I'm a fine artist, illustrator, writer, graphic novelist, and educator living in Los Angeles, CA.
This channel was created primarily for my students at Santa Monica College, Otis College of Art and Design, CSU Los Angeles, and Ryman Arts.
Besides a bunch of poorly shot class lectures on such topics as figure drawing, linear perspective, illustration and composition, it also features tutorials covering a wide range of drawing/painting materials and techniques for the general public. There's also probably way too many videos about fountain pens. Like, way too many.
You can see my artwork here: Mkompan.squarespace.com.
You can also find me on Instagram.
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Great video thank you !
This was so informative and helpful. Thank you so much for your awesome videos.
My pleasure! Glad you found this useful.
Lovely ❤. What ink are you using here? Started collecting more waterproof inks :) but I’m keen to try more water resistant ones
Thank you! I’m not using ink here at all, but rather a red-chalk pencil, which has some water resistant properties.
@@mkompan Oh fab! What’s called if I may ask?
@@InkNSap I’m using a Conte red chalk pencil on regular drawing paper. I have tutorial on this here: Red chalk and wash technique: three approaches kzread.info/dash/bejne/aoOlr9Z7fMeWY84.html
полностью согласен - это прекрасные ручки - у меня есть Duke b Moonman - super for drawing
Terrific video, thank you for posting. I took all your original classes and classes and loved them!
Thank you Sharon!
i found using Bristol paper with ink dip pens much smoother than watercolour papers .
Yes, Bristol papers do tend to be smoother than watercolor papers, but they don’t take watercolors or ink wash well, which negates their usefulness when working with waterproof inks.
I had the opposite experience than you with the Moonman and Koweco pens. I'm so disapointed in Koweco Liliput's inconsistent ink flow. At its price point, the nib should funciton right out of the box. However, your video has given hope with the idea of replacing the nib with a vintage gold nib. Thanks!!
I think this speaks to the inconsistency of Moonman pens. I’ve also had a few Moonman pens work decently, but never great. Kaweco pen can also be hit or miss, but usually the flow issues can be quickly be corrected by relaxing the times (you can see videos on it on KZread).
Would it be ideal to buy the feeds with the nibs so they fit better? Thanks
The original feeds that come with the FPR nibs do not fit into the TWSBI.
Oh got it. Thanks!
Hi, Marc. I am in the process of watching this video. It would be helpful if you would mention what books you would think would be helpful to get to assist in drawing heads/portraits. I like to have books to help me out in this.
Hi Marc. I don’t know of any books that cover this information, not the construction, nor the rendering methods. Sorry, but I learned these things directly from my instructors. At some point, when time frees up, I’ll have to write a book of my own.
Very helpful. I am off to my studio to try it out. Suggest you dont read your videos, just be yourself….👍🏻
Thanks. I understand that scripted videos are not to everyone’s taste, but for me it’s more efficient, since I tend to stumble or digress when speaking on the fly.
Excellent review, thank you! Do you have any idea how this pen may perform during pressure changes (e.g. when flying)?
My pleasure. Had you asked but a day before, I could have tested it on a flight. I suspect it wouldn’t do well, since it has such a generous feed. But the great thing is that this pen can be used with Noodler’s sealable cartridges, allowing to travel with perfect safety.
This tutorial is pure gold and should hit a lot more views
Thanks! Hopefully it will.
I'm surprised you completely missed DeArtamentis Document black. I use it all the time, its completely waterproof, alot of artists and cartoonists are using it now. Carbon ink destroys fountain pens if you leave it in more than a week. Rohrer&Klinger have a new black water proof ink, called Lotte Sketch ink, LOVE that as much as DeAtramentis Document Black. I didn't know they made a white ink! Worth a try. There is also Dr. Martins Pen White, but I would not use it in anything but a dip pen where its completely opaque.
An inexcusable oversight to be sure. But it’s incorrect to say that Platinum Carbon ink ruins pens if you leave it longer than a week. These things are dependent on the pen, but with some pens you can l leave it for at least three with perfect safety. And if you use it in pens that are easy to clean as I do, clogging is not a concern.
Thanks for such a great demo, Marc. All very informative for sure!
My pleasure! Glad you enjoyed it.
Woah, now that's a neat trick! Let me abuse my printer :). Thank you sir!
My pleasure! This really is a great training method.
Very interesting and informative episode. Thank you!
You’re most welcome!
