http://www.painters-online.co.uk artistMarch 2020 63
PRACTICAL
p STAGE FOUR
The plate’s subtle shadows were made with very light tone, and blotting. Once
dry I used two diferent width round brushes to draw the two stripes on the
plate. As the brushes were quite large they produced a strong single line, but I
then needed the precision of the hard pencil to drag and push the wet edge of
the wide line to meet with the body of the ish. I kept the ink and water on the
surface of the paper to enable me to move it around. Once I was happy that each
stage of the work was complete, I checked for any excessively wet areas that
could smudge, and then blotted
p FINISHED PAINTING
Fish, black ink on watercolour paper, 92 3 114in (24 3 30cm).
Finally I added the background around the plate, leaving the white edge of the plate untouched. I tried to
keep this whole large area wet whilst working to avoid any hard edges forming, and then blotted all. To
inish I added a shadow around the plate and the shadow of the ish on the platep STAGE FIVE
I adjusted and tweaked the ish and plate. It is not possible
to lift ink, as you can with some watercolours. If a disaster
occurs, it is not the end of the world. You can learn both
to embrace the unpredictability of the ink medium and
learn from your errors. If you have actioned my advice and
worked in parallel you will have one or two other half-
inished worksNext month: Using ink to develop
your mark-making skills
Kim Whitby
teaches for groups, societies,
organisations and individuals.
She was a inalist in Sky Arts
Landscape Artist of the Year as
a wildcard entrant, whilst using
ink, and has won Pintar Rapido.
Kim is tutoring workshops at
Art Academy London and St
Barbe Museum and Art Gallery,
Lymington. Follow her on
Instagram @kimwhitbyart
and see kimwhitby.com