Ink-Speriment Phail

[Sailor Kenshin]

Inspired by Yazeh's tests of pigmented inks, I wanted to get back to ink and watercolor sketching. But I don't currently own pigmented inks (except for Noodler's Evil Green Gator).

I wanted a dark but not black ink, maybe a brown or blue black. I did have a sample of Iroshizuku Yama Guri, which is supposed to be water-resistant ink. Here come the results.







When I painted 'neatly,' the watercolor washes almost worked. And I tried on other papers with the same results.

Well…? Which ink should I get? Should I stick with samples? I will probably not be doing a lot of this watercolor and ink sketching. I once had Noodler's Bad Black Moccasin. It was, if anything, more Evil than the Gator. So?…..

Thanks for looking, and for any suggestions.

[Yazeh]

I love your experiments/ sketches / drawings....

My way of doing washes is to brush water enough (normally 3 brush strokes) then dip the nib on the water surface, this way I create a sort of circular ink wave, and I can dilute the ink, afterwards with a brush even more, if I want it more saturated I would add a drop....
Inks I have used successfully are Platinum Carbon Black (cartridge) in a Platinum pocket pen. Carbon black is not a black black but it works fine and is waterproof and dries fast. I really like Polar Brown as the colour reminds me of IG ink sketches after 2 hundred years, from Black to brown. Polar Brown is best used with a Japanese Ef (I use it in a Plaisir). It's a very wet ink and stains transparent pens (though I have successfully removed the stains).
Other good inks are De Atramentis Document Sepia. You can also test either the greys/browns from the Write and Draw series

[Jon Szanto]

Either Plat Carbon Black or Sailor Kiwa-guro should suit your needs. You can't expect an ink to do something it's not formulated to do.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Thanks! Plat Carbon and DA Doc Sepia seem like starting points. And maybe also that Chameleon ink...

[Jaguarish]

I like Platinum Lavender Black and Platinum Sepia Black. The effect is different from waterproof black: the color creates a wash, while the black part remains in the line. I also do the same with similar inks such as the kwz iron gall inks. I have NOT enjoyed pigment inks much (the color is too flat) and waterproof black inks seem to gum up my pens, so if I want a waterproof dark line I use a dark gray such as Noodlers Lexington Gray. In general for water resistance most grey inks are very good.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Here we are again.

After getting orange ink all over my fingers, AND Noodler's Bad Green Gator (invisible crack in pen section discovered too late, BGG does not wash off anything, no way, nohow), I thought, 'I have a dozen permanent drawing felt-tips, so why bother with fountain pens? Isn't that pretentious of me?'

Yes. They're permanent, as seen here. But NOT comfortable to use at all. The Papermate Inkjoy is just the color I wanted, but it lifts (with interesting effects). The 'watercolors' are more of a gouache, so not completely transparent, but I grabbed what was handy.




Carbon Black carts have arrived. Selecting a pen for them. Will also perform a re-selection of a pen for BGG. It is, as they say, Bad, but Invincible.

[Yazeh]

I love your cute drawings.i would go with a preppy/ plaisir Ef

[Sailor Kenshin]

Thanks, Yazeh! I have a Preppy in my Glassful of Contenders.

[Sailor Kenshin]

The rabbit hole has been entered. But we are not yet exactly in Wonderland.

I put the Green Gator in a Five Below pen and it's not great in there. But I want to use up the cartridge and then don the Hazmat suit to dispose of the cart. 😸

I used actual flowers etc. as a source this time (trying for a slightlu more realistic feel). The drawing will later be tinted with washes.



One day I will load one of those Platinum Black carts into a Preppy and start testing all over again.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Thanks! I finally dragged out my watercolors, added a generic seaweed, and this is the result.



I may need a different approach because the watercolors seem to defeat or fight the detailed drawing.

[calamus]

Nice work!

[calamus]

DeAtramentis Document inks are often used for an initial drawing before applying watercolor. It won't run even a little, and being nanoparticle pigment it stays in suspension due to Brownian motion in a fluid that is not water. It doesn't clog pens and doesn't require the same maintenance that normal pigmented inks do. It comes in a variety of colors including dark blue. All the DeA document inks can be mixed together, so if you wanted, say, a very dark red or green, you could mix red with black to suit your taste. If you really want to get fancy, you can buy bottles of cyan ("turquoise"), magenta ("fuscia"), yellow, black, and white, and mix any color you like, including any tint or shade thereof. You can look up the cmyk breakdown online of any color too, and use that to work from.