#watercolor over the graphite and ink

[tomoleary]

Frank Miller (pencil), Tom Palmer (ink) and Steve Oliff (color) Amazing Spider-Man Annual #14 page 37 Lucius Dilby (1980) Source

[askatriangleandastar]

It's a June!

@unexpectedbrickattack it's ya boy! Tried different mediums for each and it was fun! Hope to get better at his hair and try different expressions next time ^^)

[kafkasapartment]

The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun, 1805. William Blake (1757-1827). Pen and ink with watercolor over graphite.

[horses-in-art-history]

John Frederick Herring, Sr., Five Horses near a Brook, 1850, Yale Center for British Art.

Watercolor, with pen, in gray ink, over graphite on moderately thick, smooth, cream, wove paper.

(Picture source for Five Horses near a Brook)

[victusinveritas]

In 1913 in Leipzig, during a foggy night, a cage of lions from a circus caravan was hit by a trolley. Eight lions escaped and wandered into the streets. Artist Walton Ford interprets this event here, saying, “I wanted a decidedly undramatic moment, to show the curiosity and timid confusion of these lost lionesses, which don��t know where to go or what to do, and don’t know what they’re seeing. I imagined one of the hats that had been left behind: the lions approach it like a strange object, like a turtle or something.”

___

Walton Ford (b. 1960)

Study 2 for “Leipzig,” 2018

Watercolor, gouache, and ink over graphite

The Morgan Library & Museum

[anticmiscellaney]

as an aspiring comic artist looking to move from graphite and oil painting to more ink/inkwash/watercolor like you- could you explain your process a bit? any tips for beginners? i love your art and you're at the top of my inspiration list right now :,)

Thank you! I've been using ink and watercolour for a long time, and ink/inkwash is definitely my favourite medium. A key tip for getting started would be to know the different kinds of ink available because they all work differently. The three main ones are:

Dye-based ink - these have their uses, but they are not lightfast at all (fade quickly) and they act kinda weird. The colours are very vibrant, but they tend to dry very fast, not be waterproof (tricky for layering), and stain the paper. I use very few dye-based inks. Some ink brands look like they have a big colour range, but when you look at the boxes half of them say "dye based" - don't buy Higgins those.

Acrylic ink - think of this as very liquid acrylic paint. There are a lot of fancy options, many specialty kinds (metallics, pearls, neons), but they aren't going to give you the transparent inkwash look. It's good for drawing opaque lines over colour, and you can dilute it with water for a wash, but it gets chalky. Waterproof may vary (test it first), and it usually has a matte finish. White acrylic ink is well worth having as you can detail over solid black or tint it with coloured pigmented inks, and god knows I love using neons, but I treat acrylic ink like "effects" ink. It’s not my main drawing ink. Daler Rowney is good and widely available (pigment-based is not the same as pigmented ink, this is still acrylic ink), they have a few lines at different prices. Liquitex is decent.

Pigmented/India ink - this is my favourite kind of ink and probably what you want! Pigmented ink dilutes well (it’s a transparent medium like watercolour) and often has a glossier finish depending on shellac content, and it will say on the bottle if it’s waterproof (test that first). It’s good for brush or nib, good for layering, works nicely with watercolour and other types of ink, can be mixed to make new colours/tints...she’s got it all. If you’re in Australia, Art Spectrum is great, I stock up every time I’m back there. If you’re elsewhere, I recommend Speedball for black ink (Blick Black Cat in the US is good). Dr Martins Bombay India Ink has great colours and they’re usually affordable.

There are many brands and everyone has their preferences, and over time you will find your own. I have a mix of different types and brands, though probably fewer than you’d think. Get a small bottle in one or two colours and play around, see if you like it before investing in a set. Don’t buy fountain pen ink or Rapidograph ink for nib/brush, those are best suited to being used in specific types of pens.

The nibs I use are Hunt #512s. #102s (called crow quills) are popular and I like them too, but they are very sharp and will rip up your paper, and can be a little too flexible and hard to control. The #512 is a good all-rounder with a smooth line capable of variation, and I think they’re a solid choice for a beginner. These nibs and holders are cheap and widely available. I don’t buy expensive watercolour brushes because ink will wreck them a lot faster than watercolour will. What you want to look for is the fibers holding a point - the brush should not have bedhead.

My only real advice to someone looking to try watercolours is to not buy the cheapest shittiest kind. You know from oil painting that all paints are not created equal and bad paint is going to frustrate you, especially when you’re starting out. I started with one of these twelve years ago and I still use it in conjunction with other sets I’ve built myself, I just refill the pans from (better quality) tubes when they get low. They last a long time. So do bottles of ink.

