Drawing with ink

Drawing with ink is the most exciting drawing material in my view. Although pencil and charcoal have certain attributes and characteristics, drawing with ink is so much more demanding and at the same time versatile. The very nature of the ink as a substance and the multiple ways that it can be applied as a medium gives it a wider spectrum of use both in traditional and experimental ways.

Personally, I have found that working with ink can help correct our weaknesses and enhance our strengths. Artists tend to develop traits and these tend to fall into two types. We can be artists who are very much controlled by our intellect or thinking processes, and use our materials accordingly. Alternatively, we can function by allowing the processes to take us to a visual conclusion that is furnished by a more emotional, expressive approach.

Each one of these ways of working has to have a bit of the other in it to bring about some form of aesthetic order. Ink is a medium that allows these innate qualities to flourish.

** Put your ballpoint pen to shame with these tips.