


We recommend that you clean your pens at least once a month and don’t allow inked pens to sit unused for more than a few days.

Keep in mind that most waterproof fountain pen inks are pigment based and can clog pens if allowed to dry inside them. Some fountain pen inks display beautiful natural shading that can add visual interest to your art. Because they are refillable, you can choose your pen and ink separately to build a drawing tool that fits your tastes. Watercolor art made with Platinum Carbon Black and Rohrer & Klingner sketchINK Fountain Pen Inks.įountain pens require a little more care than disposable pens, but they are far more customizable. Planner Stickers, Pens, Stamps, and More.Japanese Stationery: What's the Big Deal?.The Difference Between Ballpoint, Gel, and Rollerball Pens.These are all common supplies, which can be found in most art supply stores in North America, and easily on the internet. It sometimes picks up a bit of the colour from the watercolour over which it is applied, but since it’s acrylic, a second application can be applied over the previous layer, which has effectively sealed in the watercolour underneath. This is for when I need to apply white solidly over a painting, like for stars or snow or highlights. One other ink that I use a lot is the Liquitex acrylic ink in white (haven’t tried the other colours, but I understand they are good). The FW acrylic ink can also be used to paint with, as with watercolour it handles a bit differently, but with some practice it’s easy to get used to. All of these are waterproof and lightfast. And one of my favourite tools is the Pentel brush pen, which has a real brush tip fed by cartridges of ink which is similar to India ink. I also use several varieties of liquid ink, with various tools: Good old black India ink and FW Acrylic inks, which come in beautiful colours I use with dip pens or brush. But then you probably wouldn’t want to use watercolour on those papers anyway! Pitt pens and markers also hold up to the waterproof rule, but I find their tips break down faster than the Pigmas. I can watercolour over them immediately on most papers - but be aware that slicker papers with a lot of clay coating (papers made for markers fall into this category) may delay drying time. Hi there! I use Pigma Micron pens for most of my ink work - they are permanent, lightfast, and come in a good range of different sizes (and even “brush”-tips!), as well as colours (but I use mostly black). A simple example would be the comic book style. The colour-in-the-lines method: This involves making a solid, sometimes quite detailed, pen and ink drawing, and then treating the outlined spaces as fields to be coloured in solidly.And of course there are as many styles as there are artists - this list is just a rough categorization to get you started thinking about all the ways these two mediums can combine. Here are a few examples that you can look for in books, in galleries, and all around you in advertising, illustrations, packaging, and more. There are many styles of combining the two media, and experimenting will help you find your own style.

These can also be used instead of watercolour, but be aware that they don’t lift out like watercolour does if you decide you want an area lighter. If your ink is waterproof (test it first!!!), you can work back and forth between the ink and the watercolour.īesides black inks, there are also beautiful coloured inks that can blend well with watercolour again, just make sure they are waterproof. think about how the pen and ink technique you choose will interact with the look of the watercolour passage to which you are adding it. Any pen and ink technique can be used: crosshatching, stippling, scribbles, patterns, contour lines, etc. Pen and Ink can be added to watercolour after the paper is dry to enhance details, sharpen lines, create textures, and bring up contrasts. Updates on that after I actually work up the courage to do a whole long project that way! Usually I like to do the ink work first and then colour inside the lines with watercolour, but I’m considering being daring for one of my current projects and starting with the watercolour, then adding the ink lines afterwards, with a light touch, as needed. It’s time for another dive into my vast pile of workshop handouts! I have been using this technique a lot lately, as it is my favourite method of colouring comics.
