I recently heard about a very special pen nib…codename Gillott 303. I am naturally more drawn to brushwork with inks because of the varied line and textures you can get, but when I heard of these Gillotts, I knew I wanted to try one out. I couldn’t find anywhere good to purchase a few from without spending $15 in shipping or buying an entire box, so I searched around and found a random post on a random forum about pen nibs. I contacted the author, Anton Emdin who volunteered to send me a couple of 303 nibs to try out. I was thrilled! Turns out, Anton is an incredibly talented Australian cartoonist along with being a super generous rad dude. I offered to pay for them and shipping, and he declined. So, I received them, along with a nice little note just the other day and I REALLY dig them. They’re super flexible so you get a nice wide line if you want without digging through your paper, and it’s also fine enough to get a razor sharp line…especially if you turn it on its side. A great way to get fine lines in a drawing/sketch before hitting it with the big brush.
So, do yourself a favor and check out Anton’s page. He’s got some fantastic work!
Here’s my first sketch with it. I did it initially with the pen and then went back and did my regular brush/wash/white-out stuff. Definitely something I plan to continue using
