My friend Lucy, founding member of AGNES, arranged the visit.  AGNES encourages ecologically sustainable practise within the arts community.  Lucy is currently reaching out to colleges, and reckons that visits to a paint factory like Cranfield would be a great way for students to get to understand materials, and to learn to respect and conserve them.

Empty tubes for oil paint, awaiting filling

Introductions

Cranfield colour is in Cwmbran in Wales, and after introductions and a cup of tea we were given an excellent lecture by the managing director of Cranfield, Michael Craine.  This oil paint and printing inks manufacturer has been in the same family for three generations, and I have rarely seen a more friendly company.  Everyone we met seemed pleased to see Michael, and to love their jobs.  The atmosphere was great.

Cranfield’s range of oil colours

Cranfield no longer makes acrylics because of the paint’s need for fungicides and pesticides, and because they are, in effect, single use plastics.  We also heard how logos (for example, one showing the company was environmentally responsible or carbon neutral) can be misused, mostly on imported art materials.

Then Michael introduced us to the three “M”s are Mixing, Milling, and Matching.

The Three “M”s: Mixing: The pigments: Carbon blacks

Mixing occurs between the pigment and a vehicle, in this case linseed oil.  The vehicle wets the pigment, changing it from a powder to a paint.

Pigments come from three sources.  The first are Carbon blacks.  These have always been, and are still, made from soot.  Burning different things creates smoke and the soot is deposited then collected from chimneys that run sideways to the furnace.  Soot is fluffy and absorbent, so readily mixes with the vehicle to make paint.  Carbon black from a furnace is used to make the lovely rich black etching ink, Black 1810.  The slightly paler “Bone black” is made from burnt bone.

Mid Black etching ink tins awaiting their labels

The Three “M”s: Mixing: The pigments: Earth pigments

The second source of pigments are Earth pigments, collected from soils.  These include ochres, umbers, and siennas; and occur naturally in the earth.  However, there is variability in seams of earth and other trace elements occur with the pigment.  They are also gritty, which wears down the milling machines.  One trace element is iron which speeds up drying.  Interestingly, the only watercolours I’ve ever had which have cracked have been Yellow ochres, probably as a result of this fast drying.

The Three “M”s: Mixing: The pigments: Organic and Synthetics

The final source of pigments is organic and synthetic pigments.  Synthetics replace pigments which may be very expensive, or difficult to obtain for political reasons.  For example, most of the lapis lazuli that can be made into Ultramarine is found in Afghanistan.  They are also cheaper and more stable than some organic pigments, and are often less prone to fading.  Interestingly, these synthetics are made by the same companies who make pharmaceuticals, and with the same levels of care.  Cranfield source their synthetics from the EU.

A note here on Cadmiums.  Some yellow paints are made with Cadmium sulfide, an inert substance which can cause no damage to human health.  None are made with the metal Cadmium which is carcinogenic and highly toxic.  This means I don’t need to worry about licking my paint brush after all!

Cranfield’s range of printmaking inks

Mixing: The Vehicle

Cranfield mix their inks and paints with linseed, (also known as flax) Linum usitatissimum.  This wonder plant (and wonder mixing vehicle) is not only a beautiful blue, and very good for health if eaten; it can also be woven into linen, and provides the perfect oil to mix with pigment.  The roughage and mucilage is removed, and after being boiled without oxygen the oil is ready for use.  It is imported in big oil drums to Cranfield, stacked high in the warehouse.

Chocolate absorbs odour and can be used to test linseed oil.  If the chocolate smells ok, the linseed is ok.  If it smells rancid and sour, then the linseed is probably off which will affect the paint mixture.  These testing jars are on the desk of Paul Lee, the technical director.

The Three “M”s: Milling

Once you’ve mixed your colours, you mill them.  This involves grinding them into tiny, evenly distributed particles.  Clumping leads to uneven colour, and further clumping, and also means the paint struggles to dry.

The mix is forced through microscopically thin gaps between three rollers, moving at different speeds.  In truth, the product is pulled apart to evenly distribute the pigment in the matrix mix, rather than being squashed.  The pressure is 1000 psi / 70 cm squared.

Pink printing ink being milled through the three milling wheels

Paint can be manufactured using a cheaper process known as “bead milling”,  crushed by loads of ball bearings.  It produces a less consistent mix with lots of flocculation (lumps). and is not a technique used by Cranfield.

