An Artist's Guide To Ink & Inking 

Ah, thank you! I really appreciate that 🙏😊

I know what you mean, it made my head spin too. As per video, the Platinum desk pen with Platinum carbon ink is a brilliant fountain pen for drawing, and is totally lightfast.

Ah, thank you!

Ah, thank you! It was a lot of work, so nice to hear!

Ah, thank you!

Thanks Marie! I do talk about Platinum Carbon ink I think, don’t I? it’s been a while since I watched it! It’s what lives in my fountain pens. It’s the same type as de’Atramentis I think - fountain pen friendly micro pigment ink. It does come in colours as well though which is unusual (I definitely didn’t cover that ) - they look really cool!

Thank Debbie! ☺I'm planning an Indian ink wash tutorial soon

Thanks! My next video is going to be on inkwash technique - keep an eye out for it!

Thanks Miso. Yeah I properly disappeared down the rabbit hole with that ink video! I bought the white table in my studio many years ago - it’s the ‘Architetto’ by Bieffe. It’s an amazing table - so well built I’ll probably still be using it when I’m an old man, but I don’t think you can buy them anymore unfortunately. I use it for general work, but not for drawing. I prefer drawing and painting upright. I struggle with perspective / distortion when working flat, since one end of the paper is so much close to my eye than the other. I use a Richeson Best easel for painting, which I thoroughly recommend, mine’s brilliant. For drawing and ink / gouache painting etc I use a tabletop easel - nothing fancy, just a wooden one by Jacksons, holding a ply drawing board, but I might upgrade it at some point.

Before doing this video it wasn’t something I’d really thought about, but as I was doing my research the boundaries between ink and paint just seemed to get smaller and smaller. As I say in the video there is a historical separation by application - paint is for paintings ie with brushes, and ink is for drawing and printing, ie with pens and printmaking equipment. But there is significant overlap where this distinction breaks down. I use Indian ink with brushes for inkwash, and the technique is almost identical to using watercolour. The only difference between watercolour paint and Indian ink is the type of binder - gum arabic vs shellac. I use gouache - technically a paint, in pens for calligraphy. Paint markers are pens that you draw with using acrylic paint. I do screen printing - to make screen printing ‘ink’ you take acrylic paint and add screenprinting medium (basically a retarder and extender), and then it ‘becomes’ ink. Acrylic ink is basically just acrylic paint with added thinning medium. My point isn’t that ‘ink’ and ‘paint’ can be used interchangeably - the history of painting with oil paints and printmaking with printing inks is real and definable, but there are points of overlap where it isn’t. And when you break it down to chemistry, the differences are smaller still.

@@WillJBailey Thank you for that long and comprehensive reply, much appreciated! I also typed too soon, hadn't watched the second half where you indeed mention this when talking about pigment inks.

Oh no! Yes you're right, I just checked and Platinum don't make the Carbon Pen anymore. They've replaced it with a new model which doesn't look as good. I wish I'd bought more now... Will have to research a replacement 😕

Thank you! Wishing you all the best 😊