Notes from Claire Giordano’s Ink Class Week 1: Mountains

by

I’m taking Claire Giordano’s Ink Class, so I’ve been on a bit of a pen and ink kick lately. The tools most commonly used in this class are fine fountain pens (or disposable fineliners) and brush pens (notably reusable brush pens like the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen or Kuretake No. 13).

Because I have a hard time keeping track of paper notes, I thought I would post my class notes here.

Below each page is a summary of the bullet points, which is drawn from a combination of transcription and clarification of my (impossible to read) handwritten notes.

Start with a simple outline

Ink class notes, page 1
  • Start with a simple outline: Biggest shapes, biggest lines
  • Cues: Compare to imaginary center lines.
  • If you make a mistake, just put the correct line next to it.
  • Stop naming, start seeing.

Value

Ink class notes page 2
  • Brush pen exercise: Start as fine as possible; go bolder over nearer layers
  • Illusion of depth: far away = thinner; closer = thicker
  • Value
    • Fountain Pen: Value accomplished with closely-spaced or wider-spaced lines
      • Scribble
      • Hatching
      • Cross-hatching
    • Brush Pen: Flattened range! It’s black or white.

Atmospheric Perspective

Ink class notes, page 3
  • Illusion of depth: far away = lighter; closer = darker
  • Consider combining pens:
    • fine fountain pen in further/lighter layers
    • medium or broad fountain pen in mid-layers
    • brush pen or fude pen in closer/darker layers

Mountain Shapes

Ink class notes, page 4

Types of mountain shapes:

  • Wavy lines
  • Cones
  • Ridgeline (hint: it’s still cones)
  • Triangle blobs (squint & see)
  • Stripey

Note this is not my first page of mountain tips from Claire Giordano! Below are my notes on watercolor mountains from a live class three years ago.

How to Paint Mountains. Notes I took during a Claire Giordano live tutorial, January 2022.

Examples: Just Fountain Pen vs Just Brush Pen

Ink class notes, page 5

Just Fountain Pen / Fineliner Tips:

  • Vertical lines to shade things far away
  • Darker at top
  • Decide what to emphasize

Translate Topography

Ink class notes, page 6
  • Blobs/lines follow angle of mountain
  • Think: where does water go?
  • Example: mix of fine line and brush

Summary

If I were to sum up the major lessons of this class (major topics of the notes as whole), they would be:

  • Where to start: Start with a simple outline
  • Value: In pen & ink, there are only two values (black and white), so intermediate values are suggested with the number, thickness, and closeness of lines.
  • Illusion of depth: Closer objects are darker, & have more detail. Examples of how to accomplish:
    • Use thicker lines in closer mountain layers by switching to a thicker pen (e.g. brush pen instead of fineliner)
    • Use more detail in closer mountain layers, e.g. showing angles of rocks and specific crags; background may layers revert to simple vertical hatching or just a few details
  • Mountains: Translate topography: Lines follow angles of rocks and ridges. Generally, mountains are cones.

See Also