Love your tutorial! immediately subscribed. I'm gunna go ahead and just watch your other tutorials. haha
Thanks for subscribing and enjoy!
sorry but the Platinum 3776 it's deffinteliy the better pen for artist...and!! extremely better looking...the nip its larger but more precise. Its mechanism don't try out for long time! and! its perfekt to use with the best waterproof ink Platinum Carbon ink....
Your opinion is welcome, but I still think these pens are good for different things, and it depends on what kind of drawing you do. The 3776 is better for precision, the Custom 74 is better for expression.
I should probably draw more with fountain pens. I like them a lot, but I have next to nothing to write with them! The only thing is that, with the line variation on a lot of stiff steel nibs, I may as well use a fibre-tipped liner. Say, do you think a Zebra or Nikko G nib would fit well in the 9019? I once managed to cram one in a Jinhao x750, but it took a lot of pushing and adjusting. Even more in a Moonman M600. I wonder if going up a size or two in feed diamater would help?
Sorry, I've given up on experimenting with the Nikko G conversion. Even if you can get it to work, you have to remove the nib between use or it rusts and gets stuck in the housing.
Followed this tutorial, made notes with examples and drew a tree🎄. The most challenging for me is varying the leaves patterns and keeping the clumps interesting and distinct.
Glad my lesson was useful to you. Breaking down the elements into simple steps can be a useful way of practicing, so try just working on the leaf patterns until you get comfortable with them.
Your videos really are top notch …. So much useful info. I have definitely been well and truely enlightened… some factors that I had not fully appreciated Thank you and keep ‘em coming !
Thank you! I'm glad that my videos are useful to you.
Great video!!! I just realized thanks to this new lighting setup how much you actually look like Rembrandt van Rijn. :)Cheers!
Thank you! It's mostly the lighting, which is very Rembrandt-esque. :)
A neat studio,,,, no work is being done😊😊😊
I tend to think so as well. :)
@@mkompan 🙏🏿😔🙏🏿
I'm not in need of a fountain pen but watched anyway for the drawing in the thumbnail. That last pen was such a dissapointment, the tests alone foreshadowed the drawing. Really shows you how important the right tool for the job is.
I had such high hopes for the C1, but this company is always coming up with new stuff, some of it not bad, so perhaps they'll also start making better nibs.
My sincere gratitude for this video, Marc 🧡 I am an artist, which decided to try ink media and my first experience with flex writers was extremely rough and disappointing (My fisrt acrylic pen just cracked in half maybe due to manufacturing defect and weak materials, maybe due to my heavy hand) But when I saw your video and the whole possibility of combining flex nib with the aluminium grip of TWSBI 580 ALR I have my idea of ink medium another try and it worked so well. Like literally, FPR nib suits maybe even better than original stub for TWSBI (mine was way too wet even with dry inks to me). So thanks once again, saving random people across the Internet, you are doing a great content here, on KZread, keep going 🙏
You're most welcome! I'm happy to share discovery, and glad to see that it's helping people.
The only thing I would add ... sorry ... is that it's like when I was a photography student ... the focus on technique is a bit overwhelming (although men love it!). When you are someone who just gets out the camera or the pen - and I have been doing a lot of pen and ink recently - how does a second-rate artist (or even a third-rate one?) cope with this focus on how to cross-hatch, etc.? I don't do it well and am fully aware of that ... want to learn, so am not criticising the analysis, just saying that it overwhelms my desire to create? So every time I'm doing a drawing, I'm second-thinking myself - second-thinking what seems to come naturally? It was the same with Fstops (and I never produced very good pictures ... so there you are!)
As someone who has undertaken to learn other skill, I completely understand. This video series is really suited for the intermediate/advanced students who have mastered the basics and are ready to hone their skills.If you're finding it overwhelming, I recommend first viewing my other videos on hatching before coming back to this one. I also have a detailed introduction to cross hatching available for purchase on Vimeo (If you look through my latest videos you'll see a "trailer" of sorts). Keep in mind is that it's important to build your skills slowly. Enjoy each step in process, and do not concern yourself with progress (which is a natural consequence of drawing each day). In studying the old masters, try to tackle simple detail first (a nose, an eye, a mouth, etc), then work your way up, the way a beginning pianist learns a piece, one hand at a time, one bar at at a time, one page at a time. Before you know it, you'll be copying entire drawings with ease.