I’d like to do a process post, but I’m not sure what would be interesting or helpful to you, and I use ink/watercolour/gouache in a lot of different ways. If there’s a specific piece you liked the look of, I’m happy to demonstrate that method, or I can just go through my favourite approach.

As for comics...the best advice I can give you is pretty general.

Anatomy is a rewarding life-long study, but what really counts for narrative art, over technical accuracy, is GESTURE, EXPRESSION, and BODY LANGUAGE. Look at people. Look at how they move, look at their faces, look at their hands, listen to how they talk. In comics, you are the director and the actors.

Environments are a bonus character in your story and can add a lot of depth and atmosphere! Understanding perspective will make using them a lot easier.

Do not start with your graphic novel idea, start with a short story (under eight pages) and finish it. Finish it. Fucking finish it. Then do some more, getting longer over time. The best idea you never do is worth less to your progress than the worst finished piece.

There aren’t a lot of books that dig into the nuts and bolts of sequential storytelling for artists in a way I like. Filmmaking books are handy, but they’re dealing in moving images and don’t have to worry about page design. There are some good “how to make comics” books (the two Will Esiner did are my favourites), but as a genre it can be very hit or miss. I always look at what the writer/artist has made to see if I want to listen to their instructions - if you hate their art and think the graphic novel they made sucks, don’t buy their how-to book.

Bob McLeod, one of my teachers, gave us all this list:

These rules aren’t inflexible, but they cover the big issues.

For actual storytelling advice, the best one I have read was Directing The Story by Francis Glebas. It’s aimed at storyboard artists, which I was, but it discusses visual storytelling and explains how to approach it and the reasoning behind choices in a way that is useful for anyone making sequential art.

[brainman1987]

Art dump of what I've drawn (so far) in my new sketchbook!!

(and another Enodi, this time to test how my markers look on this paper)

I like this sketchbook! It doesn't bleed even after several layers of marker, although the paper doesn't enjoy my going over it again and again with marker. It doesn't like pencil or graphite though so this one will be mostly pen and marker and such. I wanna try it with watercolor or gouache if I can get my hands on it at some point! I also want to try applying ink straight to the paper to see how well that turn out as well

Over all, 7.5/10 could be better, but definitely good

[bitegore]

if you want to get better at smoothly shading in pencil without smudging your graphite (which to me just never looks very good unless you're really good at it, whereas carefully-layered light shading with a pencil rarely looks half as amateurish even when it is measurably less well-done so i'd imagine it also looks that way to some others) the best advice i have is to use a ballpoint pen, like a normal office pen that you can get some gradation out of because the ink doesn't flow- don't use one of those fancy wet ink bic ones or whatever, and use it like it's your pencil for a few weeks and then come back to see what kind of control you have over your pencil lines, darkness, coverage, etc after. i was working with a mediocre ballpoint earlier (didn't want to ruin my good inks on the gritty as hell watercolors i use) and was reminded of how fast my ability to shade in pencil picked up when i ran out of pencils to doodle with during part of my sophomore year in high school and started doing ballpoint drawings the same way i did my pencil ones

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

HER JOURNEY -- HER STORY -- HERO GIRL.

PIC INFO: Resolution at 1943x2573 -- Spotlight on a Steve Mannion piece titled "Hero Girl," c. 2019.

"A lovely and dangerous looking sci-fi female, as rendered in ink and watercolor over graphite on bright white 9" x 12" Bristol board."

-- HERITAGE AUCTIONS (Comics, Comic Art, & Animation)

Source: https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/illustrations/a/121952-19126.s.

[arthistoryanimalia]

#WatercolorWednesday :

John Leech (English, 1817-1864) Back View of the Elephant at the Regent’s Park Zoological Gardens, n.d. Watercolor & pen & brown ink, over graphite, on cream wove paper, 10.9 × 8.7 cm (4 5/16 × 3 7/16 in.) The Art Institute of Chicago 1940.891.6

[mithclearwell]

Just out of curiouse, do you have any tips for beginner artists? I would really appreciate one

Of course! ^-^ I'm more than happy to help!

Let's see...without the ability to have a conversation, I'm not sure where exactly you are in skill level, so I guess I'll start with some basic quality-of-life tips.

General:

You don't have to go to college to get good at art. I didn't go to art school!

Watch youtube videos from good artists, or those you admire!

What kind of art do you ultimately want to produce? This isn't an instance of "I can only pick one thing", it's more like...each type of art requires different skills, and if you know ahead of time what you want to do FIRST, you can narrow down what you have to learn.

learn proper sketching and use of circles and other shapes to build the figure, don't just jump in making the final lines right away! It's not a "cheat", it's proper technique. It's "caring about your work".

