Tips relevant to creating botanical drawings and illustrations in pen and ink,
​choosing your pen and ink and maintaining your pen
This page covers the following topics:
Creating a botanical illustration in pen and ink
  • Why is pen and ink used for botanical illustration
  • Pen and ink techniques
  • The size of a pen and ink drawing
  • The surface of a pen and ink drawing
Technical Tools for Pen and Ink Illustration
  • What type of pen is used for botanical illustration
  • Technical Drawing Pens
  • How to clean a Rapidograph Technical Pen (+ video)
  • Dip pens (+ videos)
  • Dip Pen techniques for botanical illustration 
  • Pigment Liners
The banner is part of a drawing of Studies of Walnuts and Hazelnuts done by John Dunstall in 1666.
​The drawing is executed in Pen and brown ink over metalpoint outlines on vellum.

CREATING A BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATION IN PEN AND INK
​

Why is pen and ink used for botanical illustration?

Scientific botanical illustrations are typically produced in pen and ink
  • line drawings have always been used to record plants
  • scientific journals and books require monochrome images for reproduction and publication
  • line drawings in pen and ink can describe the form and the detail in Herbarium specimens which have often lost their colour completely
  • line illustrations can isolate longitudinal cross-sections or dissections of a plant and represent features in a simple and unambiguous way
  • monochrome illustrations can be cleaned up using software
  • hatching (used by Stella Ross-Craig) and stippling (used by many contemporary botanical illustrators) are used to represent tonal variation
  • and finally - it's much cheaper for the publisher to print monochrome illustrations than it is to print full colour ones!
CLICK BUTTON (above) to see the page (in the Botany section) which has much more detail on approaches to scientific botanical illustration - the bulk of which is done in liaison with botanical gardens and botanists.
REFERENCE

Pen and ink techniques
​

The techniques used for drawing with pen and ink for reproduction in part depends on the technological process that will be used for printing. 
Techniques employed by pen and ink artists include:
  • line - used in a very precise way. Being able to draw an unwavering line in a relaxed way requires lots and lots of practice. Aim for a slow and continuous flowing movement. It's best to draw from top to bottom and towards you rather than away from you. 
  • varying the weight of line - thicker lines can reinforce aspects of the drawing or indicate part of the form that is in shadow
  • hatching - to create tone - is achieved by drawing lots of lines. This needs to be done carefully to be really effective. These can be parallel lines drawn generally parallel to the main axis of the drawing. Draw the left hand line first if you are right handed and the right hand one first if you are left-handed. 
  • Hatching on a diagonal - bears no relation to form but is a common technique
  • contour hatching is where the hatching lines follow the contour lines of the form an are effective at describing and reinforcing the form of a shape and making a plant appear more 3D
  • stipple (lots of dots) are an effective way of rendering tone but it takes some practice to look effective - as opposed to a mess.  Dors are often preferred by botanists as it avoids any potential confusion between a line which is describing form and one which describes shade.
  • dots and dashes - takes the emphasis off a line which is present but not "shouting" 
Picture
Variation in the weight - and thickness - of a line
Pencil if often used first to get the drawing right, with the pen and ink being used to strengthen the line and make it clearer when it is reproduced or displayed

​Gradation is achieved due to the spacing of lines or dots - and in some cases the extent to which ink is diluted to produce a grey rather than a black ink
In a pen and ink drawing, hatching or stippling should be used to show tone and form - and are NOT ways to a fill a space.  One of the most difficult things when doing a pen and ink drawing is understanding when to stop using your pen!
A great example of sustained and consistent pen and ink drawing is Stella Ross Craig's Drawings of British Plants. She used a mixture of line and stipple to describe a plant.

​
Picture
Nymphea by Stella Ross-Craig

The size of a pen and ink drawing
​

Ink drawings are often reduced for publication, however this can mean that finer detail becomes lost.

​Consequently you NEED TO KNOW
  • whether or not a drawing is for reproduction before you start and
  • to what extent the image might be resized. (This also has implications for how you represent scale).
​

The surface of a pen and ink drawing
​

A very consistent hard surface - without give - is preferable.
  • Lines need to be clean and not furry!
  • a surface that does not allow the ink to bleed or absorb into the fibres within the paper. 
  • Surfaces with a tooth will create a drag on the pen nib.

Most prefer to draw on a smooth surface which allows the pen nib or point to move smoothly. 

