Technique: Pen and Paint

This is a technique I use to get some more dimension out of pen drawings. First, I make a drawing on bristol paper with soluble ink. Insoluble ink can also be used for details you want preserved through the second step, which is to wash the ink with water. Similar to watercolor pencils, I paint with a paintbrush carefully but quickly, as the ink soaks into the paper quickly once diluted and will not come free again with a second wash. Sometimes I stop here if it looks good, but sometimes the wash flattens the picture. That's where step three comes in. Diluted white paint adds highlights and brings out the texture where it might have been lost in the wash. It looks blue here and that is an effect of the ink; different pens and paints might produce different results. It helps to experiment before diving into a big drawing.