Ever wondered if you could you mix different ink brands and at the same time mix standard, shimmer and sheen inks together and create a fabulous range of unique hues for illustration and painting?
I randomly chose Herbin Rouge Hematite 1670, Diamine Inkvent Gold Star, Robert Oster Blue Water Ice and Nick Stewart Twilight Black to mix up as a colour wheel to see what might transpire. One is a shimmer, one a shimmer with sheen, one a standard with sheen and the other a standard ink.
The shimmer becomes part of the secondary colours too!
Using only these four inks I thought I would test my findings by painting a portrait of the jay that frequents our back garden. I have painted this in Rhodia Touch Pen and Inkwash book.
As you can see, it works! And works really well. And there’s even some gold shimmer in the plumage!
So, if you only have a small mixed collection of colours, brands and ink types, so long as you use a red/magenta, a blue/cyan and a yellow, you can create a great range of colours. Then select a decent black or dark grey that will help give you great shadows and depth of tone. So much from so little!
AND HEY! If you’re interested to know more about how to use fountain pen inks in more creative ways – whether it’s simply to observe their chromatic behaviours, or, to recreate one of my swatch cards, or, to learn how to use them in watercolour painting, illustration and calligraphy, why not check out my online course ?
FOUNTAIN PEN INK ART 