The Three “M”s: Matching

This was fascinating to learn about.  How do you produce a paint which is consistently the same colour?

Michael taught us about Metamrism, “a scientific phenomenon the describes when two colours appear to match under one light source, but not another” (Wikipedia).  So something that looks olive in one light may look brown,  bright green, or pinkish in another.  The standard light in which colours are assessed is something called “North sky” (also known as D65), similar to a diffuse light given when the sun is behind a cloud.  However, modern bulbs can be tungsten, far closer on the colour spectrum to infrared, and LEDs which give out pulses all over the light scale.  Modern lighting is a bit of a nightmare for paint manufacturers.

The photo above shows jars of pigment under North sky light (on the left) and a more purple light on the right,  an extraordinary change in appearance.

The paint is also matched to be sure there is consistency of strength of colour, opacity, and in rheology.

The Three “M”s: Matching: Rheology

Rheology is the science of viscosity (something’s reluctance to flow) and tack (ability to adhere).  These are different.  Honey has low viscosity, it’s very runny; and high tack, it’s very sticky.  Butter from the fridge has high viscosity and won’t flow easily; and very low tack.  These inverse relationships are common and are important for paint manufacture.

White oil paint coming off the mill, showing how high its viscosity is

One way to decrease viscosity and make your inks flow easier is to add energy, either by stirring or by heating them.  This property is referred to as being thixotropic.  Another variable to juggle when matching paints and inks.

Other things to match include printability, drying time, resistance to rubbing, light fastness, odour, and fineness of grind.

Tour of the factory

After our lecture we got to look around the factory, seeing pink etching ink being milled, and how a vat of white oil paint has a thick enough consistency to allow a palette knife to stand bolt upright when dropped into it.

We also saw tubes being filled by hand, each with its open base ready to take the correct amount of paint or ink, then the tube being crimped closed..

Base of a tube of oil paint being crimped by a machine

There was a fascination to seeing boxes of empty tins of paint and tubes ready for filling.  And hearing how darker pigments are stored in different areas, and that each colour can be produced for 4 – 6 week stretches before moving to another hue.  One of their 8 sets of milling wheels is only ever used for white oil paint, and we got to scrape and test the consistency of it with a knife.

Large vat of white oil paint

Labelling the paints

I loved the labelling of the paint tubes.  Each one has a hand painted strip of colour on it.  You can see the brush strokes on these colour swatches.  These are produced on large sheets of paper pinned to an old door, then cut into the right size for the tubes.

Paints used to produce the colour swatches on each tube

To avoid confusion, each tube, tin, or can is labelled immediately after filling with a pricing gun.  The team interpret these numeric codes and attach the right labels and colours.

Some of the paint strips on a door, they get cut up and put onto individual tubes

Each tube is then put into a little cardboard box with information on the range as a whole.  Other than the paint tube lids, there’s not a speck of plastic packaging in sight, suggesting that Cranfield really do take environmental concerns seriously.

Part of an enormous order of purple oil paint being packaged up for Dick Blick art suppliers in America

Testing the paints: Different tools

One room has lots of tools to check the consistency of each batch of paint.  Many are very old fashioned, like the Hengmen gauge.  Each batch of paint has a dollop tested on this simple tool.  You simply pull the squeegy downward on the metal sheet then see if there are any bumps or scratches in unexpected places.  If so, the paint may not be milled fine enough.

Hengman gauge in use

They also use a Clear Weighted Plate (see the film below) which compares two paint splotches left by a rolling wheel on a metal bed. It helps show how liquid the paint is.

Clear weighted Plate in use

There are also lots of differently lit cabinets to double check for constant colour matching in different lights,  metamrism,, and colour guides to check against.

Finishing up the tour

We left with a generous parting gift, and a real sense of a firm that produces incredibly high quality product in a traditional way, and in a wonderful work space.  Michael was so very good at telling us about the physics and challenges of paint creation at Cranfield colour.  Lucy and I left feeling very inspired. It is no surprise that Cranfield supply some of the best known artists’ shops across the globe; from Cass Art to Jacksons and Cowling & Wilcox, to Dick Blick in America, Rittagraph in Spain, and Jackson’s here in the UK.

