"After Goya" and Higgins Eternal

Goya's Los Capricos is one of my "desert island" books with so much to see and learn from the master draughtsman and storyteller.
As an exercise in design I tried creating a version of each one of his plates in pen and ink; one per night. I've posted a few below.

I used Higgin's Eternal ink with a Speedball handle and nib that I've had for so long that I can't read it's number; but it been beautifully seasoned with years of build-up... draws like a dream. These were done in a Strathmore 9x12 sketchbook.

The original "Porque esconderlos", etching by Francisco Goya, No 30

The original "Nadie se conoce", etching by Francisco Goya, No 6

The original "Ya tienen asiento", etching by Francisco Goya, No 26

The Dover edition of Los Caprichos is a bargain for under 10 bucks; not the most sumptuous volume available, but a great investment for your library. Pair it with Goya's Disasters of War and you've got an awesome set.

Ben Hur in print

I created the cover artwork for this new edition of BEN-HUR back in August. I just received an advance copy from Penguin Books that will be on sale starting April 3rd.

It was great to do a new edition of this classic story!

I used Noodler's flex pens and #41 brown ink for the drawings; all acquired at Goulet Pens.

Goulet carries the full line of Noodler's pens and inks.

I also used a reed pen in some designs.

You can see more about the alternate illustrations and cover designs at the original posting:

Noodler's Flex pens.

Vintage Pencil Art

I ran across a link to these images on LEXIKALIKER and I just had to post them here. Gunther posted pages from an A.H. Faber catalog from 1897. Many pages are price lists but the illustrated pages contain beautiful color lithography of their products... just terrific stuff.
A.W. Faber ended the preface to this catalog with:

"...a confident hope that the universal favor so long accorded to my trade-mark will be cheerfully perpetuated."

Cheerfully indeed Mr. Faber!

Danke schoen the post Gunther!