Ballpoint Pen and Beyond with Samantha Stover
Class | FULL
This class will focus on the popular and extremely convenient on-the-go media of The Pen. Starting with Ballpoint, which is similar to graphite pencil; this pen can achieve a range of subtle tonality and a high degree of luminosity, and it is indelible! We will also explore techniques with ink and brush, brush pens, fountain pens, and mixed-media options. Learning to draw with a pen helps build confidence, dexterity, and finesse, as considerate decision-making is essential when the strokes are permanent. In this class, students will learn to develop detail in rendering monochromatic pen drawings as well as layering techniques for multicolored, kaleidoscopic effects. This class will include exercises in still-life, interpreting photo references and masterworks, and working directly from the portrait and figure from life.
- Materials List - These are the materials you will need to bring with you for this class.
• Sketchbook or Paper with a rigid backing board (such as foam core) Suggested under 20” on either side. Hot-pressed watercolor paper works well. (Arches, Fabriano, or similar.)
• Single color ballpoint pen (recommended: Fine). I use Parker brand Refill Fine (black, blue, and/or red) and Waterman Rollerball Refill Fine. (Refills are inside of the pen, without the tube/holder of the pen). Other options: any Ballpoint Pen you use for writing, office, home (Bic, Zebra, etc)
• Optional: Pilot “Frixion” Erasable pen
• Optional: Faber-Castell Pitt Pen XS or similar (0.1 Tip) or other “fine-liner” such as Micron, Pilot G-Tec, etc.
• BIC 4-color retractable ballpoint pen in “FLUO” style with
*yellow*/red/blue/black ink
• 10-color multi-retractable pen
• Round Watercolor Brush, synthetic or natural, size appropriate for your paper • Small Bottle of Ink
• Water Reservoir “Pen,” round and flat, (Pentel or other)
• Brush Pens of choice, any (I use Sennelier and Faber-Castell)
• Fountain Pen
• Acrylic Paint and Gesso
• Artists tape, drafting tape or painters tape (low tac) ¼ ½ or ¾” for the size of your paper or sketchbook
• Napkins or paper towels
Samantha Stover
Samantha Stover grew up in Bethesda, Maryland. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Literature and Art History from McGill University and a Masters in Fine Art, cum laude, from the New York Academy of Art. Throughout her academic studies in art, she focused her concentration on Drawing Techniques: historical methods and materials as well as figure-drawing exclusively from life. She learned painting, predominantly, as a copyist in New York and Washington, DC and she has traveled widely through Europe studying master drawings and paintings. Her current work involves figuration and the power of creative expression. Drawing also on her previous experience as a theatrical costume designer, she is influenced by the performative and communicative capacity of the human form and spirit. She employs the practices of her traditional training and her experience with the figure in motion to capture fleeting observations, emotions and memories.
To view more of Samantha's work online, visit www.samanthastover.com