Cranfield’s Managing director Michael Craine plus a member of the paint mixing crew

And, although I don’t use etching inks, printing inks, or oils; next time I take out my watercolour paints I’ll have a better understanding and respect for the work, research, and love that has gone into their creation.

Below is a short film from Cranfield’s Youtube channel showing some of the processes described in this blog (including use of the Clear Weighted Plate).  They also produce a podcast which is well worth a listen.

The post A Visit to Cranfield Paint Factory appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

Illustrating Lilac Syringa vulgaris

First using watercolours

When I first used watercolour, I used my Mum’s paint-box.  She was a fine artist, so had lots of posh art equipment which she always encouraged us children to use.  Her paints (a selection of browns, greys, and ochres as her subject matter tended to be broken industrial landscapes and cemeteries) were Winsor and Newton.

My first paint-box, was bought by my parents for my 10th birthday.  It was a lovely tin full of Winsor and Newton pans and half pans.  I used this until 2015, topping it up and switching in new pans.

My current watercolour paint-box

Finally the white enamel cracked from the palette.  The tiny paint flakes kept getting mixed in with my colours.  I had to replace the box itself, and I really struggled.  The mixing palettes are lovely, deep, and what I was used to!  Eventually I found a stockist of the empty tins, Green and Stone.  My quest was over.

My current paint-box (not in any way cleaned for its photo-op, I’m afraid)

As you can tell from the photo, it’s very much a working tool and is quite often shamefully grubby.  This is important, and should be avoided.  Having dirty pans of colour will effect the colours you paint with.  It’s an ongoing fight to try and keep my yellows clean.  I mostly lose.

Illustrating a Bryony leaf Bryonia dioica for Jersey Post

Watercolour pans

Watercolour comes in tubes or in pans.  I like the pans; it’s so quick to open the box and start painting. Pans come in  full, or half sizes.  When the pans become empty, I fill them up with paint from tubes.  This is frowned on, someone told me the paint is a different composition and the two shouldn’t be mixed.  It’s never been a problem for me, but I am willing to listen to reasons why it’s inadvisable.

Paints in pans from my back-up watercolours box.  Most are Winsor and Newton, many used.

The paint in the pans is dry, and this is a clear difference between the tubes and the pans.  However, the colours seem to be identical.

The main trick with paint mixing is to make notes of the colour mixes that you use, so you can re-create them later.  You can do this as a swatch (as on the side of the painting on the illustration below) or in written form.

Illustrating a rose

Watercolour tubes

I have lots of these tubes.  I tend to buy them up when I’m in an art shop and see them on sale, so have lots of duplicates and different sizes.

Equipment: paints: My watercolour tubes, which nominally fit into an old cigar box (they don’t fit).

Sometimes I’ll use a blob of pure watercolour and paint from it, this is mostly if I’m tackling the sky of a big landscape (Cobalt blue is good for skies).  In general, though, I simply use the tubes to top up the pans in my paint-box.

The brand I favour is Winsor and Newton.  I tend to use their professional watercolours, but their Cotman range is good too.  They’re clean, strong colours, and don’t go grainy.  Some of my W&N tubes date back 30 years or more, and the colours seem as true as the newly purchased tubes.

Some of my Winsor and Netwon tube watercolours

Sometimes I’ll put a spot of tube paint on one of the paint-box dishes, I’ve recently started doing this with Daniel Smith’s Spring Green which is a good base for mixing up realistic green hues.

The ones I use most of are the yellows.  Cadmium yellows, Naples yellow, and Yellow ochre.  This is because these get mixed up into every single green I use, and as they’re weaker colours than the blues and greens in the mix, I need to use proportionally more of them.

Illustrating Mongolian stonecrop Phedimus hybridus . You can see the heavy use of yellows, and that blob of Spring Green in the top right of the palette.

Learning your paints and your paint-box

Sometimes I make the error of filling up a half empty pan with a rather different hue, and this isn’t a great idea.  Topping up a yellowish Sap green with a very blue Phthalo green was a memorable error.  Saying that, it actually made for rather a handy colour, the two worked well together.

I tend to mix, and go on mixing until it looks right.

You learn your way around your paint box.  As the years go by you end up knowing what different colours look like, both in your paint-box and fresh from the pan or tube.

