http://www.painters-online.co.uk JUNE 2017 51
t
made by Noodlers and one of my
favourites is the colour, kiowa pecan; it
comes in a large 3oz bottle and goes a
long way. When wetted this ink creates
nice sepia washes and will work with
the Rotring art pen. I refill the cartridges
with a syringe. Not only can a good line
drawing be created, but also by using
a water-filled brush pen, shadows and
other tones are quickly created. The
demonstration over the page was
completed using these materials.
Next month we will look at how
ink-drawing techniques can be adapted
to combine with other media. LP
Mill Street, St Osyth, FW Acrylic Ink on 180gsm cartridge paper, 8x11in. (20.5x28cm)
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tThornham, Faber-Castell Pitt Artist pen on Bristol plate surface, 10x15in. (25.5x38cm)
later. With practice the amount of pencil
employed can be reduced until you are
able to begin drawing confidently
without any pencil pre-work.
The view of Thornham(below right)
was completed entirely with a Faber-
Castell Pitt Artist pen (size F). To achieve
depth, the line thickness varies
throughout the drawing, from very thin
lines for the distant trees to areas where
I reinforced the line on the near wall.
It’s often difficult to know how much
detail to add. I try not to draw every
brick and tile, but instead hint at more
detail in the nearer buildings. As the
structures recede down the street, roof
tiles can be represented with just a few
parallel lines descending from ridge tiles
to the gutters. If the rooftops were slate,
I may draw just a couple of lines parallel
to the ridge tiles.
I represent shade by drawing a series
of fine parallel lines, the closer the lines
are together, the darker the tone. For the
shadows, it’s easier to draw a pencil line
where the shadow ends and draw up to
it. I don’t often use cross-hatching unless
I want to achieve a very dark part of the
drawing.
Brickwork detail is often just a hint,
as drawing entire courses of bricks can
look overworked and wrong. For the
chimneys in this scene, just a few bricks
were added to describe the construction.
The quoins on the corners of the
buildings were quite distinctive so I
placed these then added a few dots and
circles to denote the flint walls. For the
trees on the right, I added the main
structure then developed them further by
adding branches and twigs. I drew the
bush that lies halfway down the street
by applying lots of dots onto the paper
to denote foliage.
Water-soluble inks
To add an extra dimension, water-soluble
inks can be used. I often combine these
with a cartridge steel nib pen, such as
a Rotring SF art pen. Care must be taken
not to use a waterproof ink in these
instruments as they will quickly block
up and become unusable.
There are a number of water-soluble
inks available, usually classed as writing
or calligraphy inks. I like using the inks
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