Creating a Line Library (in progress)

My sketchbook for Inktober 2026

I am looking to practice a combination of Art Nouveau and Sergio Toppi's style of mark making - a way I want my work to more closely resemble. The best way to develop the style i am interested in having is by practicing - like a mastercopy but more specific, imitating and recreating his marks and the textures/transitions he has created.

Sergio Toppi

Sergio Toppi was one of the grand masters of comics, renowned the world over for his singular style. He re-wrote the rules of the genre with a visual architecture that frequently blended sequential art with illustration. The Italian used black and white contrast as a potent expressive tool, yet mastered the use of colour, too. And his refusal to be constrained by the classic panel grid allowed for more fluid storytelling. Toppi was also admired in graphic design and printing for his knack of making materials look realistic through his unique inking technique. It allowed him to create worlds that hovered somewhere between the realistic and magical in his adaptations of Eastern legends and explorations of colonial conflicts.

Sergio was born in Milan, in 1932. His childhood was overshadowed by the death of his musician father, in 1936, from tuberculosis contracted while serving as an army truck driver in the First World War. As a result, he was raised in a female-dominated household by his mother and grandmother. Toppi’s mother worked for art publishing house De Giuli Gaddoni Grassoccolo, which meant he was exposed to illustrated books from an early age.

Another profound influence on the young Sergio was the Second World War. After the Allies began bombing Milan in 1943, he and his family were evacuated to Bannio Anzino, a small town in the Italian Alps. But the war was never far away, and this mountainous region would soon see fierce clashes between partisans and Axis forces. Though he hated conflict, Toppi became fascinated with military gear, from weapons to insignia, as well as with how men were depicted in hostile environments.

At the end of the war, he returned to Milan and continued his secondary education, picking up a solid grounding in the arts and humanities. He then went to Castello Sforzesco Art School, but dropped out a year later, having found the curriculum outdated and boring. Next, he enrolled in medical school, where he met his future wife and lifelong companion, Aldina Monesi, but eventually quit so he could fully devote himself to drawing.

Toppi was to all intents and purposes an autodidact: he taught himself to draw by observing the world around him, and then refracting it through the lens of his imagination. Dense blacks are balanced out by the strategic use of negative space: the white of the page is used to isolate a face, give a busy composition breathing space or suggest the vastness of a landscape. The result is an aesthetic contrast of real expressive power.

In 1982, for the I protagonisti di Orient Express series, he created his first and only recurring character in The Collector. The eponymous protagonist is a cynical dandy who obsessively scours the planet for tribal artefacts and rare objects to loot. Through this anti-hero, Toppi gives us a scathing anthropological critique that contrasts ancient animistic cultures with the brutal progress of Western modernity.

excerpts from: https://www.pixartprinting.co.uk/blog/comics-sergio-toppi/

Nico Akselbo Hagémann

Nico Akselbo Hagémann: born in 1994, lives and works in Copenhagen. His work is rooted in graffiti, but from the beginning, he has always explored other disciplines like croquis, art nouveau, classic fine art, anatomical drawing, and surrealism.

Nico's inspiration is based on a very rootless and troubled upbringing, forcing Nico to find beauty in the most unexpected places and to find light in the chaos. He creates from life as it unfolds, using his extraordinary skills of mixing traditional craftsmanship with unexpected methods and materials. Life hands him the tools to visualize his thoughts and impressions, and he translates those impressions into visible form.

From a show he was in recently:
"The solo exhibition Perception Layers by Nico A. Hagemann, curated by Karen Dulong, explores the challenges of identity and self-perception in today’s world, where constant comparison (amplified by social media) makes it harder than ever to truly understand ourselves.

Drawing on his own experiences of inner turmoil, Nico transforms chaos into art, encouraging viewers to reflect on how societal and digital pressures affect their sense of self. Join us in uncovering the layers of self-perception and the search for authenticity in a world shaped by filters and unrealistic standards."