Why I can be vague on my colour mixes…

This somewhat slap-dash approach to my paints is why I sometimes find it difficult to give precise answers if asked what colours I use for a specific illustration.  Often the labels on the pans have rubbed off or are illegible.  Remembering what colour I topped up with a few months ago is often beyond me.  Sometimes (especially if I don’t to take notes) I simply forget.

Long tailed tits in progress.

I am aware this lackadaisical approach might horrify some professional and amateur botanical illustrators, and that’s totally understandable.  But I do think that sometimes people get tangled up in the details of brands and colours when they’re starting out.  Knowing more or less what each colour looks like, and how it mixes is great.  But if choosing the correct exact named hues becomes an obsession, or a barrier to just getting out some paints and experimenting, then I’m not sure how useful it is.  Perhaps I’m speaking from the luxurious position of someone whose been lucky enough to have the time to learn her paint-box and colours inside out; with less time available knowing names and brands could be more important?

Other Brands of Watercolour paint

Alongside Winsor and Newton, I use other brands of paint.  After hearing lots of recommendations, I purchased some Daniel Smith “dot cards”.  I figured they’d be a good way to test the different colours without committing to a whole (pricey) tube of paint.  I ended up painting from them, until I wore through the paper the dots were on, alongside my normal paint-box.  I wish I’d taken a photo of the used cards, they were rather pretty.

Eventually, I decided to buy a few tubes, which I use a lot. My most used is the Spring green.  It’s a brutal colour fresh from the tube, but mixed with purples, ochres, blues and yellows; it makes for a beautiful and adaptable hue.

Daniel Smith tubes

I also use Daler Rowney on occasion, and have become extremely attached to Doctor Martin’s Hydrus inks.  these transparent colours are almost violent in their vividness, and are incredibly useful.  I mix them in with my watercolours and they give an extra punch that helps emulate the bright colours of nature.  The colour I use most is their Quniacridone magenta, perfect for mixing up to capture pink flowers.

Doctor Martin’s inks – perfect for the pink of a cyclamen

Other brands of watercolour paint I’ve heard about from other botanical illustrators include: Sennelier, St. Petersburg White nights, Talens: Rembrandt, Shinhan, Holbein, Schminke, and Old Holland.  I’d love it if anyone who uses and adores these ranges felt like giving a bit of a review in the comments section.

Pink flowers and Opera pink watercolour

When it comes to pink flowers,  along with the Dr. Martin’s magenta, I use plenty of Opera rose.  Now, although this is a fabulous colour, it is notoriously awkward as it’s known to fade.  Artists have tested it’s lightfastness, with varying results (Jane Blundell, and an interesting post on whether or not watercolour paints DO fade from Lee Angold.)

Lots of pigments fade with time, and watercolours are prone to become paler.  Some pigments fade more than others.  The pinks and purples and reds are most fugitive (prone to fading).  You can avoid this by having framed work behind conservation glass (or museum glass), and by keeping original watercolours away from direct sunlight.  It can be a problem though.  I once painted a Purple emperor butterfly, and put it in the window of a gallery.  Within 6 weeks the butterfly had faded to a tawdry (and entirely un-saleable) brown colour.

Greater willowherb Epibolium hirsutum

This is less problematic is you’re creating work for reproduction rather than for exhibition, but it’s worth remembering.  I bought up a batch of Opera rose from different companies recently;  I’m interested to know which brand I end up liking most.  I’m not alone in this. There’s a lot of online chat about opera rose, including rather a nice comparison of different brands video on Youtube.

Opera rose paints from Jackson’s, Winsor and Newton, Holbein, and the W&N in pan form.

One more paint…and it’s Gouache!

This last paint is for fixing mistakes.  I avoid using it on work I plan to sell, but for work that’s going to be reproduced, it can be a life saver.  Permanent white gouache.  You mix it to a thick consistency, then paint over smudges and mistakes.  It’s easy to blend in with the white of the paper.  Avoid touching it until it’s dry, it’ll clump and lift the colour from underneath.  Actually, don’t touch it when it IS dry either, the grease on your hands may dull the white.  It’s also really useful for adding delicate white hairs against a dark leaf, and it’s an important part of my tool kit.

