Creating a Magic-inspired Drawing with Fineliner Pen

This was a very exciting piece I created for a Grimoire-inspired gallery show in New York!

0.03 and 0.05 Uni Fineliners
Stonehenge paper in white

It is always tempting to dive right into a drawing with fineliner pen, and often I do! However, for the 11 x 14" piece I had so many ideas I wished to fit on the relatively small piece of paper. And so I made notes and very rough sketches to indicate where I would place each animal and object.

With fineliner pens it is very important to remember that you cannot erase. So I often begin with the foreground or the focal point, which in this case, was a stag surrounded by objects. I start out quite light with my shading and slowly layer the fineliner pen to its deepest point to avoid mistakes.

As a drawing develops, so do my ideas! Where I planned to put a chandelier, I may place a picture frame instead. A round mirror may all of the sudden become a sheet of peeling wallpaper. I love fineliner pens because they make me go with the flow and adapt to the drawing as it develops.

Picture frames are a staple of my drawings. Almost every one of my imagined spaces has an ornate frame of some sort. I always draw the frame first, followed by the surrounding wall (which is often brick or wallpaper) and finally fill in the pictures themselves. It is very satisfying to fill in the empty spaces with an abundance of detail.

This drawing challenged me to created a dark, heavily shaded drawing with so much texture and detail. I loved the final outcome and I know I'd enjoy doing another Grimoire inspired drawing some day!