Surfaces favoured by professional botanical illustrators include
  • Illustration board,
  • Bristol Board (paper) and
  • drafting film (vellum).  
  • Heavier weight Bristol Board (eg 4 sheet or 5 sheet) is preferable for larger drawings as the heavier weight paper helps to prevent creasing.
NOTE: Cartridge paper is more suited to pencil drawings as it lacks the smoothness of paper designed for pen and ink.

Consideration also needs to be given to the extent to which the support will allow erasure (although now most drawings are converted to digital images for reproduction this is of less consequence).
Natural History Illustration in Pen and Ink
by Sarah Morrish
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
This books focuses on Natural History Illustration rather than botanical illustration. However
  • all the practical advice about materials and equipment and and detailed instruction information about mark-making techniques and how to develop illustrations in pen and ink are also applicable to botanical subject matter.
  • Plus the book includes a 26 page chapter on botanical subjects
  • it's particularly suitable for those who prefer to develop monochrome illustrations but also tackles how pen and ink can be used with other media.
Suitable for all skills levels from beginners to experienced artists wanting to try developing their skills using pen and ink.
This book has its own Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/NaturalHistoryIllustrationPenandInk
Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Crowood Press Ltd (10 Aug. 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1785009222
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1785009228
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 22 x 1.5 x 28 cm
​Also available on Kindle

Ranked #12 in Pen and Ink Drawing within 4 weeks of publication in August 2021 - and is the ONLY book about technical illustration in pen and ink in the top 12.
​It's selling very fast and has already gone for reprint.

RATED 5 out of 5 stars by 7 global ratings on Amazon UK

​BUY THIS BOOK
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Morrish is a widely-respected artist, illustrator and tutor, with many years of teaching experience. With a working background in ecology and conservation, she aims to raise awareness of the beauty and fragility of nature in all its forms. She is a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists, the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society and a Fellow of the Linnean Society.

TECHNICAL TOOLS FOR PEN AND INK ILLUSTRATION
​

What type of pen is used for botanical illustration?

Those who favour pen and ink tend to be devoted to either  dip pen or technical drawing pens.
The latter give a totally consistent line but can be a bit more boring when compared to the lines that can be achieved with the benefit of a pointed and flexible nib. 

Technical Drawing Pens
​

Most professional botanical illustrators using pen and ink will will use a technical drawing pen - such as a Rapidograph or Isograph.

This has a tubular nib and the line they produce comes in a range of predetermined widths which conform to ISO standards.

Essentially they produce a very consistent and stable line with little variation in width. The pens also use typically use permanent black ink.

Botanical artists will sometimes vary the dilution of the ink to get gradations of tone without needing to change the line width.
REFERENCE
DRAWING USING A RAPIDOGRAPH

This is a stop-motion video of a botanist (Alastair Robinson) drawing a new orchid species using a Rotring Rapidograph.

Alastair was highly commended in the Margaret Flockton Award 2018

WARNING: MUSIC will play loudly! (I can't suppress it but you can!)
Rotring 699530 Rapidograph College Set with Pen Station

The set includes:
  • Three rapidograph pens with a pressure equalisation system 
  • Light-weight Tikky mechanical pencil with a rubber grip for comfort
A Rapidograph comes in 13 line widths and this set has three of them (0.25 mm, 0.35 mm and 0.50 mm). The hard chrome-plated thin tip is very resistant to wear as these type of pens are used continuously within the context of professional/commercial use. The pens use cartridges of ink specifically designed for these pens. 

BUY THIS PEN:
Røtring Pen © Tips from Esmee Winkel

 Esmée Winkel GM is a professional scientific illustrator who draws in pen and ink. After the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2016, where we discussed use of pen and ink she very kindly sent me some notes about how she uses a Røtring Pen for sharing with botanical art students.  

See Notes on using the Røtring Pen © botanical illustrator Esmée Winkel GM (March 2016) document which you can download (see Scribd)

How to clean your Rapidograph Technical Pen

Many botanical illustrators use a technical pen - such as a Rapidograph for their monochrome botanical illustration in pen and ink. However technical pens can get clogged and fail to perform well - and that might be because they need to be cleaned.

There's a Rapidograph cleaning kit and this is how to use it.

Pigment Liners and Disposable Permanent Ink Pens

Pigment liners are typically used as the ink used in them can be both waterproof and lightfast - and there's no need to mess about with bottles of ink or changing ink cartridges.  They also come in a variety of weight of lines.