In the plate below, done for HarperCollins Flower Guide, you can see how white gouache was used to remove the upper leaves of the Dune gentian.  This adapted plate went to repro with no quibbles.  (For more on mixing mistakes in watercolour, check out my earlier blog).

Gentian plate with alterations circled in red

I use this paint quite thick, and it’s important to thoroughly rinse the paint-box and brush when you’re finished with it or it’ll make all your watercolours paler and chalky.

Common comfrey Symphytum officinale with hairs on the stem picked out with white gouache

Conclusion

If you’re looking for comparisons of different brands of watercolour paint, there’s a whole lot of really interesting blogs and youtube videos online.  For me, my lifelong relationship with Winsor and Newton continues unabated.  They’re easy to come by, good strong colours, not prohibitively expensive, comparatively lightfast, and I love them.

…and you can easily take a paint-box into a bluebell wood!

Most of the materials and paints mentioned in this blog are readily available from art stores.  I try to shop local, but if that’s not possible, then I buy from UK suppliers such as Jackson’s, Cass Art, London Graphics Centre, and Ken Bromley.  I try to avoid the big online sellers even though they’re sometimes cheaper; it’s my (tiny) way of supporting the art stores that support me.  In the US, I believe Dick Blick is a good shop, and sells online.

The post Equipment: Paints appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

Ink and watercolour is a classic, intriguing combination that creates some really amazing effects when accomplished with the right tools.  Black outlines define a beautiful watercolour painting that jumps off the page!

Fig illustration with top wash of watercolour

Do you want to know how you can create ink and watercolour pieces that affect people?  Well, you are going to need the right tools for the job.  I am going to walk you through what makes for a good watercolour pen and review my top pens and ink that are designed for watercolour work.  Let’s begin!

What Makes for a Great Watercolour Pen and Ink?

What makes for a good pen or ink when it comes to watercolour?  Here are the things to consider:

What Makes for a Great Watercolour Pen and Ink: Waterproofness

Arguably the most important, you want to find ink pens or ink bottles that are labeled waterproof.  It can get confusing as they may say “water-resistant” as well as some terms that mean the opposite, which we look at in the next section.

You need a waterproof pen or ink so there is no bleeding or smudging of any kind when you apply your watercolours to it.  A quality ink will allow you to draw beautiful, strong lines without any bleeding or transfer of colors.

Crab with top wash of watercolour

What Makes for a Great Watercolour Pen and Ink: Avoid “Water-Soluble”

It is likely you’ll come across a couple inks and pens that are labeled water-soluble or water-based.  Avoid these like the plague!  Water-soluble inks and pens are made with water and will run when you start painting with watercolour.  A safe rule to follow is that any pens you find that don’t state they are waterproof or water-resistant are likely to be water-soluble and won’t work well with watercolour paint.

Small tortoiseshell butterfly Aglais urticae life cycle illustrated in pen and ink with watercolour top wash.  If the inks had bled, the butterfly would have been a disaster.

What Makes for a Great Watercolour Pen and Ink: Pigments

It can be, at times, unclear if the pen is waterproof, especially with foriegn pens or inks.  You can look for “pigments” or “pigmented ink.”  If a pen or ink is labeled that it is made with pigments, this is a sign that a pen is very likely waterproof.  Pigments are tiny colored material that does not dissolve in water, so they are not water-soluble or water-based.

What Makes for a Great Watercolour Pen and Ink: Ink Dry Time

Another thing to consider is how long the ink takes to dry!  Applying watercolour too soon can cause bleeding, fading, or smudging.  For most inks, you want to wait at least an hour or two hours for the ink to dry onto the paper.  If you are a fast sketcher or just want better dry times, there are fast-drying inks that only take a few minutes to be completely dry and smudge-proof!  We recommend our top fast-drying ink below, so keep reading.

Red spider mite Tetranychus urticae pen and ink with watercolour top wash.  The fast-drying ink dried within 20 minutes, allowing immediate work into the illustration.

What Are The Best Waterproof Pens For Watercolour

Let’s review the top-rated pens to use for an ink and watercolour project.  We suggest trying out a couple of these so you can find your personal favorite!

1. The Uni-Ball Signo Gel Pen

On the top of our list we have a great, beginner friendly gel pen that works wonderfully for any watercolour project.  The Uni-Ball Signo is an affordable waterproof pen that draws straight clean lines that never gives unwanted ink blots on your paper.  We’ve found the Uni-Ball to be a favorite for quick ink and watercolour work that we can always rely on and have several laying around.

