The Technical Pen by Gary Simmons (1992-09-01) Paperback – January 1, 1840

I had previously borrowed the 1992 edition from my library and thought the book was excellent and thorough. The book was out of print at the time and I wasn't able to find a used copy at a reasonable price. I recently tried to find one and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was back in print and quickly placed an order. There were bad reviews for the hardcover edition, so I ordered the paperback version. However, I was disappointed when I started flipping through the pages of the 2014 edition.The content in the book deserves 5 stars. I'm only rating this 3 stars to point out that the quality of the new edition is not great and looks like they photocopied the original on a cheap copier. The printing is inconsistent. In some cases it is too light and in most cases you can not make out the detail of the fine lines due to the poor reproduction. The paper is also thinner. As pointed out in the product description, the paperback copy is grayscale so the section on color is all in black and white.I was so disappointed that I ended up buying a "like new" copy of the The Technical Pen 1992 edition published by Watson-Guptill from an Amazon third party seller and I would suggest you do the same. My 1992 edition also cost less than $19.99 which was another bonus. You should be able to find a good copy at a reasonable price.The default sized amazon photos are too small so the comparison for the last two pictures may not be obvious. To see the large picture, click on the title of the review "This book is excellent but the 2014 printing is not good" next to the 3 stars which will bring you to the review on a separate page. After clicking on the small thumbnails to get the larger image to pop up by itself, you can save the larger image to your desktop, or right-click and select properties to get the URL of the image and paste it in another browser window.-comparison of covers (2014 edition is on top)-page 106 of the 2014 edition (notice that the overall picture is too light in comparison to the 1992 edition. you can't even make out the shading of the horse in the left picture. The shading of the girl's shirt and helmet are much lighter. You will also notice the paper is thinner so that the text on the back side is more apparent)-page 106 of the 1992 edition.-comparison of page 130 which is the start of the section with color-inside cover page of 2014 edition (the reproduction is blurry so you can't make out the details of the pen strokes. see above note about viewing the larger version of the image. This comparison is representative of the overall poor quality of the images in the rest of the book)-inside cover page of 1992 edition

This refers to the current hardcover edition -- Simply awful printing -- the pages are see through and cheap thin paper so its impossible to enjoy the details because the print and pictures on the back side are completely visible. What a terrible paper selection! With paper like this which is thinner than copy paper they should print on one side only. And at the price offered its atrocious. The book itself is full of lovely examples and I will try find the digital version though those have their problems too in that you have to double click and expand every picture etc. to enjoy the book.

Excellent resource specific to pen & ink artwork with technical pens. Even if the examples may not be subjects that appeal to you the comprehensive detailed guides more than make up for it. A large number of different styles and pen strokes are explained.The later printings show the color section in black & white which is unfortunate. The 1992 printing is excellent.It covers many areas omitted in the Claudia Nice books although her’s are a great resource as well.

I finally found a good-condition copy of this at a reasonable price and I am glad I bought it. It is a perfect companion book to Guptill's "Rendering in Pen and Ink: The Classic Book On Pen and Ink". This book has great information on the care and use of the Technical Pen and has more imaginative examples of pen and ink than Guptills more traditional (but, none the less beautiful and important) works. This book also has more on the "process" of doing an initial pencil outline,choosing pen strokes and building up patterns to create a drawing. It includes a section of problems to avoid with pen strokes and tones etc. which was very helpful to me. I would have never thought of using the patterns the author used to render some of the drawings. I look forward to playing with these in my own drawings. I would recommend getting both of these books and you should have all you need for a really good foundation in pen and ink.

i am a pen & ink artist and although my talent - for the most part - has come naturally to me all my life, i love to learn techniques from artists whose work i truly admire. gary simmons is one of the BEST pen & ink artists in the world...his artwork is detailed and precise which is my favorite way to work. i also use koh-i-noor rapidograph pens exclusively, which are the main drawing instruments in this book. if you want to be proficient at this medium, this is the book to get you started. Also, for pen & ink artists and especially for those wishing to learn this form of art, I suggest another great artist, Claudia Nice, who has many books on pen & ink drawing for everyone and on almost every subject. BUY THIS BOOK & check out some books by Claudia Nice :))

I am very impressed with his book. Definitely will add to your creativity with rapidograph type pens.

