An
Expressive Pen Drawing - 2

Building
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.

Building
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.

Building
Up Tones with an Ink Wash - Step 3
View
our pen, ink and wash drawing in its actual size
At
this penultimate 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.

Applying
Color to an Ink Drawing
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, dyes or watercolor 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 color do
its own work but the results are often better than anything you
could have planned. Good luck with your efforts!