2. Sakura Pigma Fineliner Micron Series

Our second on this list is a fineliner, particularly the Micron Series by Sakura.  A fineliner is a great type of pen that creates beautiful, professional lines that are straight, thin and just look great.  The Sakura Pigma is completely waterproof and we’ve found it to be one of the best pens to use for ink and watercolour paintings.

Sakura pigma Micron 0.1 inkpen, used to do the ink work under the top watercolour wash on this Cherry illustration

3. Fountain Pen by Visconti

We recommend considering a fountain pen that you can load up with your own ink.  If you foresee working with ink for more than a year, disposable pens get expensive, and the very best ink for use with watercolour can only be bought as an ink bottle (not to mention with a fountain pen, you can get various colored inks to play around with!).

Oil seed rape Brassica napus.  I use disposable pens and get through 20 – 50 a year depending on the jobs I get commissioned to do.  Maybe I need to consider shifting to a fountain pen?

Our favorite fountain pens are from the company Visconti.  Our favorite fountain pens for watercolour artwork are the Visconti pens from Goldspot Pens.  Visconti has a diverse range of fountain pen options.  A fountain pen works wonders for ink and watercolour projects.  You can scroll down to our ink suggestions and combine it with a fountain pen ink and the result is unbeatable.

4. Uni-Ball Impact Gel Pen

This is another great gel pen option for watercolour.  The pen is completely waterproof and fade-proof.  You should consider giving the Impact Uni-Ball Pen a try. But before you buy, you need to check out drawings made with it, as the lines are broader than many gel pens and may not be the best for very detailed ink work.  The Impact does amazing outlines and so makes for a good little watercolour pen.  It can work especially well for cartoon or comic styles.

5. Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen

Using a brush pen for your ink and watercolour work is a really neat option that I know some of you will want to go with.  Tombow’s Fudenosuke pen is a seriously great option for watercolour.  It is waterproof even though the labeling is fairly confusing as it mentions water-based and pigmented ink, but we went with it and it does great with watercolour paints.

A brush pen is a neat option that gives you the new ability to change the width of the line you are drawing by changing your pressure applied to the pen.  This allows for some really creative use of ink and watercolour that I’d love to see how people use to make unique ink brush and watercolour creations.

Mallard duck Anas platyrhynchos duckling.  This illustration was done in pencil, but would be a perfect candidate for a brush pen.

6. The Unipin Fine Line

This is an interesting and fun waterproof pen we found and really enjoyed.  The drawback is that when using an eraser we find the ink fades and blurs, but if that’s not a problem, this is a great pen for your project.  It draws really nicely and feels natural in your hand.  The Unipin Fine Line is definitely an option to consider.

Quince pen and ink illustration with watercolour top wash – completed using my favourite of these recommendations – the Unipin Fine Line 0.1

7. Winsor and Newton’s Fineliner

I am a big fan of Winsor and Newton and find their products to be a great addition to any artist’s toolbelt.  Their new finliner works great with watercolours, so I had to include it on this list.  Even better, the fineliner comes in various sizes and colors that you can choose on their website!

Winsor and Newton’s new fineliner pen works with watercolour really well and is an overall very professional pen that you can use for your next project.

Rainbow agama lizard Agama agama pen and ink.  Completed some years before Winsor & Newton bought out their fineliners, but now I’m excited to try similar subjects with these new pens.

8. Pocket Brush Pen from Pentel

I needed to add another brush pen to this list because they’re so fun.  The Pocket Pen from Pentel is a keeper.  The pen was originally created to be used for japanese calligraphy and draws beautiful brush strokes and is made with waterproof ink that is suitable for watercolour.  The brush tip is very sensitive so it easily changes the width of your lines.  This is both a pro and a con.  It gives you so much control and feels great when you master it, but it is easier to make a mistake.  We highly recommend this pen if you are used to drawing with brush pens.

9. Parker Pens

If you are enticed by the idea of a fountain pen to use with watercolour, another top recommendation is the Parker fountain pen from Goldspot.  Kaweco is a historic brand that has been known to produce very smooth and beautiful drawing and writing pens for over 100 years.  The Kaweco Sport and Kaweco Liliput are two fountain pens that are praised for their beautiful drawing lines.  If you get one of the best inks for watercolour into one of these pens, it becomes a very good option for ink and watercolour.

