Ink, when used as a drawing medium, can allow for various drawing techniques depending on the instrument of application. The nib is the most common, but canes, brushes, or conventional writing pens are also effective in creating ink drawings. Depending on which is used, results vary from the most meticulous and detailed examples of workmanship to spontaneous, unexpected effects produced by marks, washes, and experimentation with line.
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Portrait of Joseph Roulin. The J. Paul Getty Museum.
When you are drawing with any pen, nib, or reed pen, the line is very fine and permanent. Drawing with ink does not allow for tentative strokes or marks to be later rubbed out or covered up with thicker, more definitive lines, as other drawing media permit. In short, ink strokes require greater confidence. Continual practice and an understanding of the possibilities and limitations of the medium are the only ways to achieve successful pen and ink drawings.
Nibs and reed pens are the instruments most commonly used in ink drawing.
Lithographic pen with replaceable ink cartridge specially designed for artistic drawing.
The fineness of the nib stroke typically calls for more line density. Single, isolated lines can appear too faint. Therefore, to build up a drawing, the artist must employ hatching and overlaying of lines or look for graphic resources close to calligraphy: figures inscribed with a flourish, arabesques, filigree, etc. This second option allows the fantasy and inventiveness of the artists to come into play, since, as well as creating the shadows and particular representations of the subject, they engage themselves in an authentic creation of linear shapes. These resources are essential, because they reinforce and enrich a manner of drawing that otherwise might remain at the level of crudely schematic forms.
Various steel nibs for artistic drawing, accompanied by their characteristic strokes.
Ink is one of the traditional mediums of artistic drawing. In the East, its origin goes back to around 600 B. C. In the West, the ancient Romans used India ink, and, since that time, it has been used continuously as a writing and drawing medium. Today, we can buy varieties of both Western and Eastern inks. In addition, modern manufacturers have introduced a complete range of pigmented colored inks.
Samples of various black and colored inks. From top to bottom: India ink, sepia ink, black ink for lithographic pens, blue ink for lithographic pens, pigmented ink, ink made of synthetic dyes, and ink of plant colorants.
Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641), The Burial. The J. Paul Getty Museum.
India ink is the most ancient of black inks. In fact, its origin is Chinese, made from a process that mixes coal, soot, oil, and gelatin. It is water-soluble and, as such, its concentration can be graduated. Traditional India ink comes in solid tablets that can be diluted by rubbing them with some water on an inkstand made of a special stone. Although the name of India ink is used for all black inks, most conventional black inks are really complex chemical compounds. Most artists use black ink in its liquid form, which is manufactured with carbon and shellack and is not water soluble when dry.
Original India ink comes in solid bars that produce liquid ink when rubbed with water on an inkstand made of a special black, finely textured stone.
India ink is water-soluble. Once dry, it is indelible and insoluble.
COLORED INK
In its composition, colored ink is the same as (or very similar to) black ink, but uses dyes instead of black pigment, as pigments of other colors make its consistency irregular and remove transparency from ink marks. Colors are indelible, but not permanent, meaning they become discolored after very long exposure to light.
Modern writing inks, invented for loading fountain pens, were developed in the first decades of the twentieth century, with the goal of finding quickly drying, alcohol-based substances that did not require blotting paper. Calligraphic inks incorporate pigments (dark) or plant dyes (transparent) and are sold in a variety of colors.
Writing ink is available in inkpots that can be applied to a drawing with a brush.
Metal nibs did not appear until the end of the eighteenth century. Until then, artists used goose feathers as drawing instruments. Classic metal nibs are sold individually and insert into plastic or wood penholders. A large number of models are available: flat, pointed, and round nibs, as well as those with special calligraphy tips.
Nib hatching is based on parallel strokes that surround the limits marked by the lines of the drawing, and gives the drawing a particular, characteristic look.
The graphic interest of nib drawings lies in the wealth and variety of strokes, details, and filigree that bring the subject to life, such as this one by Gabriel Martín.
Hatching is the fundamental (and sometimes sole) resource of the artist to create effects of chiaroscuro and volume. Drawing by Gabriel Martín.
There are a great variety of nibs, but those best suited for drawing have a straight or oval-shaped tip, since curved, flat, or cut ones are designed for calligraphic work. The nib’s stroke only varies slightly in thickness. By exerting pressure on it, the tip opens and lines become a bit thicker. These small variations are enough to give emphasis and character to a drawing.
Naturally, nib drawing requires constant reloading from the inkpot and controlling the amount of ink loaded.
These three samples show different varieties of hatching with a nib. Note the variations in density in the three drawings.
Nib hatching refers to those simple highlights or shading of shapes, based on brief parallel nib-strokes. Crosshatching is the accumulation of ordered strokes in different directions superimposed on each other to create shaded areas. Drawings created with a nib allows for a richness of detail and graphic density. The visual grace and density of nib drawings lies in the skillful distribution of lines against the white of the paper.
Reed pens, beveled at one end, are good instruments for ink drawing. The most sophisticated ones have a metal tongue on the inside that assists ink reloading.
