As a personal challenge, I try to create interesting drawings using only the ink I’m reviewing. I find this to be a fun extension of the hobby, and these single-ink drawings often present a real challenge. These inkxperiments allow me to explore the colour-range nuances that are present in the ink. I love doing them!
Inspiration for this drawing comes from the cycle of life. While recently playing with the 3 and 5-year-old youngest members in the family, I couldn’t help but notice two things: 1/ their world is huge and full of wonder — a trip to the playground is an adventure, the small cluster of trees at the end of the garden a strange and unexplored continent. And 2/ — time is stretched out for a child — when you are constantly discovering new things and experiences, hours can seem like days. While growing older, a subtle change takes place, and spacetime seems to shrink: your world appears to grow smaller, and time has a tendency to fly… I tried to capture these aspects in Earl Grey’s inkxperiment.
I started with an A4 piece of HP photo paper. I covered the paper with a kitchen towel, and dripped some water-diluted Earl Grey on it. The ink separated in its component dyes, that colour the underlying photo paper. This produced a really nice background, with grey, purple, and green colour tints. Quite surprising… I had expected a greyish background, not the kaleidoscope of colours that you can see. I next used different sized glass jars to stamp in the life circles. The scenes in the circles and the background details were painted in with a combination of B-nibbed fountain pen and glass dip pen. The end result gives you a good idea of the colour range that can be achieved when using Earl Grey in a more artistic context. An interesting ink to draw with!
See also: ink review : Diamine Earl Grey
[Originally published on the Fountain Pen Network, on 11 July 2021]
inkxplorations 