How To Sketch with a Fude Nib on Watercolor Paper 

I was excited to discover it!

Thanks! I'm happy to hear that.

@@mkompan i have recently discovered the dip pen world and was looking for another alternative. I use watercolour and ink as well but have not yet found my sweet spot. This might be the right direction. I will check out your other videos. I am now subscribed. Thanks again.

Thank you kindly.

Thank you Sean! Bill Watterson is an incredible artist-glad to be channeling him.

You’re welcome! It’s nice to hear that it’s appreciated.

You're very kind! I'm glad you found my channel and are finding my videos helpful. Thanks for your support!

Thank you! I’ll try to include more close ups in the future.

Gracias a usted!

Thank you!

You're welcome! I'm glad you liked the vid.

Thank you!

You're welcome Kevin!

You're welcome.

Thank you Richard! I do mention that the fude makes a finer line upside-down in my other video that covers fude pens in general. On rough watercolor paper working that way is very scratchy, however.

Thanks Robert!

Thank you for the kind words! Fude pens blend so well with watercolor, I’m happy to share this technique.

You're welcome! Document Brown is such a lovely ink to use with fude nibs. It brings out its transparency and warmth.

Thanks. More on the way!

You’re welcome! Color pencil over ink sounds interesting.

Line variation is an added complication, to be sure, but the only way to improve at it and gain confidence is to try it. You might not be happy with the results at first, but so long as you’re learning from mistakes, those failures will lead to growth. I think the fude on watercolor paper can be taken in lots of unexplored stylistic directions. I’m curious to see where people go with it.

@@mkompan fude nibs and fountain pens in general are not that popular (as it seems to me). Why do you think artists shy away from them? Is it the cost or something else at play? I feel like a lot of people see them as a lot of fuss and go with disposable materials: zebra brushes, microns or at best dip pens. What is your perspective?

@@relaques666The fountain pen industry was virtually wiped out in the 1950’s and 60’s by the ball-point pen, which despite being inferior in every way for drawing, appealed to the general public because it was dirt cheap, fuss-free and wrote on crappy paper. I’m a child of the 70’s, and didn’t realize that fountain pens could be used for drawing until I was an adult. While there were a few fountain pen-like objects on the market when I was coming up, such as the Rotring Artpen, no one used fountain pens in art school, not even the dinosaurs that taught us. The joy of using them was simply forgotten. The resurgence of interest has come recently, and I’m doing what I can to introduce fountain pens to my students and colleagues. It’s tough going, and not only because people are used to their disposable, cheap stuff. If you're an artist with thousands and thousands of hours of experience working with a certain beloved tool, to the point that it has become an extension of the hand, it's going to be hard to hear that there's a better option. As for fudes: they are super awkward to use at first, which makes people hesitate to try them. I once gave a fude demo to an older, super proficient pen and ink artist. He told me, "the line quality is amazing, but I just don't see myself holding a pen that way." He never even tried it.

@@mkompan Wow... Thank you for the detailed answer. I'm young so I never heard of this perspective. I can see the reasoning: starting over with a new utensil gets progressively less enticing the more you succeed in a given medium. We'll see how it all goes moving forward. The abundance and variety of mark-making tools is a blessing, I think. Way more chance to find something you can fall in love with. Picking up your favorite drawing implement does make you want to do something with it!

@@relaques666 I agree! I love trying new stuff, and the variety of drawing supplies, particularly coming out of Asia, is really exciting.

My pleasure! De Atramentis document sepia is grey-brown, and though I’ve never used it, I’ve had nothing but excellent results from their inks.

@@mkompan Again thank you for your very quick informative reply, you're awesome.

Yes, this works on smooth paper, on the rough watercolor paper used here, not so much.

You're welcome, and thank you for the kind words! You definitely need a fude with good flow for this technique.

Thanks! This is the standard 45 degree bend.

Thank you, and apologies for the oversight. I’m using DeAtramentis Document Brown ink. As for a link, many online retailers sell it.

Gosh, as a righty I couldn’t tell you.

Thank you Larry! I have no experience with them myself, but Ackerman pens makes a pen that takes a crow quill. Other than that, the closest you're going to get to a quill are pens that fit a Zebra G nib. There are a lot of ways to do this, one of the easiest is to get a Zebra G nib fitted into a #6 Jowo feed and housing from the Flexible nib factory. They you can fit it into any pen that uses that set up,

@@mkompan Thank you for the quick informative response. I have tried the Ackerman G nib, non pump, pen & have converted a Jinhao 450 to a G pen. The conversion works well & use Crow Quill dip pens; the Non Pump Ackerman is not satisfactory. I was hoping there was a Crow Quill alternative. Again, thank you.

@@larryglatt2548 what was your experience with the ackerman crow quill? Was thinking of trying it. How did it write and what were the issues? Thank you..

@@nostgeoffhi-fi Glad you got back to me. My judgement has changed, The Jinhao conversion DIDN'T actually work after all (total fail for me) as for the Ackerman G nib pen, that I wound up returning for a refund (lovely folk), but I couldn't make it work. BTW, I use Platinum Carbon ink; as for the Crowquill, no I haven't tried that one. At present I am using a Swan Manga Pen from Swan Pens on Etsy, it comes with its own Soft Maru- type nib for Calligraphy & Art (their description.) I like it for inking line work, just a bit scratchy but I'm getting better with it. Next, it has a very large capacity self contained converter, which is great, but the Carbon ink can't be left in it. The owner, Thomas (great guy) said to rinse after use and it should be fine & it has. So, I use & rinse after each day's use. At present I have 2, one for the Carbon ink & the other with Noodlers' bullet proof (?) black which is just fine. Interestingly he has a Fude pen as well which I plan to purchase down the line. Let me know what you think. Best regards, Larry