Using a Fibre Pen for scratching Hair/fur

I tend to use a 2mm fibre pen for hair/fur using a fibre pen rather than the more traditional Exacto blade or scalpel for scratching, the results seem fairly good so thought I would share how I use the pen.

All I ever use is a 2mm fibre clutch pen ..
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The first thing I do is position the refill so only about a 1mm or so is exposed then hold the pen 90 at right angles to a piece of 400 grit emery cloth and sand the tip down until it is flat with the end. This gives me a nice flat end to the cluster of fibres and a sharp edge .
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To get a nice fine line you don’t want the fibres spreading so I position the tip so that just 2mm or so is exposed , this means the clutch mechanism is keeping the end of the fibres close together, then I just use only the edge of the tip (hold the pen at approx. 45 degrees), so that just the sharp edge is scratching the surface.
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Using gentle light sweeping movements you can get quite nice fine hairs, as the fibres wear and the edge dulls so I just turn the pen tip a little bit and use another part of the edge.
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In my opinion this produces nice fine tapered hairs with a soft look rather the stark scratched line you get with the end of a scalpel blade.

By just ‘dabbing’ the surface you get very short hairs such as those around the nose of a furry animal
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Bear in mind all these examples are just one layer of hair texture, you would then mist over these textures with a colour then add another layer and keep going until you get the depth you want, (I usually put down 3 layers).

If I then extend the tip and allow the fibres to spread it is then possible to produce softer wider hair textures.
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These techniques with the fibre pen work as shown here on Claybord, Gesso coated MDF and synthetic paper , you just have to be a little careful with schoellershammer g4 paper otherwise you will tear the paper and a more pressure is needed.

Varying the amount of pressure you use also affects the final result, use a very , very light touch you can achieve super fine gently hairs.

Hope this helps :)
I’ve just went through your keen tutorial Steve...
Silly me!
I’m using the same fibre pen for many months,but I have never used it your way?!
This advice,will let me work with the fibre pen, even more superior to what I used to do ;)
Thank you for sharing your great ideas Steve ;)
 
Thought id join in.
For all british brushers hobbycraft sells these fibre pens. I bought a 2mm pen earlier this year.
Not used it much though as ive been airbrushing on thick paper which is impossible to erase or scratch on.
When i started airbrushing i bought 5 a2 sketch pads of varying weights and tooth or smoothness. I learnt straight away this type of substrate just sucks the paint into its3lf and lines easily look fuzzy. Ive had more success with bristol board as its a bit harder. I can erase to a degree with this paper but scratching is almost impossible as its easy to rip a top layer of paper. Obviously this is due to the paint going into the paper rather than sitting on top.
Ive since bought some 4g, yupo and 6mm mdf with a tub of gesso.
ive only used the 4g and yupo on a couple of pics and theyre amazing for scratching. The 4g is harder to work with in my opinion as its harder to erase as the paint cures.
Yupo has its own problem as its too easy to remove so care must be used.
Not tried gesso/mdf yet.
On another note ive found that liquid mask will only work with yupo as it seems to eat into the other substrates, even the 4g. At least the brand i have does.
I assume gesso/mdf will be ok with it.
Hope this helps someone who doesnt already know this........b4 they shell out 8n a load of unsuitable paper
 
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