The ink I used for today's Mermay, the 16th of 2026, is Diamine's Cosmic Sky, a sheen and shimmer.

I have a new lighting set up so I've got good sheen for you today, just as well, there's no sunshine to speak of this afternoon. Well, evening now.

All with the Kakimori again. Such a great nib!

#MerMay #MerMay2026 #DrawingWithOutANet #NoAI #FantasyArt #TraditionalArt #DipPen #Kakimori

Well, this is drawn with the Kakimori nib - as a lot of my new inks are, for convenience, because the fountain pens have all been filled up or will need cleaning before reloading. But we'll get there in the end I'm sure. This is the last of the inks from @rdm 's naughty and unsanctioned raiding of Van Diemen's Ink's moving sale.

It's Red Lightning and it brings a lot to the drawing, and presumably writing table, because you know, I understand that these inks can be written with too, who would've guessed?

Aaaany way, I sketched out the outline of this merperson, and then filled in the back with broad strokes. Sketched in lightly with the scales and hair, and then realized it looked better upside down. So there you go.

#MerMay #MerMay2026 #DrawingWithoutANet #NoAI #TraditionalArt #FountainPenInk #DipPen #FantasyArt #MerFolk #Mermaid

A pretty odd one for today's MerMay. I was thinking about molluscs and some of those odd nudibranch species - colourful sea slugs and the like, and this guy developed. Drawn with the Kakimori steel nib, and one of the Van Diemen's ink moving day specials, Persian Princess. It is very sparkly.

#MerMay #MerMay2026 #DrawingWithoutANet #DipPen #FountainPenInk #NoAI #FantasyArt #PenAndInk

I enjoyed getting the Akkerman bottle out again and using it with the Kakimori nib. Something has profoundly upset this mermaid. Poor thing. She was fun to draw though. She'll pull through, don't worry, the ocean is on her side.

#MerMay #MerMay2026 #DrawingWithoutANet #Mermaid #NoAI #PenandInk #DipPen #FountainPenInk #TraditionalArt

After a busy day, and incidentally GMing a game where the PC's are all merfolk except for one water elemental, I had a little time to bring out the Kakimori dip pen once more and do a quick brush like sketch of this mermaid touching the surface and causing ripples.

I don't know if it's the ink - Van Diemen's Ink 9 Lives, but it didn't seem to flow as smoothly as previous inks. Or maybe the Kakimori is needing a bit of a scrub.

Anyway, I think she looks elegant for just a sketch.

#MerMay #MerMay2026 #NoAI #DipPen #DrawingWithoutANet #Ink #Mermaid

I had a good 3 hours to draw this one, so the more relaxed pace shows I think. Back to the Kakimori nib, because, guess what, @rdm bought some ink from Van Diemen's Ink moving sale, which I told him not to do, but he did anyway. Naughty fellow isn't he?

It arrived today and this was the one he wanted me to try out.

This is Anna's Hummingbird Ink.

#FountainPenInk #DipPen #DrawingWithoutANet #NoAI #MerMay #MerMay2026

#MerMay2026 #MerMay #Ink #FountainPenInk #NoAI #DrawingWithoutANet #DipPen

This #Merperson likes playing with bubbles! Just a quick drawing as I've had a busy day.
The ink is Parker's Quink. It's a decades old bottle, with just a black coloured label, but it's nice to use on occasion - with so many tempting other fancy inks around I don't often.

I'm still using the Kakimori steel nib dipper.