http://www.painters-online.co.uk artistMarch 2020 61
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Techniques with ink
In the first in a new series of three articles, Kim Whitby urges you
to try working with black ink as a way of honing your watercolour skills
without the added pressure of working with colour
M
uch of my work is on paper.
I tend to think of it as wet
drawing. Some is colour and
some is tonal. I use brushes
with ink as you would with watercolour,
but also use some drawing materials. I
am interested in mark making, in tone
and often pattern.
There are two significant differences
between my ink and watercolour
work. Firstly, when working in black
ink there is no colour mixing or
matching, no running out of a colour or
trying to remember how a colour was
mixed. Secondly, and this is personal
preference, I use blotting paper with
my ink – blotting wet work aids drying
and I am an impatient worker. It is not
necessary to do this, but it is something
I especially like. Otherwise the skills
and techniques are interchangeable
and, consequently, using ink can
be a really helpful way to develop
watercolour skills.
When using black ink one tone
becomes a key focus. I find all works on
paper that have a strong tonal element
appealing (right). Working in black ink
is a simple, speedy and accessible
way to work tonally. It helps students
to develop an understanding of tone,
which I find they either have a natural
understanding of, or find it quite a
challenge. By restricting yourself to just
working in black ink, the focus can be
on the application methods and tonal
quality of the work – without worrying
about colour mixing. Removing one
of the component parts of the wet-
work-on-paper process helps free the
student to master the other two skills.
For my introductory exercise to
working in ink (pages 62–63), I am
reproducing a small study of fish. It has
a strong tonal contrast between the
plate and background, allows for some
freer working on the body of the fish
where the fluidity of the water can be
exploited and introduces some of theworking allows for drying time or for
any personal discoveries to be applied
on the next piece, and mistakes will
feel less important because there’s the
option to do it differently or better on
the second or third picture.
I do not stretch my paper, preferring
to buy a heavier paper instead. If you
regularly find your paper buckles, try a
heavier one, or stretch it.p John Singer Sargent In a Medici Villa, 1906, translucent watercolor and touches of opaque
watercolour with graphite underdrawing, 214 3 142in (54 3 36.5cm).
Courtesy of Brooklyn Museum, the collection of American art; image in public domain
I ind I am most attracted to watercolours with a wide tonal range. Using a photograph ilter it is
easy to process an image such as this well-known work by Sargent from colour into monotone,
which immediately demonstrates that this colour image is also highly tonal. It has very dark
areas as well as the lightest possible tones, made by the white of the paper which here has
been left untouched. Tonality can be easily explored and developed with ink, and this increased
awareness can also be later revisited with watercolour work. Anyone with a smart phone with
ilters can try this new way of seeing any artworktighter ways I control a wet medium.
It is also small. My original was done
as a time lapse in a sketchbook, which
you can see in my Instagram highlights.
Please use my idea as a starting point
for something similar. I recommend
working from first-hand observation
and generally encourage students to
work on several small pieces of the
same thing at the same time. Parallel