Tag: inspiration

Glitches: Embrace Mistakes as Part of the Pen Plot Process

October 29, 2021 / admin

“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.

*Pen plot by* 90 Percent Art (also on Instagram @90percentart)

Mix Different Mediums and See What Happens

Most anything by Joel Cammarata involves glitchy mixed media experimentation including this pen plot on a thermal print by Adrian Hanft.

Example pen plot by Joel Cammarata (on Instagram @j.cammarata.art)

Or this unique pen plot “misprint!”

Multiple Line Widths: Example Pen Plot Art!

October 28, 2021 / admin

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks for your support!

Plot Party is coming up (Nov 8-12), and the second prompt for the five day pen plot art challenge is “multiple line widths!” What does that mean exactly?! Whether you use one pen or multiple pens to accomplish, let’s look at some inspiring examples from some of my favorite pen plot artists!

Pilot Parallel Pen: Varying Line Width With Just One Pen

The Pilot Parallel Pen is a unique italic calligraphy pen (refillable!) that can also be used for pen plotting.

Example artwork by Con Ryan (on Instagram @conryan.design)

This pen is different from most calligraphy pens in that the nib is made from two plates which allows ink to flow evenly across the entire length of the nib. That means you can create broad strokes, but you can also use the corner to create a thinner line.

For the multiple line widths prompt, that means you can create thin and thick sections in one line!

Example artwork by Targz (on Instagram @targz)

Targz advises running the Pilot Parallel pen slowly, and filling the ink cartridge with watercolor. Overlapping your lines with different colored inks when plotting can create additional colors where the inks overlap!

Weather as Art: Inspiring Pen Plot Art

October 27, 2021 / admin

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.

The second ever Plot Party is around the corner (Nov 8-12), and the first prompt for the five day pen plot art challenge is “weather!” Question is, what kind of pen plots can you make that might relate to the theme of weather?

Local Weather as Art

If you are in need of local inspiration, you can use the actual literal weather, for starters! Daniela Krohnert did just that at the first ever Plot Party (held last July) by leaving out a sheet of paper for a few minutes during a Viennese summer rainstorm.

Work by Daniela Krohnert (also @daniela_kroehnert on IG!)

The paper dried curled, and created an uneven texture when plotting 42 straight lines with a Faber Castell Artist Pitt Pen with a soft brush tip.