Mixed Media: A Wash of Color and a Bit of Ink

It has been two months since I posted and I was not doing a very good job posting at that time.

There are so many projects we have completed at school that I know would be of interest to others.  Hopefully, soon I will get some more postings up.

Pen & Ink with a Wash of Color

Some projects are just more fun than others.  This project has been so much fun I am thinking I must do it again. 
Not only is the pen & ink application just a step  above drawing which is less intimidating to people who are comfortable with toning with pencil but the wash of color over the inked drawing is a great introduction to the application of watercolor paint.  I likened it to coloring in a color book when I was a child. The whole composition worked up very quickly.  

 For you art teachers out there this project has several objectives:create a strong focal point, create movement to the focal point and of course, experiment with various techniques in pen & ink and watercolor, mixing colors, etc. 

During inking process, starting to work on the values.

• I started this piece by cutting illustration board or watercolor paper so that the paper is width of the paper is twice the length of it (12 x 24).  
• Using a ruler select four areas that are to remain white.  As you can see in the finished painting the four areas left white are  in various sizes, shapes and locations so as not to make the composition symmetrical.  I also,was careful not to make a predictable cross out of the remaining positive shape.  
• Decide placement of the focal point and movement to the focal point.
• Drawing from life, I drew in flowers and leaves in pencil.
• Once the drawing was finished I used a technical pen of permanent black ink to hatch in the drawing. (Before starting test to be sure it will not run when you add a wash of watercolor over it.  Some pens are going to be water soluble and will run. I used Zig permanent markers in nib size .05.  There are various brands to choose from.) 



Masking tape can be used to keep watercolor from flowing over into white areas.

• Starting with the negative space I washed in the color, keeping my white areas clean.  

So that will do it for today.  

I hope you will find this post an inspiration to get out of your rut and try something different.  Last year at this time I challenged myself to do a painting a day.  I kept that up for a good many weeks before a busy life crashed my party.  I hope to get the momentum back soon! 

One of my students commented this week, "I love it that you have your project just like I have mine and we are all working on our projects at the same time." 

I agree!