thank you!