How to Use India Ink: A Draw-Along

hey I'm just Lenny a lark and welcome to my draw long tutorial for India Inc today we'll be learning about the tools and techniques that will help you use India ink like a pro this October in this drawing tutorial I will teach you a skill and when you see this icon you'll know it's safe to pause the video and give it a try yourself before we get started we need to assemble some tools you'll need some India ink a palette for mixing your ink make sure you have a cup of water for washing out your brushes you'll need some paint brushes try to grab a variety of brushes to try out you'll also need a pen and nib to practice your fine line work and then a rag for cleaning your nibs and paintbrushes and lastly you'll need a pipette go ahead and assemble those tools now you'll also need to download and print this practice worksheet I made for us you can download it from the description below for a dollar if enough of you buy this one dollar worksheet I can pay off my fancy private art school student loans one day or maybe even buy a car that doesn't sound like the apocalypse so when I try to start it or I mean you could just draw it of your own but either way I recommend that you print or draw it on cardstock just buy the worksheet while we're talking about paper types I did a quick paper comparison for drawing purposes I favored the cardstock just because it held up really well it's the cheapest option all the edges were crisp without bleeding and mostly because the smooth finish and lack of a tooth allowed the nib to flow unhindered by a textured surface for more painterly techniques the watercolor papers were amazing I really enjoyed the texture of the handmade watercolor paper for painting it allowed me the most dynamic blending if you want a hybrid I recommend hot pressed watercolor paper as it is smooth but very absorbent or you could go with mixed media paper which is usually my go-to paper but I totally forgot mine at home my bad also the vellum bled and the rice paper was a complete joke but I couldn't stop myself India Inc is a liquid medium from China commonly used for calligraphy it's basically set suspended in water India Inc is widely used in illustration and known for being used in comic book art but most people think of India Inc as the black ink that we use in our artists pens or even in tattoos but you can also get a wide array of colored and metallic colored inks as well when using India ink it is important to know if your ink is waterproof or not you can get it both ways but if you're using India ink for art it's most helpful to have waterproof ink so that you can layer your drawings and paintings without previous layers bleeding into each other I recommend waterproof India ink especially if you're gonna use it with watercolors notice that while I'm working with the ink it does bleed because it hasn't dried yet but once the ink sets up future layers will not create bleeding bleeding here are a few things that I love about India ink when undiluted most India inks are opaque totally untransparent but when you add water they become transparent this means you have the best of both worlds at your fingertips I also love how quickly they dry when I'm using watercolor half the time I'm waiting around watching paint dry literally but with ink there's less wait time for drying another thing that I love about India ink is that it is super versatile it's great for drawing fine lines details and textures using pens nibs and paint brushes but it's also great for painterly effects used to create value and depth because of its versatile qualities India ink is an excellent medium for beginning artists to start experimenting with painting techniques there are all different kinds of India ink out there speedball Higgins and dr. Martin are very popular brands i order blick ink in bulk from Dick Blick for the classroom but I pour it in their condiment bottle with an attached lid so it doesn't get lost and the ink doesn't dry out it's important to have an easy way to pour the ink out because these big giants just don't cut it and they drew it very easily and this ink is permanent and will not come out of your clothes and when you inevitably get it on your hands it takes a week or two to wash out much like getting dye on your skin all right let's go onto your pallets in class we're gonna use these cheap plastic pallets as you can see they don't clean very easily but they're cheap and I like having extra Wells where I can mix different grayscale values I also enjoy using meat tray pallets for ink the enamel coating makes the ink easy to clean and mix in a very organic way these pallets allow you to jump in and constantly change your values up as there are no defined wells to keep your mixture separate make sure that your pallet is totally dry so that you don't dilute your ink and fill one well up with India ink I like to draw a design around my ink wells so that I can later remember which well has my pure ink in it do that now next you'll use the pipette to fill the four wells next to your ink to use your pipette squeeze the top which gets all the air out of the tube place the tip in your water and then release the pressure sucking water into the pipette then move your pipette over to your pallet and squeeze all of the water into one of your wells if you don't have a pipette you could use a straw stealing the water inside by placing your finger on the top of the straw go ahead you're also gonna need some brushes so let's talk brushes because India ink has a wet water-based medium it's best to use brushes with coarser bristles that are much more absorbent I find that any kind of watercolor brush works great and I especially like camel hair brushes I also highly recommend bamboo calligraphy brushes good ones are a bit expensive but they seriously last forever and are made free I even like the cheap ones you can get like two for a dollar in Chinatown it's important to try different sizes and styles of brushes so you can know what you like but make sure you have both large and small brushes the small brushes are good for fine details while the large brushes will help you put a large amount of ink down