Mark-Making Magic: Drawing with Guno Park and Zebra Pen

Artist Guno Park opens up a world of mark-making prospects with Zebra Pen. See his drawing course of and take a look at a step-by-step train.

I consider drawing as a symphony of marks—an artist’s orchestration of strains, smears, and hatch marks that tells a visible story. Drawing is a means to make use of organized marks to create linear shapes and to use varied ranges of worth and shade as a way to talk a viewpoint visually.
Listed below are a couple of of the mark-making methods I usually make use of:
- Patch crosshatching: crosshatching that’s messy and expressive
- Contour crosshatching: crosshatching that’s managed and descriptive
- Textural hatching: also called scribbling
- Stippling: creating areas of sunshine and shadow with dots
Mark-Making Supplies
Relying on the dimensions of the drawing I intend to create, I alternate between utilizing a tremendous liner pen, a ballpoint pen, and a brush pen. The Zensations line of pens by Zebra Pen gives a variety of line sorts and a wealthy, black ink. These instruments permit me to work both loosely or with precision to create the kind of textural results I would like, relying on my topic.
When working with ballpoint, my go-to pen is the F-402, which has a medium level dimension and a cushty rubber grip that enables for a protracted session of drawing with minimal pressure. I additionally just like the medium level F-701. Its textured metal barrel gives rugged sturdiness—excellent for drawing on-the-go.
Gentle and Type
I make use of methods that permit me to construct up kinds and textures in a drawing line by line, mark by mark. Earlier than I decide up a software and begin drawing, nonetheless, I first have to grasp methods to break down the visible data in my topic. As a way to apply the optimum variety of marks within the applicable areas of a drawing, I would like first to think about two issues: kind and lightweight. There are lots of different issues as nicely, however these are each essential facets.
When it comes to kind, there are some things that I ponder: perspective is a significant one, in addition to silhouettes and proportions of main and minor shapes. As soon as I’ve decided the location of the horizon line and the vanishing level or factors, I’m in a position to create the thing or house within the desired perspective.
Subsequent, I set up shapes utilizing the horizon line as a information for proportions. After I place these shapes into the image body, I take into consideration destructive versus optimistic house and the suggestion of depth and house within the composition.

Along with kind, gentle is one other essential consideration. The kind of gentle illuminating an object reveals all of the potential strains, shapes, volumes, values and textures. The character of the sunshine is subsequently very important in staging the composition of a drawing and leads me to consider ranges of distinction, which I can use to explain house, depth, and environment.
Drawing with a darkish pen on a light-weight piece of paper illuminates the floor by establishing the shadows—that’s, drawing the shadows which are created by the sunshine. I usually make use of a crosshatching approach to create easy grey scales, as proven within the train under.
Train: Utilizing Crosshatching to Create Grayscale Values
Beginning with three values, I divide the hatch marks in two instructions—horizontal and vertical. By practising evenly spaced, grid-like patterns, I can overlay them to create even patches of values. As soon as I’m proud of this three-value system, I transfer on to 5 values, then seven values. With extra patches overlaid on prime of each other, I can create increasingly values.

Subsequent, I observe trying on the kinds by deciphering their perspective and construction. Within the case of a sphere, I begin by drawing a circle. Then I place contour strains across the kind to create a grid round it.

I proceed my train by drawing different geometric shapes corresponding to cubes, cylinders, and cones.

Then I apply the strains of the hatch marks on every of the kinds as if they’re following the contour of the shape, as proven under. This lets me take into consideration the floor kind concurrently the worth of the shadows by increase extra or fewer strains, relying on the tone of the shadow shapes and their instructions.

You may see under how I’m various the marks’ directional strokes, the sorts of marks I exploit, and the stress I put into every mark. Relying on what kinds and what textures I’m drawing, I regulate these variables as wanted to create the drawing I envision.

Visible Language
Thoughtfully and punctiliously positioned hatch marks have the ability and potential to explain probably the most advanced of kinds and are expressed in probably the most inventive methods—like an ideal concord of notes in simply the best timing.

Primarily, what I’m making an attempt to do with the cross-hatching in my drawings is to create convincing lighting by describing the amount, kind, construction, and texture of an object. This may be described as a visible language. Creating a visible message requires understanding of the mark-making language obligatory to explain objects visually. In studying and practising these instruments of visible language and practising methods to describe one thing with it, I proceed to discover the chances and the boundaries of what a drawing can say.

A profitable drawing will contain as many strategies and methods of mark-making as wanted to create probably the most important and environment friendly set of marks the drawing requires—each technically and conceptually. The purposeful stability of all this stuff is what makes a great drawing.
In regards to the Artist
Guno Park is a Brooklyn-based artist and professor who captures the individuals, locations and issues he encounters in his each day life by drawing. His work has been featured in quite a few publications and is part of many non-public and public collections.
About Zebra Pen
No matter kind of artwork you take pleasure in creating, Zebra Pen has the instruments that will help you outline your individual fashion. From highlighters and brush pens to our full line of pens and mechanical pencils, allow us to assist you discover your inventive inspiration. Go to www.ZebraPen.com/products to study extra.