As the third generation artist in my family, I've been making artwork since I could crawl across a sheet of paper with a crayon in my hand. While I've always been a close-detailed painter with watercolor and acrylic, it wasn't until I discovered ink that I realized what medium I truly loved to use. The extreme detail and shading I had always enjoyed in graphite, and the ability to play with the contrasting darks and lights of a composition, can be immortalized in ink that will not smear when touched or fade over time. I love drawing hair, fur and scales on any type of creature, real or made-up, with or without a human companion. Though I always start with the eyes, and attempt to make them look like reflective glass.
I use acid free watercolor paper, which means that the paper will never yellow, and the nubbed texture of the watercolor paper allows the finished ink drawing to look more hirsute and realistic than if I had used smooth bristol paper. The pen I use is a rapidograph, which holds a refillable canister of black India ink. The ink flow can be controlled by the speed in which the pen is used, the pressure of the iron tip on the paper and how long it rests there, and especially by the angle of the tip on the paper. It took time to learn how to use, but it will never run down or fray like a felt-tipped marker or one that cannot be refilled. The ink itself is waterproof, does not fade in the sunlight and dries almost instantly.
Let me introduce you to my four-legged family members. Overheard is Viggo, the calico queen of the house. In the banner at the top of the page you will see Mewp, the black and white tuxedo cat whom she has resented from the day he has stepped paw in the house, and Jack, a black and brown whippet mix, who terrorizes both of them with glee, so that there are now "cat shelves" going up high on the walls where the felines can hide and gaze down upon him with disdain.
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| The basic supplies I start with when I begin an ink drawing. |
