“Glitches” is the third Plot Party prompt designed to inspire letting loose and embracing mistakes, errors, bugs and experimentation in the design and plotting process!
Enough talk, on to some example pen plots!
If you are thinking of picking up a NextDraw pen plotter (the successor to the AxiDraw pen plotter), you can take 5% off a NextDraw pen plotter or accessories with discount code DIRTALLEYDESIGN2024 when you buy directly from Bantam Tools.
Line Misalignment: How About DON’T Register the Pens
Normally I would advise checking your pen registration when plotting with multiple pens. Of course, you could always NOT do that to wonderful effect, as in this work by Jeff and Evan of 90 Percent Art.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks for your support! If you are thinking of picking up a NextDraw pen plotter (the successor to the AxiDraw pen plotter), you can take 5% off a NextDraw pen plotter or accessories with discount code DIRTALLEYDESIGN2024 when you buy directly from Bantam Tools.
One of my favorite pens to use with a pen plotter (such as an AxiDraw) are Sakura gelly roll pens! They come in many color flavors from classic white, and metallic gold, to even fluorescent options such as the Moonlight gelly rolls which will glow under UV light! They work great on dark paper (and white paper!)
Example Pen Plots Using Gelly Roll Pens: Black Paper Edition
Nothing beats white ink on black paper! The ink density that builds over time as pen lines overlap is quite lovely.
Example artwork by Michelle Chandra, drawn with a white gelly roll pen!
White gelly rolls create strong white lines on black paper as in this work by Diana (@di_diff_world on Instagram!)
While you can achieve beautiful results with gelly roll pens, they can also be very trying to work with when it comes to pen plotting. But why?! The ink flow from these pens can be quite inconsistent. For this reason, I have found that the best gelly roll pens for plotting are medium width (I steer clear of fine gelly rolls!)
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks for your support! If you are thinking of picking up a NextDraw pen plotter (the successor to the AxiDraw pen plotter), you can take 5% off a NextDraw pen plotter or accessories with discount code DIRTALLEYDESIGN2024 when you buy directly from Bantam Tools.
One advantage of using a pen plotter is the ability to use most any kind of ink and pen for drawing artwork including…metallic pens!
However, in order to use metallic inks for plotting, you will be limited to disposable gel pens or paint markers such as Posca paint markers. Unfortunately, metallic ink may clog refillable pens!
Posca Paint Marker Example Pen Plots
Since Posca paint markers will completely cover whatever they are drawn on, they are great for drawing artwork on acrylic ink paintings such as this recent series of “space” inspired artwork by Michelle Chandra.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks for your support! If you are thinking of picking up a NextDraw pen plotter (the successor to the AxiDraw pen plotter), you can take 5% off a NextDraw pen plotter or accessories with discount code DIRTALLEYDESIGN2024 when you buy directly from Bantam Tools.
It’s been two years since I bought an AxiDraw pen plotter and began plotting my code art! This is an update to an older blog post detailing my AxiDraw pen plotter setup, and my favorite pens.
Just me, standing on a street corner, holding some art like you do.
Plug and Play: Setting Up an AxiDraw vs3
The Axidraw pen plotter is expensive, which means it is mostly ready to go out of the box with minimal setup. Keep in mind that the AxiDraw will need a large dedicated area to operate as the arm of the AxiDraw needs space to extend back behind the plotter (along with out front over the drawing area!)
