INK INSPIRATION

Above are some quick and simple ink drawings which will go into my sketchbook. Inspiration for these came from a tutorial in Lois Davidson’s Patreon group. I’ve been a bit unmotivated with my drawing practice of late, so when I watched Lois’ tutorial about drawing with ink and home made stick pens, I suddenly felt motivated to give it a go. I saw it as a way to inject some extra fun and interest into my drawing practice. And guess what… I love drawing with ink… !! So much more fun than just a boring old pencil…. !! It’s also a lot messier too…

These are the inks I used:

These are the inks I used – Black (Schwarz), Sepia and Petrol (Frieda) by Rohrer & Klingner, a German company. The Black and Sepia inks are Indian Ink and they will granulate if you run water through them on paper. The Petrol (Frieda) ink is a drawing ink and does not granulate. I love the Sepia and Petrol ink together, they’re a lovely colour combination.

I managed to find some sticks and made my own stick pens:

I got mixed results from my home made stick pens – some good, some not so good. I will make some more when I find suitable sticks – you really need a hard wood that isn’t going to splinter. But what I did find really good to use were these three items:

At the top is a really old way of using ink – the quill end of a feather! This was really good to use. Next, my favourite so far, a Chinese Bamboo Pen – this was brilliant to use and very cheap to buy. I’m going to buy more of these. The third one is a dip pen with a metal nib – I love using this for drawing fine lines and small details. The Chinese Bamboo Pen I bought from Jackson’s.

I will be doing much more drawing with ink in the future, even though it can be a bit messy (I seem to get it everywhere!). I may acquire one or two extra colours! In my drawing at the top of this post, the two larger drawings were done on cartridge paper and the two smaller ones were done on khadi paper. I am going to try the inks out on my favourite 100% cotton watercolour papers. My drawings will be going into my sketchbook, with notes.

I did mention in my previous post that I would have some important decisions to make early in this year. Well, those decisions have been made. Due to increased family responsibilities, I have had to give up work. I’m now officially retired. I’m nearly 59 years old. My life is very different now and a lot less stressful in many ways. It does also mean I have more time for my art work, if I budget my time carefully. Do I miss going out to work? NO !!! I like being retired… !! Happy days.