Reed pen strokes vary in thickness depending on which side of the cane’s tip touches the paper. When held like a fountain pen, the cane’s stroke is thick and continuous, varying according to the pressure exerted. If placed on its side, the stroke of the tip becomes finer and is less stable, since any wavering means that more of the side comes into contact with the paper, increasing the thickness of the stroke. Reed pens hold much less ink than nibs, requiring constant dabs in the inkpot.
The reed pen may look like a rather crude medium, but when used correctly gives delicate and lively results.
Reed pen strokes must be quick and simple: their immediacy, not accuracy, is the aim.
Reed pens give their best results in drawings with thick shadows and a multitude of linear details.
This drawing shows how reed pens used with sepia ink in various water solutions can create a wide range of effects. The two value squares next to the drawing clearly show the range of values in this drawing.
Hatching with the reed pen loaded with little ink.
Hatching achieved with the reed pen loaded with undiluted ink.
Hatching created with ink diluted in water, using little ink in the quill nib (almost dry).
Hatching created by diluted ink and an ink-laden reed pen.
The combination of fine and thick strokes can alternate with “blurred” strokes and lines that cover a small area and are faded due to scarcity of ink. Whereas nibs suddenly stop drawing when their ink load ends, reed pens leave a steadily diminishing line that artists can take advantage of for certain effects. These effects can be achieved by emptying the ink onto another piece of paper until the brush mark reaches the desired effect. These factors make reed pen drawing one of the most versatile ink drawing methods available today. It is a technique that lends itself to a contemporary aesthetic.
Reed pen strokes vary slightly in thickness, but may vary greatly in intensity, depending on how much ink the pen carries.
In Far Eastern art, brushes are used more as a drawing medium than as a painting medium. The modern brush-and-ink drawing practiced today by so many Western artists comes from Eastern influence. It is a drawing tool especially well suited for sketches and observations from nature. The freshness of the final result compensates for all the imprecision of the brushstroke. Brush drawings have an incomparable immediacy and spontaneity almost impossible to achieve with any other medium.
Brushes offer a highly variable stroke, from a very fine line achieved with the tip of the hairs to thick marks made by crushing the ink-laden brush on the paper.
Working on creased papers with little ink on the brush results in a textured effect known as “dry brush.”
This work recalls an Eastern aesthetic. Japanese wash painting is, in fact, brush drawing, where the shape of the ink’s mark expresses everything.
The flexibility of a brush results in strokes that are irregular. Drawing with a brush demands an efficient method. It does not allow for correction, and an accumulation of lines confuses and spoils the result. The artist must be able to develop the subject rapidly, looking for direct expression and suggestion of forms in just a few brushstrokes.
Ink applied to a brush is ideal for sketches from nature: it is the most immediate and rapid of all drawing mediums. Work by Vicenç Ballestar.
THE WASH
Ink can be replaced by a watercolor for very harmonious drawings in which warmer nuances soften the pure graphic contrast of black and white. Sepia wash is one of the traditional techniques of ink drawing that is as close to painting as drawing is.
If you have not had much practice with a brush, it’s best to sketch the drawing in pencil beforehand to ensure the correct underlying structure and composition. Once you begin applying the ink, the process must be rapid and unwavering. The greater or lesser density of the medium used determines the fluidity of the brushstrokes. A very fluid ink diluted in water can create shapes quickly by linking brushstrokes together, working in a cursive style, and reducing shapes to spontaneous flourishes. Denser inks produce drier strokes and a less fluid construction of form.
The lines of this work were resolved with a nib. The interiors of the shapes used sepia ink highly diluted in water.
Papers for drawing with a nib can’t be very rough, as this would make it difficult to create solid lines. Surfaces can’t be soft or spongy either, as this would make the surface too absorbent and the edges of a pen line bleed and lose their crispness. Glossy paper is the best for this technique. When using a reed pen, the paper must have a textured surface, as this type of pen functions best by rubbing across the paper rather than quickly gliding over it.
Smooth, coated papers are the most suitable for nib or reed pen drawing, since these kinds of pens can glide over it easily. There are sketchpads especially designed for drawing with a nib. In general, any smooth and nonabsorbent paper is suitable for nib or reed pen drawing.
Paper for conventional nib drawing must be coated or fine-grained, so as not to hinder the free flow of the ink on the support.
For sketches, studies, and observations from nature, or even for much more elaborate nib drawings, ordinary writing paper is a suitable support.
When working with washes and pen nibs, it’s best to use heavier weight paper (at least 140 lbs.). You can use watercolor paper, provided that its surface is not excessively rough.
This is a very light paper manufactured with long, rice-based fibers, which makes it highly absorbent and appropriate for drawing with a brush. It is the traditional paper of Japanese washes, and, due to its growing popularity in the West, is increasingly sold in art supply stores as individual pieces or in sketchbooks.
Very fine-grained watercolor papers give excellent results in ink drawing with both nib and brush. Because of their high absorbency, finishes are very matte and reinforce the strong graphic presence of black ink. If you work with single-color washes, these papers increase the tonal register of drawings because of their particular ability to accept marks and strokes that are highly diluted in water.
Sketchbook of very delicate Japanese paper, specially manufactured to use as a support for works using a wash technique in India ink known as sumi-e.
Low-quality papers are useful for rapid, gesture drawing with a brush, as long as they are not too absorbent or porous.
Using reed pens with textured papers can give interesting results.