quickly at let's talk about how to use a brush there are three parts of a brush that you need to know about the handle that's a long part at the end you grip there's also the metal barrel that connects the bristles to the handle and then the bristles themselves but there is one more very important unseen and easily forgotten part of the paint brush and that is the glue or adhesive that's used to keep the hairs in place this is super important to know because it is the most vulnerable part of your brush if you cram paint and ink down that barrel you will have to do some extreme cleaning to get it out if you even can and all that pigment medium and water will start to deteriorate your adhesive which means that your bristles will start to fall out one by one and once one bristle falls out it's only a matter of time before they all come out if you ever have a rope bristle that won't stay in shape and in the right place don't pull it out it's best to use a sharp pair of scissors to trim that hair back that way it's not in your way but all the bristles still stay firmly situated in your tightly packed barrel when dipping your brushes is best to only dip the bottom three-quarters of the brush into the ink this will help keep your barrel and brushes safe from deteriorating when washing out your brushes don't leave your brush in the water when switching brushes while working rinse out your brush really well then Pat it dry with your rag and then let it rest sideways to dry okay now that we know how to use our brushes let's try out a few techniques we'll start at the top of the worksheet mixing and painting solid grayscale values in the first box labeled black we will use undiluted India ink to get a pure black it's important to squeeze any water out of your bristles to get the darkest black possible go ahead and do that now we have five boxes left of which the last labeled white will remain white that leaves us four boxes to fill with different values each getting lighter than the last notice now that I have ink in all my Wells it is impossible to visually tell them all apart once you've got ink in them that's why I marked my ink and then mix my values in order from darkest to lightest starting with the well next to my ink we'll start by mixing the darkest value in the well closest to the Indian I take a brush full of India ink and swirl it around in the water of the second well I then test my dark value on a scrap piece of paper just to be sure we want it dark but not black like the ink if your value is too dark add some water if it's too light at a wee bit more ink once you're satisfied with your value paint it in the next box go ahead onto the next box to mix a slightly lighter value I use a clean brush and dip it in the dark value I just mixed I do that instead of using the pure ink so that it's already diluted and then I mix that brush full into the third well I check the value on scrap paper again and then paint it into the third box go ahead I do the same thing to mix the last two values loading up a clean brush full of the previously mixed value and swirl it into the next well making slightly lighter values as I go go ahead and mix and paint the last two values and now take a moment to reflect on my values I asked myself do any of my values look the same is it hard to tell them apart and I think that my last two values look pretty similar so I use a technique called lift out while the ink is still wet I dry my brush with my rag and then lift out some of the ink on the lightest value making it slightly lighter still I can also add more layers of ink to the boxes I want to make darker take a moment and tweak your values to make sure they're clearly defined and different do that now now we'll practice wet-on-wet techniques I start by using clean-ish water to draw a box on my paper I then load my brush with one of my lighter values and add that value to my water box the ink bleeds everywhere the paper is wet I then dry my brush on my rag load it with India ink and then draw a line through my still wet ink the start of the line work didn't touch the wet ink is left fine crisp and thin but as my line moves through the wet India ink it bleeds out in a cool tie-dye effect go ahead and try that out our next technique is a wash a wash is a wet on wet technique where you lay down a thin consistent layer of ink we'll start by adding a layer of water and then adding a light value to it but notice that in areas where the water pulls the ink is darker so I lift up any excess water making the value more consistent be aware that this technique will also lighten your value do that now up next is a gradated wash a gradated wash is good for creating realistic value changes and creating the illusion of death I start by using some of my dirty water to draw a short box this time I then use my darkest ink value to paint below and then up into that water area the water and ink mix and blend together making a graded wash you can even add a pop of pure ink to building things up try that now onto some wet on dry with wet on dry we will be loading up a wet brush with different values and then painting on dried paper you can layer or mix in water at will notice how this technique looks very watery but because the paper is dry the edges of my brush marks are still crisp go ahead and give that a whirl dry on dry is more of a drawing technique than a painting technique in that it tends to be a more controlled and precise way of applying ink and is usually used for fine details such as lines and texture you'll start by using your rag to dry out your paintbrush and then load it with a value paint on some crisp shapes and lines around this area make sure to draw with different ink values and try different shapes and lines while your areas are still wet you can add water ink to those splotches as well go ahead let's continue practicing with some brush lines load up your brush with ink and then practice using your brush in different ways to get different line weights notice that when you hold your brush up high and only allow the tip to touch the paper your line is thin but when you press down lower the same brush will give you a much thicker line try moving your