@@mkompan Thanks so much for your guidance, Marc. I shall indeed look at the earlier videos ... and have more patience as I learn! Your videos are incredibly helpful ... and inspiring!
I am a bit overwhelmed by the fact that you have chosen her as a master! I have followed you for quite a few months. I bought Conte pencils about 30 years ago, and until your videos (started watching 2 months ago!) I never knew how to use them. I told my husband that it was like waking up after being asleep. Re Kathe K. (pronounced almost as 'Katie' really, in English, with emphasis on the 'a' - I'm a Cathy too, and I live in France, so I am sensitive to pronounciation!!!). I have a catalogue of her drawings from an exhibition that I went to in Cologne in 1973 when I was an au pair there - 'Kathe Kolwitz: Zeichnungen' was the name of the expo. I was somebody who used draw, back then. Her drawings have stayed with me - as has the catalogue - over all those years. Thanks so much Marc!
You're very welcome, Cathy! I've been aware of Kollwitz's mastery for a long time, but doing an in-depth study like this really re-awakened my appreciation of her genius, and I'm glad this video is finding an audience. And thank you for the correction. I'm also a stickler for correct pronunciation, and even listened to a few German speaking videos to try to get her name right. I guess my ear failed me on this one.
caravaggio lighting for the video
The best kind to hide the mess behind me. :)
Great lesson. Brave soul to use your own photo to mark up!
Thank you. These video come up against the complication of finding models, and this one was willing to do it for free.
Great lesson, I tried doing a copy of the praying hands by durer recently, it's the worst drawing ever, I may try again using these principles. If you get time and only if you think people would be interested, it would be great to see you do a master copy of praying hands and discuss his techniques and what he would have been thinking about as he did it.
Thank you! Durer’s drawings are fantastically difficult to copy, but I’ll put praying hands on my list of tutorials to make.
@mkompan thank you so much. That would be awesome 👌
Great drawings, Marc!
Very nice review and marvelous drawings!! May I know @19:57 were you using a chrome Duke 209? How do you like that pen?
Thank you. The 209 is a fantastic pen, with great flow and a smooth fude nib that's easy to control. However like the 600, it suffers from a slippery metal section.
I can't describe how useful this video is to me. I've been drawing for a while now, and I found that pen and ink is the most suitable medium for my style, but I was struggling a lot. After watching this video, I find things more clear and can say that I've learnt a lot about the technique. Thank you so much for this great effort.
You’re very welcome! I’m so glad you found this video useful.
I've given up trying to convert a Jinhao to hold a Manga nib and not rust away - about to order my first fude pens but I see that most have a hard bend and not a curve like one of those you really liked here. Do you advise bent or curved nibs please? Also - love the idea of putting dilute ink in for washes. Never thought of that before!
I’ve stopped trying this manga nib trick as well. It’s often a very tight fit, and these nibs need to be removed and dried after every use, or they rust and get permanently jammed in the housing. The curved fudes are better, giving you more control over line thickness.
I am actually a huge fan of the humble BIC Cristal. The ink is nice and I can get a huge variation in line. I use them in several colours just for fun. I've used everything you showed (I'm an utter maniac when it it comes to art supplies), but I tend to like dip pens and technical pens - probably because my father was an engineer, and it's what he had for me to learn with. I have yet to find a fountain pen I adore, but I'm working on it. Thanks for another fantastic and thoughtful video! 😊
This is another pen that I drew with when I was younger. They’re lovely to work with and drawing with them again took me back to my high school years.
I don't use them for ages, then dig one out for sketching and think, "This is a surprisingly good drawing instrument for hatching and the like. How do I keep forgetting that?" 😄
Thanks for such a comprehensive review. I've been curious about these. I'm a big user of dip pens and (perhaps oddly) technical pens, but I like the convenience of fountain pens when I'm out and about. Thanks in particular for your assessment at the end about who would benefit most from this pen. I'm thinking this may be an in-the-future-but-not-right-now purchase for me. 😊
My pleasure! I used technical pens early on (my step father was a graphic artist and had them in his studio.) Using them again for this video brought me back to that time long ago.
@@mkompan You've inspired me to dig them out again. At one point they were the only kind of pen l I used. I had the full range with multiple pen bodies, and used to love them. By the way, your channel has become my favourite art-related channel.😊
I have never understood the popularity of hatching and cross hatching. I understand that some people like it, but it so often looks like someone has just put lines on what could have been a good drawing. If using ink, there must be another way of shading. As to the Indigraph, a wonderful pen! I use it in drawings and writing too sometimes.
