so i`ve been getting inspired by Inoue Takehiko`s way of controlling his lines by the brush using Sumi. my way of translating it would be to use calligraphy pens and work my way from there. just been doodling a lot with it. lately managed to control the brush pen and learned to control the weight of the lines and write pretty good with it. now the problem is to draw well with it.

ive actually adapted this concept to the kids. i gave them a tabloid piece of paper. they had the choice to do it vertical or horizontal but make sure to leave a window space or border around the actual composition. they first have to draw in pencil. they have to draw a giant object, thing, creature, or person. a main character. a background or landscape. it could be anything as long as those three elements were in the picture. then after they`ve sketched and pencilled. they trace those lines with the brush pen. before they did this i did a quick exercise for them to get used to the usage of the pen. after tracing the pencils with the brush pen, they will color using coloring pencils. they can use any color they want. they can use only three colors. so their choice is to blend the colors, hatching, or using the fade in fade out shading, technique and overlap the colors. it was a pain-stalking experience for them at first. but after 4 hour sessions of this, basically two weeks. their works were amazing.

i basically learned that kids can do well as long as you push them and give some type of restrictions. make sure to guide them of course. give them suggestions. let them see what you see of course without taking over it too much of course.

so anyway. going back. i`m gonna try and push myself on this brush pen idea. see where it goes. and maybe deal with traditional color pencils.

ill try to scan the sample drawing i did for the kids. although i didnt color it. the piece gives an idea to where i might i wanna go.