Pan Inkhoo

"We all probably enjoyed making things 'look' when we were young.

For example, clouds look like ice cream or snails.

I believe that this ability to 'see' is connected to the

human imagination."

Pan Inkhoo (b. 1998) is a Japanese artist born in China, known for oil paintings that blend dreamlike imagery with symbolic elements. Pan Inkhoo studied at the Graduate School of Art, Women’s University of the Arts, Japan, completing a predoctoral program in Japanese painting. Pan is now based in Tokyo. Their work is often described as paintings of what they have seen, infused with riddles. The imagery is dreamlike, surreal, and symbolic, often exploring themes of dreams, nature, and the subconscious. They use oil on canvas, and their compositions frequently feature ethereal landscapes, abstract forms, and layered narratives.

Today's Task:

Step 1: everyone has 5 minutes to decorate the cover of their sketchbook - MUST have student name on the cover, as I will be grading assignments done in their sketchbooks - Lay out the rules/expectations for use of them.

Step 2: Talk through the idea of creating a Line Library and the 3 artists + how to look for lines and record them into 4 different categories (5 to 10 minutes)

* Categories: Curved / Thick + Thin / Wavy / Pattern + Texture

Step 3: Students will have 2 minutes per category to record lines they can find in the 3 separate artworks/styles - about 8 minutes per piece (30 minutes total)

Paso 1: todos tienen 5 minutos para decorar la portada de su cuaderno de bocetos - DEBE tener el nombre del estudiante en la portada, ya que calificaré las tareas hechas en sus cuadernos - Explicar las reglas/expectativas para su uso.

Paso 2: Hablar sobre la idea de crear una Biblioteca de Líneas y los 3 artistas + cómo buscar líneas y registrarlas en 4 categorías diferentes (5 a 10 minutos)

* Categorías: Curvas / Gruesas + Finas / Onduladas / Patrón + Textura

Paso 3: Los estudiantes tendrán 2 minutos por categoría para registrar las líneas que puedan encontrar en las 3 obras/estilos diferentes - unos 8 minutos por obra (30 minutos en total)

Mini Line Project (9/23-24)

My version:

Previous student versions:

The goal of this project: to utilize the line library we created to transform a photograph from a magazine into something infinitely more complex and dynamic - how can you give this image a unique feeling and voice that makes it yours?

Step 1: Choose an image you are interested in modifying, grab your sketchbook + a set of acrylic markers

Step 2: Decide what parts you want to leave untouched for contrast, and come up with a plan/kinds of lines you are interested in replicating

Step 3: You will have only 2 days to complete this! Use your class time wisely! (day 2 - I will have some glitter options available for people who are far enough along)

El objetivo de este proyecto: utilizar la biblioteca de líneas que creamos para transformar una fotografía de una revista en algo infinitamente más complejo y dinámico - ¿cómo puedes darle a esta imagen una sensación y una voz únicas que la hagan tuya?

Paso 1: Elige una imagen que te interese modificar, agarra tu cuaderno de bocetos y un set de marcadores acrílicos.

Paso 2: Decide qué partes quieres dejar intactas para el contraste, y haz un plan/determina los tipos de líneas que te interesa replicar.

Paso 3: ¡Solo tendrás 2 días para completar esto! ¡Usa bien tu tiempo de clase! (día 2 - tendré algunas opciones de brillantina disponibles para quienes estén lo suficientemente avanzados)

Jointed Paper Puppets @288

 

Final Puppet Project @Hudson

Rod Puppets:

Making the head:

Making the hands:

Student Process Examples (6th/7th grade):

     

My Example:

Day 1 + 2 (Tues/Weds):

Making Face and hands, practicing everything we learned in the last project. Sand/prepare for paint.

Day 3 + 4 (Thurs/Fri):

Painting, adding shoulders + fabric. Possible a few students will still need to be using clay.

Day 5 (Mon):

Final day to finish puppet, if needed.