I see nothing wrong with you expressing your preferences, but this way of working has a long history, being used by Michelangelo, DaVinci, and Raphael, and a countless number of other masters, so just recognize that your opinion is an a rather extreme outlier.
@@mkompan I do use hatching occasionally, I not strictly against it, however I am surprised by how common it is when there are other ways of shading.
I'm not sure how you got yours to work without railroading. I tried the same combination using wet inks and it railroads and skips every time. The feed will need opening up probably.
Mine just work, and this is something I’ve done multiple times. The feed can widened, but giving the feed a slight bend upward helps it keep contact with the nib when it’s being flexed. I have a tutorial on this, and it consistently improves performance: kzread.info/dash/bejne/rK6pubJpnNC6iMY.htmlsi=UkcnfQY4onIZoKlt
Dear Marc, thank you so much for your videos generally. I am particularly grateful for this one and refer back to it often. By far this is the most informative tree instructions/theory/demo for this medium out there. If you ever feel so inclined, a similar styled video on clouds would be wonderful. From what I can see there is little detailed instruction out there. Of course the principles will be similar to leaf canopies but I find them a particularly difficult subject to be expressed effectively through line alone. Especially if situated within a landscape scene where atmospheric perspective requires them to not overbear the fore- and middle-ground elements. Other than that, simply more videos of yourself tackling master copies are always welcome and appreciated. Thanks again! - Sam
Thank you for the kind compliments. I’ll put a cloud tutorial on the list of videos to make. And more master study videos on the way.
This is brilliant. Watercolor aqua inks would also be perfect for this technic.
Thank you. And yes, this can work with lots of different paints.
Thank you for the review. I own many Lamy pens with different nibs, unfotunately their finer nibs feel scratchy out of the box but still peform well enough. Even their 14k EF nib feels scratchy but has fairly good flex on it.
My pleasure! I rarely use medium nibs, but it’s good to know that Lamy medium are smoother.
❤❤🎉
and you favorite?? What fountain pen is this beautiful!
Thanks!
mine 9019 M has great line variation!
I find that you can often get more line variation out a medium nib than a fine. I wonder why that is.
What a detailed review 👌 , I tend to use all of those pens but I find myself comeback a lot to the gel pen
Thank you! Gel pens are great, and would be my choice if my fountain pens were taken away.
Great review. This video is an example why I follow your channel. While acknowledging the Platinum's skipping issues and changing the ink is normal to see how it performs, but to complete the face diagram with the new ink is something wonderful and shows your strong commitment to the viewers. Looks like I have to get both pens now 😊😊
Well, thank you! I do feel a strong responsibility to the viewers, but also to the pens that I review. It would have been unfair to the 3776 to not try it with a different ink and I’m glad I did, because it turned out to be a wonderful pen.
Hello, Marc! Thx for video. I am a long time fountain pen fan too, and westside L.A. native (Miracle Mile) having attended SMC and CSULA over the years. I came here from your video, YT "Book Recommendations for the Beginning Artist." I am obsessed with pens beginning with the $1 Schaeffer cartridge pens used in grammar school to learn cursive writing to the Schaeffer gold nib tip business pens I used in the 1960's to today my art use of various mixed media and pen & ink applications. Pilot, Lamey, Jhinhao, an undomesticated, so to speak, Chinese brand to a glass dipping pen for all medium use (acrylic alcohol inks, Calligraphy inks, watercolors). I want a pen that can cover all uses, and that just doesn't exist. So, I have a small collection of under $20 pens with various F and EF nibs that I play with in sketchbook doodling and zentangle or neographic fun break time from atelier-type self-styled online and textbook curriculum prompted also by the Pandemic. I really liked learning from your video what features to look at when buying a pen, and how to use them. Thx. BTW: Looking forward to your upcoming? video on the Masters, Goya, Klee, Hale?, & Zorn
Thanks of the note! I taught as CSULA for a few semesters, and am going on my 20th year at SMC, both great schools. And thank you for finding my channel. It's been great to watch it grow and develop a small audience of like minded people. Since the book recommendations video, I've made several more "learning for the masters" videos, including one on Zorn and Goya. And more coming soon! These are not my best viewed videos, but the ones I enjoy making the most.