Kris

Print featuring a woodland scene with dappled sunlight

Linocut by contemporary UK printmaker and artist Alexandra Buckle who is inspired by her local countryside #womensart
#summer #sunday

I admired them for years… finally got one second hand. It was my first broad nib and still my favourite.

I find a piece of scrap paper under my hand solves most of my southpaw smudging issues (nothing helps my sheer clumsiness)

Re-used cartridges do wear out eventually. I find an eyedropper with a fine nib gives the best ink efficiency - that will last months unless you’re writing constantly every single day. I find Lamy pens quite thirsty compared to others. Maybe it’s the big nibs?

I use a syringe to refill cartridges because I don’t like the waste either. The inky fingers is part of the fun! Some inks have better flow and longer drying times. Sounds like the cap isn’t sealing. Maybe try a Platinum Preppy or Plaisir etc? They have airtight seals and big capacity cartridges.

(Other kinds of ink, like calligraphy ink, may not flow properly and can damage the pen if allowed to dry out)

They are much more economical with bottled ink. Cartridges were invented when fountain pens were having to compete with ballpoints being sold as easy to refill. There are other options that hold more ink eg vacumatics, eyedroppers and piston fill pens. Be sure to use only fountain pen ink though.

My apologies - I forgot to add alt text to the image. Here it is as it should be. bsky.app/profile/hare...

Book cover for Old Owl Tower, showing a partly ruined round stone tower on a green hillside, against a backdrop of mountains. A strange, alien jungle rises behind the tower, and eroded rock formations bracket the view from the foreground.

I couldn’t resist going for a vintage travel poster approach with the cover art. #RuneQuest #Glorantha #TTRPG #JonstownCompendium

New today on the Jonstown Compendium, the latest book from Beer With Teeth is an adventure set in Locaem lands, involving some mighty strange creatures - and a bonus bestiary! tiny.cc/old-owl-tower #Glorantha #Runequest #Chaosium #TTRPG

Bottom left: Mark Smylie’s illustration of an intelligent giant otter hanging out and swapping “the one that got away” fisherman’s tales with his green-skinned friend is pure #Glorantha.

You can pick up “Ships and Shores” and “Voyages” (containing loads of his artwork) from the Jonstown Compendium.

In the 80’s my school insisted children learn to write with a fountain pen before they’d let them touch ballpoints. Not restricted to the classroom either - parents were expected to enforce the rule at home too. They didn’t force us to stop using pencils - we all wanted to. That grownup FP allure.

They do, for sure. I initially focused on piston fountain pens because of this, but that led to eyedroppers and vac fillers and modern vacumatics that can hold way more ink than my piston pens. And suddenly I had A Collection.

Ooh, what did you order? Will you become not just a pen guy but a paper and ink guy? Getting those three elements in perfect harmony can make writing an utter delight.

A daily pleasure for me and many others. I never gave mine up after school, and I see new people discovering a love of ink and paper and a well-tuned nib.

There’s something special about a vintage fountain pen, though.

Embroidered badger amongst the flowers

Denim Jacket progress, stage 3
Turning the wheel to the West & on to the next element, Earth.

#embroidery #handembroidery #denimjacket

Colorful sketch of Rogue of the xmen in the savage land

Rogue of the X-Men Savage Land version. color sketch. Threw this one up for auction on Raremarq this week if anyone is interested. Inks, watercolor, acrylics.

The Sails of St Magnus #Orkney2025 St Magnus Cathedral is currently displaying the Sails of St Magnus, as part of the Orkney Island Games 2025 Sound Installation, which will run from 7 – 20 July. ‘Sails in St Magnus&#821…

The Sails of St Magnus #Orkney2025 theorkneynews.scot/2025/07/02/t...

A bunch of flowers I grew in my garden, including roses, sweet peas, cornflowers, borage & forget me nots

Thank you for your encouragement on here. My disabilities have been...disabling recently, I've not been able to do much & I haven't felt like a valuable human, BUT I *can* post a photo here & maybe lift someone's mood a little with it,even when I can barely move.That's a really good thing.🌿
For you:

I'm genuinely SO excited about the new ocean map that will be at the heart of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich when this hall reopens on June 7th. It's an unusual ocean-focussed map with so much detail, and it's just brilliant. 🌊🌊 Here's a sneak peak.
www.rmg.co.uk/stories/ocea...

'No equivalent' due to size?
I think that gif is a red deer stag. In their defence, they used to be bigger.

Everyone's favourite hadrosaur. :}

Parasaurolophus
Ink on Fabriano Medioevalis, 132 × 85 mm.

Watercolour painting of the head and neck of a green peafowl in profile, facing right.

Green Peafowl.

Watercolour and gouache on Arches hot pressed watercolour paper tinted with tea, approximately 92 mm diameter. From 2013 (ack 😵).

Panel 1: character reclines on a bed while holding a switch 1 console saying, “ah time to sit and play one of my childhood faves! Let’s relax and forget our worries for a little bit~” Panel 2: a ps1 Cloud sprite faces away with a large sword on his back saying, “corporations are destroying our planet, valuing profit over lives and morals. Every day is a struggle to hope and fight back.” Panel 3: the character from panel 1 stares down at the screen with a tear falling down their cheek with a blank smile saying, “oh dear”

Journal comics- escapism failed aka an excuse to draw ps1 graphics

The earlybird price on my new small museums zoom w'shop expires on Friday
I'll teach you:
🧠how collecting & arranging your finds improves mental health
🐚We'll create small museums together
Buying a space gives you 33% off my other w'shops & 30% off my Etsy:
workshops.emmamitchell.uk/courses/smal...

You can buy the nib units online directly from the parent company, Yafa. These days they are made by Jowo for Yafa.

Illustration of a blue round creature with wings and a tail, containing the text “#PicturesMeanBusiness.” Beside it, hand-lettered in blue, is the question: “Why do so many book people keep forgetting to credit illustrators?” Small text at the bottom credits illustrator Sarah McIntyre and the website

Authors & Publishers posting about illustrated books: pls credit the ILLUSTRATOR.

Doing a #CoverReveal? Credit illustrator & designer. Not only are you helping boost artist but it shows people that you or your publisher hired a HUMAN artist.
#PicturesMeanBusiness Art @sarahmcintyre.bsky.social

Floral garden finds in May

An autumnal collection of seedheads, feathers, shells, pebbles & other nature finds-my best-selling image

Garden and common hedgerow finds in Norfolk in September

Floral garden finds from a very mild spell in February 2019

This evening at 8 UK time I'll be opening my Etsy shop for limited ed’n signed art prints of my botanical/nature collection photographs & frameable greetings cards.
I create my photos using recent research to dial down fight or flight & lift your mood a little when you look at them.

Ink drawing of a mermaid sitting atop a perpendicular, tree trunk-like rock in the water. Her long hair trails right down to her seat and obscures her face entirely. Her head is bowed, and there is a strong suggestion that she may be weeping.

An older piece but a perennial favourite.

'La même histoire'
Ink on Moleskine sketchbook paper, approximately 127 × 208 mm, 2018.

#MerMay

Portrait of a young woman with short blond hair hugging her knee while looking at the camera.

Portrait of Mae from Near Dark. Black fineliner pen and white charcoal on tan paper.