The advantage of a lightfast ink is that the pen and ink can also be used in combination with colour - using either watercolour or  coloured ink washes
Characteristics of a disposable permanent ink pen which make it useful for illustration are as follows:
  • lightfast permanent ink for all drawings which need to last or will be archived
  • very fine points - achieved using a width thickness of less than 0.5mm (i.e. 0.2 mm, 0.1 mm and 0.05 mm)
The disadvantage of a disposable permanent ink pen is that, unlike technical drawing pens, you have to go with the colour of ink chosen by the manufacturer and you cannot vary the saturation level in any way.
There are various brands of disposable permanent ink pens.  Some of the ones I would recommend and I know are used by professional illustrators are show below.
Staedtler Pigment Liner 

​The Pigment Liner uses indelible pigment ink which is discharged though a metal nib (which means that this does not deteriorate before the ink runs out). There are a range of widths from 0.05mm fine line up to a 2mm chisel tip.  The best ones for botanical illustration are the fine lines less than 0.5mm.

Below is a set of 0.05 mm pigment liners by Staedtler - which deliver an incredibly fine line - and which I buy on a periodic basis.

​You can leave the cap off for a long time without the pen drying out - you just need to remember not to skip a day and leave the top off for more than 18 hours while they are not in use!
BUY THIS PEN
Pigma Micron Pen 

The Pigma ink is permanent, acid-free and waterproof and you can get it in black or sepia. Obviously black is desirable for reproduction- but it's nice to have sepia for original art for sale.

The nib produces a fine line. The width sizes are all numbered and the numbers do not correspond to mm widths - which is slightly confusing!

​Below is a pack of different widths - Sizes 005, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05 = 0.20, 0.25, 0.30, 0.35, 0.40, 0.50mm line widths 
BUY THIS PEN

Dip Pens

Botanical artists who use pens but don't adopt the precise approach of the professional botanical illustrator (eg Francesca Anderson) will often use a dip pen.

Some would say that dips pens are for purists and fine artists (eg botanical art) and technical pens are for those involved in technical or scientific drawing (eg botanical illustration).

However it's not actually as simple as that. It really depends on how skilled you are using them and the techniques you use .

​The main advantage of using a dip pen is that it allows the artist to vary the weight of the line - which is impossible if you use a technical drawing pen which is manufactured to deliver a consistent line of a precise width.

​​The type of nib used is down to the preference of the individual artist.  A crow quill nib (Gillott number 290) is favoured by some because it can produce very fine hair lines. (see below)

Dip pens can also be used with coloured inks.
Picture
Francesca Anderson at the Jonathan Cooper Park Walk gallery exhibition for the 25th anniversary exhibition of the Shirley Sherwood Collection.
REFERENCE
  • From Hunt to Tachikawa - about the different nibs used in botanical illustration classes at Denver Botanic Gardens' School of Botanical Art and Illustration
Picture
Studies of walnuts and hazelnuts (1666) by John Dunstall Pen and brown ink over metalpoint outlines on vellum 20 x 29 cm

Pen and Ink techniques for botanical illustration with a dip pen

HOW TO USE A DIP PEN​
  • The first video explains about the dip pen and why artists like to use them.
  • ​The second video explains how to draw a botanical subject using a dip pen.
Mindy Lighthipe provides advice on supplies and techniques for pen and ink. It covers:
  • Hunt Speedball pen holders and crowquill nibs
  • how to tell the flexibility of a nib
  • pigment liners - which are both waterproof and lightfast
  • types of ink eg F&W acrylic ink
  • how to use a sponge to stop ink from creating a mess
  • the use of a reducing lens to see if hatching or stippling is too dark for reproduction if an image is reduce for publication
  • the use of a chamois as a pen wipe
  • why you need a plate (very smooth surface) for a pen and ink drawing
  • how to dip a nib in ink
  • how to draw a line using the correct direction for pulling the nib (although I confess I couldn't listen to the way the noise of the nib on the paper - I need one that makes no noise!)
  • how to stipple
Speedball 9402-102 Crow Quill Pen, Pack of 12, Silver
  • ​Pack of 12 crow quill pen nibs which fit the Hunt Crowquill Pen Holder. (Different Speedball nibs need different holders)
Hunt Crowquill Pen Point Holder 9452
The following Quill nibs will fit this pen holder
  • 102 - Crow Quill - most popular dip pen nib in USA, superfine and flexible
  • 107 - Hawk Quill - superfine point, very stiff and more durable than the 102
  • 108 - Flexible Quill - used for cross-hatching and lettering
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