Same for references. Google up some images of what you want to draw and look at them while you draw your own picture. It's not only okay, it's what professionals do. You need to train your EYE as well as your hand.

It's okay to mimic styles you like! But be aware that each artist may stretch or squish or exaggerate proportions to fit what they personally like to see. This is why it's IMPERATIVE that you learn realism alongside any manga style you want to try. Once you learn where the eyes sit on the face, the different facial planes and what bones they relate to, and different sizes and builds for the face, you can then manga them up to any style you want!

For real paper:

Use a protector sheet, or wear a glove on your drawing hand. You want to make sure you don't get graphite or colored pencil on the side of your hand, and then smear it on your drawing. Placing a piece of paper under your hand will protect your work!

Don't touch your art with your fingertips. Fingertips have oil and gunk on them, and will smudge your drawing. (If you're working with charcoal, this could work to your advantage! But you're probably not using charcoal. It's messy and usually limited to college art students.)

Get the right tools! You can buy a small eraser set in the art section of Wal-Mart for like $3 -- it has a polymer eraser, a smaller white eraser, and the all-important KNEADED ERASER. This thing can be squished and torn apart and it'll pick up graphite like a champ! Do not bother with hard pink erasers, they're trash.

You don't need special paper to learn. I used to draw on the backs of my dad's extra math photocopy papers. Copy paper is smooth and not too fussy and I like it. "Sketch pads" usually have a rougher grain, and I hate the way the paper feels. Also there's a lot of ugly white spots when you try to shade or use colored pencils. Only use that if you're keeping a cute little book or using pastel crayons or something (or it's all you have). Don't fuss over it too much while you're learning. It won't make much difference until you're ready to specialize!

Blending stumps are cool and even pros use them.

Get a small electric pencil sharpener. They're less than $10 at places like Dollar General, and those stores are literally everywhere.

If you get a manual sharpener in an "art set", that's fine, too, but it hurts my hand to do it manually. I like the ones that have little covers.

It DOES matter what kind of ink pen you use. Gel pens will smear. Most markers are washable, and you better believe they will run at the first hint of moisture. India Ink also smears and runs with water. I recommend Sakura Micron pens, Zig Mangaka pens, or my favorite --- the Kuretaki Bimoji felt tip brush pen. You can get all that on Amazon, and it's like $6. I got the superfine tip.

LET YOUR INK DRY BEFORE YOU PUT MARKERS OR WATERCOLOR OR ANYTHING AT ALL OVER IT. It takes maybe 20 minutes.

If you don't plan to color it, you CAN draw with a ball point pen and it'll look just fine.

Do a tiny little water streak test with any markers you plan to use with watercolor. Just brush a tiny bit of water over the mark after it's dry to see if it bleeds. I use that bleed to my advantage sometimes, but you just gotta be aware of what's what.

Digital:

You can buy a small, cheap tablet from HUION for less than $40. MAKE THE INVESTMENT. IT'S WORTH IT.

Clip Studio Paint is EXCELLENT. Well worth the $50-$60 price tag. I think you can try it before you buy it, too. It gives you access to the Asset Store -- which is the single greatest artistic sharing tool I have EVER seen, and I've used SAI for ...probably a decade... I've used dozens of custom brushes and even made my own, and I just can't even believe what is available with CSP. Do yourself a favor and get it.

"But I can't use a tablet! I can't look at a screen while I draw!" Yes you can. YES you can. Yes you can, if you'll just try it. "but I tried once and it didn't work" Well YEAH, if you only tried a handful of times, OF COURSE it didn't work. Do you know what practice is? HUION screen tablets are over $300!!!!! Do you have that kind of disposable income lyin around? (plz donate some to me if you do lololjk =u=; )

Start saving a folder full of refs.

Ask people to tell you what to draw. Let them request something for free. This makes you draw things you wouldn't normally draw, and there is INCREDIBLE value in stepping outside of your comfort zone. You will level up in no time.

Whew...that covers most of the basics, I think. If you have something specific you want me to go into more detail on, please let me know! I love helping ;w;

[dogandcatcomics]

Selections from the exhibit "Walton Ford: Birds and Beasts of the Studio" at the Morgan Library in New York City, USA @themorganlibrary. First image is Walton Ford (USA, 1960-), Study for Augury, 2018, watercolor, gouache, and ink over graphite. Second image is Walton Ford, Zürichsee, 2015, watercolor, gouache, and ink. Third image is William Nicholson (British, 1872-1949). Coursing, 1897, india ink over black chalk on paper prepared with a brown wash. Fourth image is Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein (German, 1751-1829). Mastiff in a Violent Landscape, c. 1800, watercolor, gouache, and pen and brown ink. Last image are cat sculptures at exterior of the building. I appreciate the canine and feline representation.