Parker pen

10. Assorted Pens from Faber-Castell

Faber-Castell is a truly historic brand that was founded in 1761.  You heard that right, this pen company was founded over 250 years ago!  They are still crafting beautiful pens, from fountain pens to fineliners and brush pens.

The Pitt Artist Pen set they released is an amazing set of fineliners and brush pens that are all waterproof and made with high quality India Ink.  This is definitely a good option for ink and watercolour, and it gives so much variety to play around with!  You get 4 fineliners and 4 brush pens that gradually increase in size.  Faber-Castell has a history of great craftsmanship and with these new waterproof pens, you have an alluring option to check out.

Cedar of Lebanon pine cones with watercolour top wash – completed with Faber & Castell Ecco pigment 0.1

Best Ink for Watercolour

What matters most with any of the pen options we looked at in the previous section is the ink that’s in them.  For many of them, you can’t be certain you are really getting the highest quality ink.  In my experience, the best ink for watercolour comes in a bottle right from the manufacturers.  Here are our top picks for a waterproof ink to use with watercolour.

Wind pollinators showing close up of individual flowers

1. Platinum Carbon

Our top recommendation is Platinum Carbon Ink.  This is a black ink that has a beautiful texturing done over it that gives it a pure natural black appearance.  Platinum Carbon is a permanent waterproof ink resistant to any smudging, fading, or bleeding.  Needless to say, it works incredibly with watercolour.  If you don’t know which ink bottle is for you, this is our recommendation.

Platinum carbon ink

2. de Atramentis Archive Ink

The de Atramentis Archive is another of the best ink options for watercolour.  This is a black ink that has less texturing than the Platinum Carbon while still presenting a professional matte black appearance.  The number one benefit to this ink is that it is extremely waterproof and a fast-drying ink.  This ink dries in just a few minutes and can be used with watercolour right after for no distortion or transfer of color at all.  Out of all the inks on this list, the de Atramentis may just be the most waterproof and fastest drying.

Plum Prunus domestica.  Pen and ink with watercolour top wash.  Fast drying inks really simplify this technique!

3. Speedball Super Black India Ink

Our top recommendation for a pure black ink is Speedball’s Super Black India Ink.  Most people don’t know that most inks that are in pens are actually made with black mixed with various other colors like blue and grays.  If you want truly pure black ink, you want to go with India ink.  Speedball has made a great waterproof India ink for use with watercolours that you should definitely check out.  It is a solid black that makes for some very strong borders and outlines.

4. Sailor Kiwa-Guro

I really like Sailor as a company.  They are a historic Japanese brand that creates top-quality fountain pens and inks.  The Sailor Kiwa-Guro is a really great ink that is fully usable for watercolour and ink artwork.

Kiwi-Guro by Sailor

The only problem with it is that it has been reported that if you leave it in the bottle for several months, it can lose its waterproofness.  This brings it lower on my list as this could be a real problem for watercolourists who are looking for a long-term ink for their work.  If you do not mind that, this is an amazing ink that looks beautiful with watercolour.

Ink retaining its’ waterproof quality is essential for diagrams such as this male House sparrow done for the RSPB Spotlight Sparrows book

5. Winsor and Newton Ink

We have another high-quality Winsor and Newton product: this is their high-quality waterproof ink.  The Winsor and Newton ink is a great beginner ink.  It has a cute matte black color to it that looks really good for cartoon or comic styles, and modern styles.  The ink takes two hours to dry, but is a great waterproof and fade-proof option when it is completely dry.

How To Find The Right Pen and Ink For You

The most important thing in buying any art supplies is finding what works best for your style and preferences.  I advise that you research several of these pens and inks to find what’s best for you, and, if you have the opportunity, I would recommend picking up a few of these so you can try out first-hand which is your favorite.

Let us know in the comments which you found to be your favorite!  We hope you find your perfect pen and ink for your artwork.

Ladybird Coccinella septempunctata diagram with outstretched wing in pen and in with watercoloour top wash

The post Equipment: How to Choose a Waterproof Pen and Ink for Watercolour appeared first on Lizzie Harper.