Creative Paint Workshop for Mixed-Media Artists

Handwriting

You can write with any drawing instruments: pencils, cray-
ons, charcoal, oil pastels, ballpoint pens, felt pens, bamboo
pens, and pens with interchangeable nibs.

You can also write with paint, using brushes of varying
shapes and sizes: bamboos, riggers, liners, scripts, flats,
filberts, rounds, cat's tongues, and daggers. Each will pro-
duce a different style. For example, a flat brush works well
for blocky characters; a liner can create long, sweeping
curves; a dagger is perfect for the broad and fine strokes
in italic writing. Soft brushes made of nylon or nat ural hair
are better than bristle brushes, as they hold more paint.
Fluid acrylics or acrylic inks flow freely, whereas heavier
paint will clog the brush.

,h3:,· t ..

~ .;,. .'

;11.3,

,-, ~ .... I<. 't>.-I·

S,.,,_P,.:J r

'j,,3'-~>· t ~_eJ-_

5,3 ... t. · c·,t

1\.1, S ,':t :.e · r · ;\ i{'

·f1·,'1·L'·

SJ,,, \. f'.

,f1.,I-.",

g .. ". 1,:1.

g ,J,,\O. ,.

SI't .. c". p. X

LEFT: Writing with Q

broad-nib p en and

white a crylic ink on

a black background

results i n a s triking

mixture of boldness

and transparency.

~ways test that the ink in your pens

and the pigment in your pencils or

crayons is thoroughly waterproof before

writing with them on your painting.

Scribble on a separate sheet of paper

and rub with a moist brush to test them.

It will save some nasty surprises when

it matters most!

Crayons, colored pencils, pastels, pens, and paintbrushes make

different kinds of marks.

A busy abstract expressionist pattern is pushed into the back-

ground by superimposing handwritten text.

Numbers roughly painted in a grid, each one slightly different

in style or color, have a painterly appearance. Jasper Johns

adopted this approach in some of his early work.

C OVl8 1 NINC WORDS AND PAINT I 83