Pen
and Ink Drawing
An
Expressive Pen Drawing - 3
Applying
a Color with an Ink Wash
View
our pen, ink and wash drawing in its actual size
To
complete our pen, ink and wash drawing of Lindisfarne
Priory, we have applied a final wash using color inks.
The
great advantage of drawing with Indian ink is that it
is waterproof when dry. This means that you can paint
over it with transparent color inks without any danger
of smudging your drawing.
In
the finished work we used three different colors of
ink: cobalt blue for the sky; yellow ochre for the architecture
and sap green for the grass.
Before
the ink was applied, the drawing was brushed with water
to assist with the spreading and blending of the colors.
Finally,
using a large brush, the ink was broadly applied to
the sky, followed by the architecture and grass and
then left to dry. It is important to execute this stage
quickly and leave the ink to run and blend naturally.
If you try to control it too much or are too detailed
in its application, you will loose the spontaneity and
freshness of the technique.
It
takes a lot of courage to release control and let the
colour do its own work but the results are often better
than anything we could have planned. Good luck with
your efforts!
