I’m celebrating sparrows in this series of drawings. Here are two sweeties perched on the last hurrah of a sunflower.

I’m using up a block of Arches hot press watercolor paper, which works beautifully with ink and fountain pens.

I start by creating a moody background with some de Atramentis ink, mixed and watered down a little. I brush it onto a wet surface. After it dries, I put in my pencil sketch.

I then start inking with my trusty fountain pens. Lately, I’ve been using far more hatching and cross-hatching, but I also do some scribbling and fill in shadows with a brush.