Left: Dove at a nursing home aviary. Test using dip pen and brush with acrylic ink (Ziller Glossy Black) and then washes of Schmincke and M. Graham gouache; on the Jack Richeson Recycled Watercolor paper. Click on the image to view an enlargement.
Here's another test on the Jack Richeson Recycled Watercolor paper I reviewed on July 21, 2012.
This is also a quarter sheet, so about 11 x 15 inches. I've been spending a lot of time studying the birds at the aviary in the nursing home where Phyllis is staying. I can't use acrylic ink there because I might spill it! But I took some photos and together with my sketches as reference did this Ziller Acrylic ink sketch (Glossy Black) using a dip pen (with a fine nib and one with a round calligraphy nib, the name of which I forget), and a no. 4 round brush (which I have dedicated to acrylic ink use—don't use your good sable brushes for this).
I wanted to see what ink did on this paper. Since it's cold press paper the fine nib was used gingerly so it wouldn't get clogged with fibers. I liked the way the ink line from the brush broke up because of the texture of the paper.
There are two places in the sketch where the ink bled—but that's because I'd deposited a lot of ink there and wasn't willing to let the ink dry. I could still see it was wet, but didn't care, wanted to start painting. If you wait a moment, the acrylic inks you use on this paper are going to dry nicely and this glossly black is quite vibrant on the paper.
Next I used a 2-inch flat to stroke colors across the drawing. I spread some of that around more with a paper towel. Finally I went in with a no. 4 round to do the darker layers. (The bird's beak really is that long.)
Again, I had great fun with this paper. It took the multiple washes well. I worked over some of the wet bits without pilling or roughing up the surface. I let my fingers smooth out some strokes. In general I just had a lot of fun. I think I'll be doing a lot of ink sketches on this paper, with some gouache washes. That's good—since my last post I purchased 100 sheets of this paper (so I was able to get it for 99 cents a sheet); I'll be able to play around with it at home, in the field, and in life drawing.
