Pen
and Ink Drawing
An
Expressive Pen Drawing - 2
Build
Up Tones with an Ink Wash - Step 1
An
ink wash is a transparent mixture of ink and water applied
with a brush to create tone. You can mix washes of different
shades by varying the ratio of ink and water. A light
wash is a very transparent mixture with only a few drops
of ink added to water. This is suitable for lighter
areas of tone. A heavy wash is a darker mixture with
a greater concentration of ink and is used for deeper
tones.
Applying
a wash is a more liberating and expressive technique
than cross
hatching and stippling for building up tones in
an ink drawing. Several washes were used to build up
the tone in our study of Lindisfarne Priory.
To
begin with, a light wash was unevenly applied to the
sky and foreground to suggest variations in the light.
It is always advisable to start with a light wash which
is easy to darken if applied too lightly. On the other
hand, a heavy wash is almost impossible to lighten if
applied too darkly.
Build
Up Tones with an Ink Wash - Step 2
In
this next stage, the same light wash was applied to
the shaded sections of the architecture to establish
the tonal composition of the drawing. Note how the brightest
areas of tone that are picking up direct sunlight were
left as unpainted white paper.
Build
Up Tones with an Ink Wash - Step 3
At
this stage, a heavier wash was applied over the darker
areas to create a more dramatic contrast of tones. In
certain sections, this wash was applied twice to establish
pockets of deeper shade.
Build
Up Tones with an Ink Wash - Step 4
View
our pen, ink and wash drawing in its actual size
Finally,
a very dark wash was selectively applied to the darkest
areas of the drawing in order to increase the dramatic
range of tones and fine tune the the tonal balance of
the work.
