What is a black pen? Explanations about the art of black pen painting by Alireza Molaei, a brilliant Iranian painter

Black pen painting is one of the sub-categories of painting, the tools of which, of course, correspond to the tools of drawing. This beautiful art, which is done on paper and cardboard, is very popular among the people, but there is no academic education in universities to teach it.

History of Black Pen Painting

Some people attribute the name of this art to Mohammad Ibn Mahmoud Shah Khayyam, who was a famous painter during the reign of Baysanghar Mirza. Of course, the reason for this naming is due to the title of this person who is Mohammad Siah Ghalam.

Of course, some people consider its founder to be one of the students of the great master of painting, Kamal al-Mulk, who at that time used a brush to paint on paper by combining charcoal and clay.

The history of black pen painting and the time of its beginning can be considered almost with the beginning of Iranian painting at the same time and period, and this means that this artistic style has been popular among artists since the seventh century AH.

Black Pen Painting Tool

As mentioned, the black pen painting tool, contrary to expectations, due to its name, is more in line with the tools and accessories needed in the design than it is with the painting tools.

Painters of this style of art create works of art by combining clay and charcoal on paper or cardboard, but the execution methods of this style of painting have nothing to do with design and are not a subset of design.

It should be noted here that charcoal itself has different types and they can be used in different ways. In the continuation of this article, we have examined the types of available and special coals for black pen design and expressed the applications of each of them.

Design difference with pencil and black pen

One of the most important differences between pencil and black pen design is the difference in the use of proportions.

One of the most important skills that a designer must acquire to design an idea or product is how to get the right dimensions and sizes of his design and use it in appropriate scales.

But in black pen painting, this issue has no value, and only creating white to black tones and gray spectrum and using light shades is important, and that is why it falls under the category of painting and not design.