I have really taken to Gold & Bronze drawings.
i love the way that different lighting conditions change how such a drawing looks through the day .
But I have had a particularly frustrating weekend when 2 attempts at a fairly large drawing 620 x 510mm using different pens both failed way too early. The ink ran out on 2 new different brand pens about 15-20% of the way in.
The pens in question are an Artline Softline 1900 Gel ink Shachita and a Sharpie Bronze Metalic.
I'm not sure if it's just old stock , I bought both pens at the same art store, or if bronze pens simply don't have enough capacity.
I have run off the same drawings using regular Sharpie black/red pens and Artline pens OK , they both went on to draw a number of other drawings. Has anyone else had this experience ?
While I am seeking advice , does anyone have any ballpoint recommendations ?
I love how a ballpoint gives a clear , sharp result.
They last forever and you can see how much ink is left in the tube.
Downside is the ink buildup on the nib. So far I have been lucky not to have any smudges or blots as I am still at the experimenting stage so I am wondering how large I can go without problems.
I like the Pentel Rolly Blue 0.7mm.
Does anyone have any recomendations ?

Hey daveo,

take a look at my last post here:

http://www.polargraph.co.uk/forum/polargraphs-group2/drawing-techniques-forum4/doing-rd-for-the-pen-industrie-thread427.0/#postid-3210

could be a solution for you as well!
best,
D

I generated the lines in Grasshopper/Rhinoceros 5.0...therefore I can split each line at roughly the point where the pens start to seem fading or getting empty....and then automatically measure the length....(it is just a command in the program).

btw: I figured out that the longest polyline possible in Illustrator has max 32000 control points....every polyline with more that that is autimatically going to be split every 32000 points....why 32000 stays a mystery to me.... 😀