How to Draw with India Ink
Used for painting, drawing or even calligraphy, Indian ink is an ink with intense, almost indelible pigments and has a very versatile use.
THE ORIGINS OF CHINESE INK
Its name seems to indicate that it comes from China, but in fact its origins are indefinable and very ancient; English speakers call it “India ink” which means “Indian ink”, while the Dutch call it “East Indian ink”. It cannot be said whether it comes from one country or the other, more generally it comes from Asia. Evidence of its use dates back to between 5000 and 4000 BC.
Today, we know it by reputation for the art of calligraphy, inking drawings, traditional Asian paintings...
THE DIFFERENT INKS
Originally created as black, this ink is now also available in other colours: red, blue, etc. It can be purchased in liquid form in bottles, cartridges or jars. Originally it was in the form of a stick to be rubbed on an ink stone, then the residue had to be mixed with water.
The recipe for Chinese ink varies slightly from region to region and has partly remained secret, but it is generally composed of a pigment (carbon black, formerly called lampblack), a binder/lacquer (derived from a natural resin) and vegetable oil.
Used pure, without dilution in water, India ink has a beautiful glossy lacquered effect once the drawing is dry.
It is used:
- in calligraphy;
- for inking drawings, comics, technical drawing;
- to paint, with a soft, round brush, using pure ink or as a wash;
- on fabric, for printing and drawing on natural materials.
It is necessary to choose a suitable medium for the technique (supporting ink density, moisture level, etc.). For drawing, you can start using Indian ink on paper with a grammage of about 100g.
SOME TIPS BEFORE YOU START YOUR DRAWING
Before you start drawing, here are some precautions: Indian ink is almost indelible, so I recommend that you protect your working surface perfectly and wear clothes that you don't mind getting stained! Small accidents can happen quickly and it is easy to get your fingers dirty when drawing with some of the tools dedicated to this ink. You can cover your work surface with newspaper sheets, work on a large wooden board or a cutting board. As for the ink, I personally put the cans containing it in a metal box to facilitate cleaning afterwards and to avoid any problems if the ink pot is spilled.
Finally, keep some paper towels close by in case of an accident or to wipe your fingers if needed.
For my part, I put some Indian ink mixed with a little water in the jar (which you can see on the left of the picture above) to achieve the desired dilution, because my ink is a few years old and has dried out a bit and is more compact.
MATERIALS FOR DRAWING WITH INDIAN INK
We can work with Chinese ink using a multitude of tools that provide various effects and shapes:
- The reed pen: a flexible and natural tool that must be regularly dipped in ink because it has no reservoir;
- The brush (when using this tool, take care not to dip all the bristles of the brush in the ink, but only dip halfway in to protect and prolong the life of the tool) For use with Chinese ink, there are very specific shapes and suitable bristles: they are generally round, flexible and soft. The width depends on its use;
- The pen (insert gdba link): natural or metal with pen holder to attach;
- The felt-tip pen (put in a gdba link): Today, many felt-tip pens are available with longer or shorter, more or less flexible tips. These are convenient for drawing outdoors and it is more difficult to stain with them;
- The ruling pen: a tool designed for calligraphy.
For the more clumsy or those who might feel uncomfortable with this ink, it is possible to draw with specific markers or pens, such as Sakura's Pigma Micron, which use Indian ink. However, you do not get the almost lacquered finish that you get with liquid ink and I find the intensity of the black is slightly reduced. To experience Chinese ink in a fun and enjoyable way, I highly recommend using metallic nibs. They have small reservoirs, which allow the nib to be dipped into the inkwell less frequently.
Here are the tools I own, from top to bottom:
- a wooden pen holder along with various metal nibs;
- a Japanese marker filled with a Chinese ink cartridge;
- a Micro Sakura pen;
- a glass crystal pen.
I also have several nibs, be careful to take the shape most suitable for your use. Those with a broad or bayonet-shaped tip are used to create thick and thin lines in calligraphy:
Those with a fine tip can be used for drawing and calligraphy, while those with a round tip are preferred for drawing, like the one in my pen holder, or like the glass pen holder:
DRAWING WITH A PEN
In the image below, I show you the different line renderings, including: horizontal lines, vertical lines, circles, a wavy line, small dots, and leaves.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT MATERIAL
• Metal nib (1): it is thin with a rounded tip, allowing you to vary the thickness with a little pressure. The ink reservoir is discrete and holds ink well. It grips the paper slightly.
• Felt tip (2): it is somewhat thick and pointed, with long, soft bristles, it is ideal for a slightly more painterly effect and allows for easy inking of medium-sized surfaces. Refillable with ink cartridges.
• Micron Sakura (3) : practical, lightweight, reliable, good lifespan but with a less authentic rendering of India ink. Not refillable.
• Metal nib (4): extremely fine, pleasant in both drawing and calligraphy but has a very light stroke. You can create beautiful effects in drawing by pressing on its tip. Its reservoir is very small.
• Metallic quill for calligraphy (5): not suitable for drawing. Has a large reservoir.
• Glass dip pen (6): its round tip allows for a completely consistent stroke, with no variation in thickness. The dip pen is heavy and glides easily over the paper for drawing. It is very pleasant to use.
