Featherfish

About this artwork

This was done in a process very new to me. I combined a betta with a Japanese crane, replacing the fish's fins with the crane's wings. Size: 8"x8" Tools: calligraphy pen (nibs), toothbrush, tracing paper, illustration board, exacto knife, and ink from an inkwell. After 20 value sketches, I settled with this image. Here's the basic process: After drawing line art of the desired image in pencil on the illustration board, take a piece of tracing paper and apply a light layer of spray adhesive to the tracing paper. Place the tracing paper on a clean surface and repeatedly lift and place until the adhesive is less sticky. (Test by tapping a finger to the sticky side. It should only stick to your finger briefly) Place the tracing paper over your drawing. Then use an exacto knife to cut along the line art. Lift up the spaces that are to be your darkest values. Using a toothbrush and ink, apply ink and flick the toothbrush. Take it slow. Leave your whitest value for last. Then use nibs or calligraphy pen to draw in the tinier details. Hope this was a useful explanation! It's a very cool process.