Capture the Seaside with a Pitt Artist Pen®

Creative Studio

Welcome to the studio, a place to relax, to be inspired and to develop your own creative potential. Here, we will explore ideas and create art with mediums and techniques that will have you achieving rewarding results with your own art.

Pitt Artist Pens® are famous for their high quality odorless, permanent and waterproof India Ink. They come in a variety of nib types including a brush tip, and produce stunning results on a variety of surfaces. In this lesson plan, we use the Pitt Artist Pen to draw on a shell; perhaps a keepsake idea from your next seaside vacation.

The Shell

After an unsuccessful attempt at finding my own perfect shell while vacationing on the coast of Maine, I resorted to ordering this large Quahog clam shell on Etsy. It measured 4 1/2 inches wide and was clean and smooth, perfect for my idea.

I drilled a small hole at the very top of the shell (hidden behind the shell’s small protrusion) to later thread a string through for hanging; a little memento from my summer vacation.

The Drawing 

I decided to draw an image of a Windjammer, one I see many of off the coast at our summer cottage in Maine. I figured that I should first draw the ship to size on tissue paper. Here I could work out all of the proportions, and see how much detail I could include while keeping the line drawing simple and stylized.

Drawing the Ship

Much to my surprise, the shell’s shiny surface accepted pencil, and I was able to draw the ship first; this was a huge relief and made proceeding with the black Pitt Pen far less daunting. Take your time here, you can easily erase and correct lines. Consider leaving space for words below if you so desire. Get it just right.

Final Drawing 

And now the time has come to go over my pencil line with the Pitt Pen. The pen glides very nicely over the shell’s surface.

I add a few seagulls and accent marks on the sails. I add Ocean Point Maine in the same way I drew the ship— a sketch to size on tissue, pencil, then pen.

Finally, I thread a string through the hole at the top of the shell to create a hanger for hanging as a small piece of art on a wall, or perhaps a Christmas tree.