I've been continuing my ink drawings and trying to find the right balance between definition getting a variety of light and texture. I think my new system which is a hybrid of my first ideas works quite well. Instead of drawing with definite black lines to shape the figure I draw lines of varying tone in dip pen to define the figure but still give certain softness and depth. I then use a brush like before to add tone like usual.

Here is an example. While I don't think the ink work itself is as strong as in my other two pieces I do believe it succeeds in combining the positives of my previous two styles and is the technique I will be largely using from now on.


















I've also been trying to figure out if I can integrate colour into my inking style. Here is an attempt with gouache. While I think it looks alright I do think it could be improved upon so that the colour works better with the ink rather than diminishing its properties.