[kafkasapartment]

On the Sands, 1881. Winslow Homer. Watercolor and gouache with pen and black ink over graphite

[flowerstarpatch]

Can you make a step-by-step shading tutorial? It would be REALLY helpful.

Of course!! This will be a longer post, with a blend of text and images, so buckle in.

Shading can be difficult, so I mentally break it down from step to step. There are a few things to remember, which I'll state below.

There is also the medium that you're using to keep in mind of. Dry mediums (graphite, charcoal, pens, etc) work best with some shading techniques while wet mediums (watercolor, oil, markers, pastels, etc) are best with others. Digital is unique and honestly depends on the person and their preferences. <- keep in mind this overall point is dependent on the artist and some people like to use wet medium shading techniques for dry mediums (or vice versa).

All the works I have posted now have been with graphite or digital. At the moment I'm struggling with my digital style, so we will focus on graphite instead.

Before I even begin to explain my steps, there are some stylistic shading preferences to go over.

I'm a huge fan of hatching and cross-hatching, but they're not the only ways to shade in dry mediums or with ink. Above are two different images showing different ways to shade, one on a sphere and one as a gradient value scale.

I know many people might get annoyed by it, but I find making 5-value scales extremely helpful. It shows you which values you struggle with and could potentially practice with more. I always struggle with going dark enough (or hitting the 5th value) and it can be seen in my value scales before I practiced going darker.

////

Step-by-Step

Reference: Sebastian Stan behind the scenes in 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'

---

Step 1: Sketch. Establish forms & features. Lines are loose and angular, with minimal curved lines.

Step 2: Hatch in mid-tones lightly & loosely. (Sorry for blurry photo)

Step 3: Hatch in more detail in denser parts of the face & light areas' shading.

Step 4: Hatch in gradual curves to the face & block in clothing's shadows and darkest points. (Both photos)

Step 5: Finish hatching overall, add/adjust shading and lines around small or delicate features, remove hatching where unneeded

^ isn't the final product, i probably will take a kneaded eraser to it and adjust further. it also doesn't 100% match the reference due to stylistic choices & lack of some skill.

////

Well, that's as much as I can think to include that is my process or is necessary for shading in my eyes. Let me know if you'd like me to explain a step in more detail, or if something didn't make sense. Hope this helped!

drawn 11/4/2023 - instagram • patreon • carrd

[zakubabbles]

I still need to find a way to make money. Traditional commissions are iffy since I'm running out of markers and have no way of replacing them. So colored work is kinda out the window. I do not feel skilled enough to offer watercolor, acrylic, oil, or color pencil work. Could relearn graphite pencil and inking?

Digital is easier. Don't know how much longer that will last either, but should probably take advantage of it while I still can.

But not fully colored and rendered pieces.

That takes up way too much time and not monetarily worth it. Also, exhausting both mentally and physically.

Maybe just sketch commissions? That could work either traditional or digital. Less expensive too. Easier to produce.

Though I haven't done that in a long long time and am out of practice.

"But they're sketches, what's so hard about that?"

LISTEN. It's very difficult for me to draw fast, decently, and not over do it, or worse, under do it.

Doll face-ups? I don't think I'm up for doll commissions right now. I want to be up for it, but am not. :/

god i'm so tired i barely have the energy to stay awake

[violet-talisman-art]

Cicada Boi

Acrylic on canvas 5”x7”

I hadn’t painted with oil or acrylic since, I think, 2021. I’ve mostly been drawing with graphite and colored pencil, although I have worked with inks and watercolors some. It was truly a joy to pick up my paints and brushes again. I had forgotten how much I enjoy it. Until I painted this, I’ve been working only on small thumbnails with mechanical pencil this year. Originally, I was doing old prompts from Drawlloweens of the past and that’s where the idea for this came from. Since this is the year of the return of brood XIX (and XIII, but not in my area), I felt it was an appropriate subject for a small painting. I’ll have more paintings to post in the future, but wanted to get this guy out while the cicadas were here. This is also the first post in, I think over a year, that is recent and not from old sketchbooks. Enjoy!Prints of my artwork available here: https://www.redbubble.com/people/HelenBaq/shop

Follow me: 

instagram.com/violet_talisman_art

www.threads.net/@violet_talisman_art

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https://bsky.app/profile/vt-art.bsky.social tiktok.com/@violettalismanart