GLENN MARSHALL - GETTING NIBBLY

As an award-winning, leading global cartoonist people often come to me for sage advice and the second most common question I’m asked is why haven’t I embraced digital technology? It’s a question I often ask myself.

The answer is rich and nuanced and not down to Luddite tendencies - I did once use a biro - and NO it’s not because I’m so old our school desks had inkwells (I wish you could still get desks with inkwells)

I have looked into migrating to digital platforms by running multiple evaluations and trials on the various software set-ups and comparing them with analogue. I’ve made lists of pros and cons and talked extensively to fellow professionals. After completing all this analysis it came down to this:

iPad Pro, Apple Pen & Procreate  £1,209

Leonardt nib with bottle of Higgins Black Magic ink £12.90. You can also use the latter in the bath.

Add to this, artists whose work I greatly admire include Leonardo, Caravaggio, William Blake, and they never went digital either. 

I also love the visceral thrill of scraping a pen across rough paper with all that entails. I use inappropriate, coarsely-textured watercolour paper and if you don’t draw very quickly it acts like blotting paper so your lines develop spidery veins which can be pleasing in itself.  I’ve yet to find a digital  ‘spidery vein’ brush tool…though I bet there is one. The rough surface also gives your line drawing a nice kick or hiccup occasionally.

I always liked the Paul Klee quote that ‘drawing was taking a line for a walk’ although in my case it’s more like taking it for a drunken stagger. I’m an egalitarian so I like to think of me and my dip pen as equal partners: sometimes I decide where the line goes, sometimes it does.

One thing about the digital world I really don’t care for is CMD Z which is clearly for commitment-phobes! If you draw a line you’ve gotta commit…it might be wrong but sometimes a wrong does make a right.

When I started out as a cartoonist our version of CMD Z was a bottle of Tippex which after about five uses the brush would clog up and you’d have to scrape semi-dried Tippex onto your drawings. Hard times.

I will admit that there are some pluses with digital drawing - for example all my clothes, even the ones I keep for best, have ink stains on them. 

In my quest for finding the perfect drawing implement I naively buy any art material that someone whose work I marvel at uses, in the hope that all of a sudden I’ll be able to draw more like them, but no matter what I try it still ends up looking like a regular ‘marshall’ scrawl.

When Martin Rowson was given some Ronald Searle nibs he said he had similar hopes of assimilating some Searle magic when using them (NOTE TO SELF: I must cadge a Rowson nib from his huge collection in an attempt to gain his draughtsmanship). Here’s Martin drawing and talking to Ralph Steadman from the BBC Radio Four series ‘Life Drawings’.

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SEARLE

If I think I’m a nib obsessive, Ronald Searle was next level with his fastidious notes about the ones he tried.  BELOW is my completely impartial consumer review of the various nibs I’ve tried and I am currently using.

A favourite pilgrimage for nib aficionados was ‘His Nibs’ on Drury Lane run by Phillip Poole since the 1940s. You could while away your afternoon talking to Philip about nibs and Communism. It was he who put me on the path of righteousness wantonly discarding my Pentels and Uniballs. He had heaps of  vintage school nibs that I used for years until his stock ran out.

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CHRIS DUGGAN

When he had to close the shop in 1989 due to the huge rent hikes by the fascist bourgeoisie overlords, Philip and his nibs moved into a corner of my favourite art supply shop L. Cornelissen & Son. near The British Museum. Cartoonist Chris Duggan said “A visit to Philip Poole was like being measured for a suit in Saville Row, the perfect nib in exactly your size and style would soon be forthcoming.” 

Phillip is sadly long gone but the store is still a dip pen drawing haven. I like to take a day trip there with a packed lunch just to visit the nib drawers.

The Cartoon Museum had a wonderful exhibition ‘Dear Mr Poole’ which showcased letters and cartoons given to Philip Poole over the years. This included a few films of artists discussing their work method: this one features Steven Appleby talking about his techniques and the first class William Mitchell Post Office nib.

I still get a strange thrill taking a freshly bought nib straight out of the bag and giving it a road test.

This is just an extract from my 24 volume nib part work that I’m still trying to find a publisher for. With this review I’ve just scratched the surface….which also describes my drawing technique. 

My suggestion is to get yourself one of the L. Cornelissen & Son random nib selection bags, put that tablet aside for half an hour and have some filthy fun.

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The chaotic cornucopia of nibs in Martin Rowson’s studio

Ronald Searle nib notes

A drawing by Chris Duggan of Phillip Poole and his multi-story nib draws using the ornamental looking Somerville Fountain Spear nib Phillp introduced him to

A  Nib test by Glenn Marshall.

See below for a guide to his favourite nibs.