A few sketches from this past week. Up first is a rendition of a comedy duo that may play a part in a graphic novel I’m still noodling through.

Each week after my improv class, I try to hunker down in the park and work on the story. Last week I finally gave my characters names. This week I gave them faces, based on a some old gents who walked by while I was in writing mode.

I know I’m the type of person who will generally agonize excessively over things like character design and names, so I like the idea of just biting the bullet and getting on with more important things like story and character.

Above is a random slice of life; two rough-looking dudes in the Meatpacking district discussing business while waiting to be served their artisanal whatever at a fancy street level restaurant, from my vantage point on the High Line.

And finally: I brought a ruled notebook to a company meeting, and proceeded to use it solely for sketching my unassuming coworkers.

This blog used to be littered with unnecessary self-portraits, but it’s been a while. And now that I’ve started to figure out pen nibs, I couldn’t resist scratching out my mangy beard.

Actual sketches? From Mark’s sketchbook? On Mark’s Sketchbook? Trippy.

Goofy sisters drawn with the dip pen. Drawn at a smaller scale than the last ink drawing.

I’m excited–not because I’ve turned another pair of strangers o’ the week into bad caricatures–but because I did it entirely using a crowquill nib dipped in ink. I went a bit overboard on the hatching, but I blame that partly on the fun I was having just continuing to see what kind of marks I could make.

As you may know, I’ve attempted the whole dip pen thing before, with varying levels of frustration, but a few weeks ago I caught an interview with Mort Drucker (of Mad Magazine fame) in which he stated he uses Gillott 1950 nibs. So I impulsively ordered a bunch, while knowing full well that the nib doesn’t make the artist. (And I had already struck out with the Gillott 290.)

But darned if it’s not the first time I’ve actually enjoyed working this way. With this batch of nibs, the ink seems to flow just right. It’s really easy to control the line width, but there’s also a bit of unpredictability that keeps even carefully constructed lines looking loose and sketchy. And maybe I just got lucky, but there was no ink splattered in over an hour of drawing.