One of my goals for this summer – I say “one of” because there were many – was to begin sketching ideas for the art class I am planning to take next semester. For some reason I keep sketching aquatic animals; I guess I just like the movement of these deep sea creatures.

Here are a few tips for those who are sketching with pen. (Pen is one of my favorite mediums because of its clean crisp look.)

1. When shading with pen you obviously can’t just smear it around like graphite. Instead use lines to shade; the closer the lines the darker the shading and vise verse.

2. Don’t be afraid to try out colored pens. This was my first attempt at a colored pen sketch and the color really brings this picture to life. Though it may not be apparent at first glance I also added some peach undertones.

3. Another shading technique in pen drawing is dotting. Speckling your sketch to achieve more depth may take a bit longer, but it definitely pays off in the end!