I don't know really. I bought it in my search for more "killer strokes" and texture ideas as I had first discovered in James Richards' "Freehand Drawing and Discovery: Urban Sketching and Concept Drawing for Designers". I was rather disappointed at the printing however. It must have been the press or something. It seemed like some random binding done on a photocopier low on ink. Isn't it called "The Technical Pen"?? What good is it to me if I can't discern the lines??? Good book regardless. The printing is annoying

This is a great drawing book for anyone who is serious about pen and ink illustrations!

Very disappointed with the poor quality of the 2014 edition, on the strength of the reviews I bought the expensive 2014 hardback edition, not realising that the review dates obviously mean an earlier edition.The whole book is cheap and flimsy, the paper very thin and picture reproduction poor, you would need a magnifying glass to see details. ..which is the point of the book? !Book description states 34 full colour prints, I count 27 generously, this includes the initial pencil sketch of finished artwork and the colour chart and ink blocks, and the reproduction of the colour artwork is much worse than the black and white artwork.I am returning this 2014 edition and have sourced and ordered a 1992 paperback edition replacement, as cheap as the new paperback edition, but coming from America. ..will let you know if the quality is as indicated by previous reviewers, my fingers are crossed because the content if printed well looks amazing and I am sure I will learn loads.So in summary the contents look informative and really detailed, but the 2014 hardback edition is an utter waste of your money. ..in my opinion :-(

REVIEW REFERS TO 2014 HARDBACK EDITION. This appears to have been printed on cheap xerox paper using a home inkjet printer. Images that are supposed to demonstrate fine cross-hatching pen work are printed such low resolution that they are an illegible blur, individual pen strokes can not be made out. Images overlap text in several places, colours are incredibly poor quality and washed out. Like another poster, I will be ordering an older copy of this excellent book as this edition is unfit for purpose.

Lots of information on technical pens, how they work and how to use them.Full of very impressive and inspirational works.Rather lacking in tips on how to achieve the wonderful examples shown.

A well detailed and descriptive book

This is an excellent, informative book. The illustrations are beautifully realized and the various techniques are shown clearly. I would assess this book as appropriate for an artist familiar with pen and ink, not a beginner.I give this book four stars rather than five because the physical book is definitely not of the standard I expect of art instruction books. The paper is flimsy enough that there is image bleedthrough from the reverse page, and the margins are narrow -- the kind of thing you expect from a cheap reprint or Print on Demand. I bought the paperback and would recommend the hardcover -- all the colour illustrations are grayscale in the paperback, and they are quite dark. (Again, not what I would expect from an art book at this price point.)So, five stars for content, but three for publishing.

Un libro esaustivo ed utile per migliorare la propria tecnica o per imparare per chi è alle prime armi. Le quattro stelle sono dovute al fatto che l'ultima sezione del libro, che è incentrata dettagliatamente sull'uso del colore, è stampata comunque in b/n (non era così nell'edizione degli anni 90)...mi chiedo il perchè di una scelta così illogica da parte dell'editore...che senso ha?

Libro super completo sobre las técnicas de entintado con pluma técnica o rotulador técnico. El autor comparte toda su experiencia con ejercicios prácticos analizando los diferentes tipos de líneas y tramados que pueden conseguirse con esta herramienta. Estudia cada grupo de trazados indicando para qué tipo de efectos es más aplicable. Especialmente indicado para quienes no creen que se puede valorar con tinta. Es sorprendente la posibilidad de crear tonos con tanta maestría, inclusive en color. Me ha sorprendido muy gratamente y lo he incorporado a mis libros imprescindibles y como guía fundamental para trabajar con esta herramienta. Lo más sorprendente es que un instrumento pensado para el dibujo técnico pueda ser utilizado de esta manera para el dibujo artístico.

Great book with lots of examples of different textures that can be created with the technical pen.

Costs about three times what most similar "paperback books" cost, but this is a quality paperback. And I think the publisher made a good decision not to cheapen the contents with less quality paper or binding. It is really quite superb!I'm not much of an artist (yet) so I can not tell if this is a good instruction. I know though, that I want to be able to draw like this, and I will follow this tome to the letter. The book is worth the price for the pictures in it alone!I got mine from "The book community" and it was very well packaged indeed. The shipping to Belgium did take almost a fortnight though!Get one if you can!!!

Un livre à avoir pour ceux qui veulent parfaire leur dessin au stylo, le livre est très complet.La langue n'est pas une grosse barrière, à voir comme un apprentissage supplémentaire !