Dip Pen!!!

I've been obsessed with inking as of late. I'm very comfortable with my drawing style, but I want to jazz the linework up from the blah look of Microns. So, I went to my local art store and loaded up on acrylic ink, nibs and specialty pens. Pen-wise I bought a really cool Japanese nylon brush-pen called "Sai." Or at least that is what I can read on the package. The tip doesn't fray and the ink comes out very black.
Nib-wise I figured out that I really hate the hard ones-Hunt 102, 104, etc. I think the nibs soften as you use them, but I don't have the patience for that. Instead I found I really like the softer nibs...Hunt Globe 513EF, Hunt School 56, Hunt Imperial 101 (my fav). Because they are soft it's easy to get blobs, but if you have a steady hand the linework really looks good. Below is a sampling of recent practice work.

P.S. No pencil-work here, just straight ink on board.

BTW, this is Monk sleeping. One of the very few times this bird is not awake yapping at me for apples and celery.