Sketching with Walnut Ink: North Cascades Wildlife

 
  I've just returned from a few days in the North Cascades, where we saw some great wildlife, including this marmot at Cascade Pass. I took a photo of the marmot sprawled in the snow on its belly, cooling off. I would guess those big rocks really heat up in the sun and a little snow-bathing must have felt very good! I decided to try out some walnut ink sketching back in my studio, so here's a demonstration. 
1. Materials and tools: Staedtler Pitt brown brush pen with permament ink. 3 waterbrushes, one with plain water, 2 with solutions of walnut ink made from walnut ink crystals. One solution is weak, the other stronger.

  Step 1. I began without pencil, brushing in the overall shape of the darks, with the brush pen that was filled with a weak walnut ink solution. It's liberating to forgo the pencil because then you find you are really looking at shapes and darks and lights, which is what we all want to get to as artists!  You can see a few pen marks on the marmot's tail. Even though the pen is waterproof, it will still dissolve if you wet it before it has a chance to dry and fix.

Comments

[best ghost writers]

outstanding sketching, really adorable.