brush up and down as you drop creating a very blind try Wiggly lines and even some cross hatching go ahead all right the next set of tools is your pet and nib there are two parts to a calligraphy or dip pen the pen holder which is the handle and the nib which is the metal tip that holds and distributes the ink while you glided across your paper nips come in all shapes and sizes which can make drawing with them lots of fun flexible pen point nibs have a well or hole on their backs where the ink wells up as you use your ink you will notice that the well is constantly empty when using these nibs you'll need to have enough ink to dip your nib deep enough to fill your well when using your palates you'll have to fill it pretty full to be able to dip the pen you can also get and use what's called broad edge newbs these nibs are extra fancy and I only let them out to students I trust to clean the nibs really really well these nibs have an extra metal layered design the cool thing about these nibs isn't just their variety of tips and widths but you can use the tips to load up the ink making it easier to use less ink on your pallets there are a few important things to know about nibs the first is that the amount of pressure you apply will dictate the line width pretty cool because you can alter it press hard press light back and forth but don't Hulk out on these little nibs because they can Bend out of shape very easily making it impossible to load and use the inkwell properly you should also know that the angle and direction you hold and move your pen can make it either glide like butter or snag like pantyhose from the nineties before we got all those simple thick materials try all different directions and angles of moving the pen across your paper and while you're trying things out notice which directions make you cringe and then don't repeat those movements take note of which angles and directions give you the most control and allow you to glide across the paper easily and use those ones I have two styles of pen holder both work by sliding the nib into the circle at the base of the pen holder the great one has a ball that you can see comes out and gets loose not the handiest design so be careful not to lose that little ball and just so you know in future I won't be ordering more of these they just aren't a great design when inserting the nib only insert it far enough that it fits firmly inside and not beyond if you shove that nib so far down that hole it's not coming out unless you get a pair of pliers this could happen at any time to any of us and if your nib gets stuck in your pen holder don't be a lazy baby coward come find me and I'll give you some pliers you can take care of it it'll be all right when using the pliers to remove a nib try to gingerly clamp the pliers to the nib in such a way that the pliers don't completely decimate the nib try to keep ink and water out of that nib hole as well this will help it stay clean and clear of grit rust and blockage it's also very important to take your nibs out of your pen holders after every use so that they don't get sealed in there and also for pity's sake please remember that these are pointy pieces of metal so use caution when pulling them out if you stab yourself while pulling a nib out and bleed all over my nib now I've got to throw that $0.24 nib away because you bled all over it you think we got that kind of extra cash just lying around this is public school people plus you go around stabbing yourself with inky nib tips you're gonna get the world's lamest tattoo so use caution to clean your nib dip it into the water and then use a dry rag to rub away the ink and water pen and nibs are great for drawing fine details and textures in your artwork you can also hatch and stipple to create value and depth to your image let's go ahead and take these nibs out for a night on the town load your nib into your pen handle and then fill the well with ink by swirling the well below the ink surface remember it's important that if you don't have enough ink your well won't fill position your nib tip onto the paper and then draw your name and class period at the top notice that certain movements and directions for your letters feel more natural and other directions feel like your nib will get snagged or start to bend try to get a handle on the smoother movements and use those as you go along do that now now let's try out some more line work try sets of parallel lines from left to right and then from right to left try moving them from top to bottom and then from bottom to top try wiggling lines lines with varying pressure producing thick thin thick thin lines try hatching and scribbling try it all now let's layer our wash from above by painting a circle using the same value we used before go ahead go ahead and check out your grayscale values at this point now that they're dry do they still look well-defined or do you need to add subtle layers go ahead and adjust any grayscale that needs to be darker all right now that we've tried all of the paint early and drawing techniques for India ink let's go on to the fun part in the glass globe draw an object or scene that you think would be interesting inside of it and then give that scene a name go ahead and enjoy now we're just gonna draw one more overlapping shape on your wash with the exact same value as the last two layers notice how the same value when doubled up is twice as dark in the area where this third layer overlaps the first two it will be even darker do that now and now we're done with our India ink practice worksheet it was worth $1 right like and subscribe to let me know if you found this tutorial helpful or useful ring the bell below if you want to be notified the next time I give out a tutorial and leave a comment with any questions I can help you with thanks and happy day [Music]

Channel: Miss Linnea Lark

Views: 34,662

Rating: 4.9506173 out of 5

Keywords: India Ink, Drawing Tutorial, Ink Tutorial, Draw A Long, How to, How to draw, Ink, Black Ink, Ink Painting, Pen and Nib, Calligraphy, Calligraphy Pen, Paintbrush, Inktober

Id: jo0nh-64eD8

Length: 20min 22sec (1222 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 26 2020