Dip pens, quills and brush pens in Easel by Zaweba
G-nib, mapping and drawing nibs that run dry, plus reed, bamboo, quill, brush, technical and ruling pens: how to ink with them in Easel by Zaweba.
Ink drawing has a rhythm all of its own: dip, draw, watch the line thin as the nib empties, dip again. Easel by Zaweba 1.1 added a family of traditional pens that follow that rhythm, from the G-nib comic artists love to reed and bamboo pens with a rougher, more organic line.
The dip pen nibs
Three nibs come with the dip pen: the G-nib, the mapping nib and the drawing nib. All of them run dry, so a line that starts dark and full will fade as the ink is used up. That is not a fault to work around. It's what gives dip pen work its life, the slight variation from one stroke to the next.
In the real world the G-nib is the broad, flexible favourite of comic and manga inkers, good for confident lines that swell and taper. The mapping nib is very fine, made for small detail, hatching and crisp outlines. The drawing nib is a general purpose choice.
Get into the habit of dipping before an important line rather than in the middle of it. If you want a long, even contour, start with a fresh load. If you want a dry, broken texture, let the nib run down on purpose.
Reed, bamboo and quill
These are the older pens. A reed pen traditionally gives a bold, rough line with character. Bamboo pens are similar, often a little more irregular. Both are lovely for loose outdoor sketches and expressive figure work where a perfect line would look stiff.
The quill is the classic writing pen of the past. Use it for lettering, old style manuscripts and decorative flourishes.
Brush pen
A brush pen is known for a line that swells and thins, from a hairline at the tip to a fat stroke. It is the quickest way to get expressive, varied lines without a separate brush and ink pot. If you work with a tablet, Easel uses its pen pressure, so practise long sweeping strokes to get a feel for the range.
Technical and ruling pens
These are the precise ones. A technical pen is the draughtsman's tool for a steady, even line, ideal for architectural drawing, diagrams and clean illustration. A ruling pen is the traditional tool for drawing ruled lines, and it pairs well with Easel's ruler and other drawing aids when you need straight edges and exact curves.
Choosing paper and ink
Pens are fussy about paper. A smooth, hot-pressed sheet or card keeps lines sharp. Absorbent papers let some inks creep, and rice paper bleeds along its fibres, which can be beautiful with a brush pen and frustrating with a mapping nib.
For ink, India ink is the traditional choice for dip pens, and Easel also has sumi, walnut and acrylic ink. Walnut ink is a warm brown that looks lovely in sketches. Pick the ink for the colour and the feel you are after.
Common slips
Expecting a dip pen to behave like a felt tip is the big one. It runs dry, so dip often. Another is choosing a rough or very absorbent paper for fine detail work. A third is trying to do everything with one nib. Use a broad nib for the main lines and switch to a mapping nib for the detail, as an inker would at a real drawing board. Easel by Zaweba lets you swap between them as freely as picking up another pen from the desk.