If you choose to draw with a nib, you must insert it using the small metal notches in the centre of the nib holder, in the middle or on the edges. The metal nibs are long enough to be easily fitted into the nib holder.
Small detail: as far as I'm concerned, I find a lacquered wooden pen holder more comfortable than a metal one (albeit messier) because it grips the hand better and the wood absorbs the ink that sometimes flows, so that it does not slip between the fingers.
Then, you can on a paper try crosshatching and lines to get used to the tool, its reservoir, and the ink.
SOME CHINESE INK DRAWING TECHNIQUES
For this entire tutorial, I'm using pen number 1 and marker number 2.
Based on the drawing of a tree leaf, I'm going to show you some drawing techniques suitable for this medium. A perfect little exercise to get started! Prepare your ink pots and let's go :)
1/ I use my pen with a continuous line and pressure. I simplify by using almost abstract shapes for an elegant rendering.
2/ I make variations between a continuous line and small dots or dashes. This technique has an aesthetic appearance and is lighter than the first. The small dots can be placed to express a change in thickness, light or simply to create a pleasant variation.
3/ I make medium-sized, regular, and clean hatchings. The result is very graphic and allows for adding values with contrast variations.
4/ I draw all the lines that make up my subject, for a very detailed rendering, ideal for a study, technical or scientific drawing.
5/ I focus on contrasts and the simplification of forms. Indian ink is ideal because it is a very intense black.
6/ I go straight to the point keeping only the shape. It is a useful technique for small elements or for creating distant elements in a design.
7/ I mix different techniques. Adopt the drawing style that you like!
8/ I draw with dots. This can help achieve a gradient effect if you don't want to create a wash with a brush.
ANOTHER EXERCISE
If I want to draw a bush, here are different renders.
On the first line, with the pen:
A/ I mixed small arches and abstract shapes to evoke leaves.
B/ I specifically draw the shape of the leaves.
C/ I only draw the outlines of the bush.
On the second line, with the reservoir marker, more effects can be achieved with the same tool:
D/ I blend curves and hollow leaf shapes with light felt pressure.
E/ I create black masses with a strong pressure of the felt-tip pen.
F/ I make small vertical lines applying medium pressure to mimic the shape of the leaves.
CREATING A CHINESE INK DRAWING, STEP BY STEP
For this drawing, I used a picture of a beautiful path in a rural village, with a little girl and her grandmother walking away from the camera in the centre of the picture.
I can no longer find the reference photo, but here is the finished drawing so that you can understand the composition which is in portrait format:
1/ To start, I will draw from the bottom up, starting with the foreground and being careful to let my strokes dry somewhat between each step. Here is the bottom of the drawing:
I draw herbs and pebbles with a simple line. (We can ink and enhance the contrasts later. This way, there's less chance of smudging the drawing with your hand by rubbing over areas where the ink might still be wet.)
2 / I draw a somewhat undulating path using the technique of alternating dashes and dots because I don't want lines that sharply cut the drawing, but something more subtle and less marked to show that the path is the same.
3/ With the marker, I quickly create foliage on both sides of the path. I alternate some leaves drawn more precisely with the pen to suggest a different density of shrubs on the far left.
4/ Above the second line, I draw a little girl walking with her grandmother. Here I mix techniques: black masses for the little girl's thin legs which I fill in with pen, oblique hatching to draw her hair, then long lines for the folds of the old lady's trousers and a contrasting scarf on her head.
I also place their shadows on the ground with thin, diluted Chinese ink strokes so that they are discreet.
5/ I draw the baseline of the small house behind them.
6/ A closer look at this area: a small, low house surrounded by various foliage climbing its walls, and larger trees on its left.
There is also another house barely visible on the far left of the drawing and an electric pole in front. I use a combination of lines and white spaces for the roofs and the stone bricks.
For the foliage, I make lots of leaves around the contour of the tree, but at the heart of the foliage, the lines become more sparse and I just add small textures or dots here and there.
7/ On the right side of the design, I add wooden fences, topped by bushes and then more electric poles. Notice how I change the texture of each element to distinguish them well. Since we cannot distinguish them by colour, the shape and direction of the stroke are important.
8/ I take the marker and add a tree with an invisible trunk in the foreground whose leaves are backlit. I draw the branches with the fine point, then, pressing on the marker with medium pressure, I form the leaves.
Using a thick but precise felt-tip pen like this one helps a lot to draw these organic shapes effortlessly.
9/ I complete the upper part of the drawing: I draw the electric wires meeting at the poles and the tall houses almost hidden by a dense vegetation of trees. As these elements are in the background, I mostly use the technique of drawing only the outline of the shapes. There are no strong contrasts.
Here's how it looks on my A4 sheet:
ADD CONTRAST TO THE DRAWING
10/ Finally, I adjust the contrasts of the drawing.
I had already started to do this in the lower part of the drawing by inking the shadow of the stones with the marker, but now I want to make the differences between the planes more understandable, so I am also darkening the tall grass in the lower part of the drawing.
Here is our finished drawing! I hope you enjoyed drawing with India ink. I personally find the glide of the nib on paper really pleasant, and the intensity of the black of this particular ink.
Thank you for following this tutorial
Illustrator and writer: Vincyane