Ink paintings

 

During the week I sketched out three images of the fishing poles at the cove in Armadale  Two I wanted to render on watercolour paper mainly using acrylic ink. The third, a repeat of one of the ones I was doing on water colour colour paper, I wanted to do on yupo 'paper' mainly using alcohol ink. 

The two on 300gsm watercolour paper were sketched with waterproof ink; and the one on yupo was sketched with a graphite pencil. I was attempting to do two images of the poles on misty days; and the third I wanted to represent the poles on a dark but sunrise morning. I wanted to pick up the atmosphere of the mornings.

The finished three in the opening image are on the dining room take - aka home watercolour studio.

Progress photos follow.

Some images of the finished pieces follow. The matt board has simply been rested over the pieces to show how they might look mounted.

I'm reasonably happy with what I achieved - I like the different results of the images in the mist using yupo and alcohol paints; and watercolour paper and acrylic ink. Inks are harder to control than watercolours!!!!

What works with what?

 

My experiments with inks lead me to ask the question: what pen or pencil would I use to sketch the base image for ink paintings; and would different pens or pencil react differently to a coat of alcohol or a coat of acrylic ink.

So with Fiona's assistance I set up a test for a range of pens and pencils on translucent yupo paper: and then swiped a coating of the two inks across the test sheets. You can see how the alcohol test worked in the opening image; and how the acrylic ink worked in the image below.

You will note I drew lines and wrote the different names of the pens and pencils on both pieces of paper - prepared paper below. I also recorded whatever ink was used on each - ink puddles below.

Some observations include: alcohol ink creates a more dramatic effect; black Copic pens seem to work better under alcohol ink; alcohol ink gives quite a gentle smudged look; graphite pencil seemed to hold up better under acrylic ink; and most black pens tend to turn brown under both alcohol and acrylic ink.

Fiona and I discussed the test pieces a

The experiment with these can be seen below. Observations include: hard graphite pencils work well; black ball point stands up ok; and Sharpies can be useful for smudged effects and don't go brown. I think I will be using hard graphite pencils for my base sketches if I want a clear image or contrast.

I'm quite amazed that, with Fiona and Megan's encouragement, I have spent quite a bit of time experimenting with papers, inks, layers, pens and pencils. The good news is that I think I'm just about ready to redo some of my pieces and apply the knowledge I have gained.