Play Time

Ink seems to be the medium more than any other that I am drawn towards to doodling with and especially the more organic line quality of dip pen nibs rather then the single precise width of the technical pen.

The dip pen nib does have a drawback however in that it can only be used on the down stroke and sometimes this can be frustrating. After the Mid Autumn Festival doodle of a couple of days ago and the link with Chinese mythology I decided to purchase a Chinese bamboo brush and some ink sticks and have a play around with ink drawings using a brush instead.

It is an extremely satisfying method of drawing even though I am pretty ham fisted with it at the moment and the results less than precise. However it is fun grinding the ink from the sticks and applying it, or rather trying to apply it with the brush, and then adding more water to dilute the ink to create tones.

I think I am going to have a good play around with this method of drawing. Just out of interest I sketched the same simple doodle twice, firstly with the medium bamboo brush and then with a No 3 Rigger. In a moment of silliness I also carved a little leaf motif into the soapstone seal that came with the bamboo set, which I think was a more successful exercise than the actual doodles!

The Technical Bit.

Medium Goat Hair Bamboo Brush and Chinese Stick Ink on Cartridge Paper.

No 3 Rigger and Medium Goat Hair Bamboo Brush  and Chinese Stick Ink on Cartridge Paper.

Comments

[carla]

These are really quite nice! This sounds like a somewhat tricky technique, but you've done a lovely job here. I think I like the composition of top one better; the arrangement of the blossoms is more pleasing, but I like the strokes on the bottom because they seem looser. The stamp is great. I really, really like looking at your wrok...it's so inspirational, and your bits about process are fascinating. Will you be doing an IF this week?

[Charlie]

Hi Carla. To be honest I wasn't thinking about composition at all when I was playing with these. The second did end up a little like one of those childrens windmills on a stick but yes it was simpler to obtain a thin stroke with the No3 rigger in the second, which is cheating as I want to be able to use the Chinese brushes.

'IF' this week, I'm not too sure things are a little hectic this week and next week so there may be a couple of weeks gap in posting and at best only one or two posts over the coming two weeks.

[Cin]

very nice, have you worked with brush and ink before? looking forward to more experiments, want to give this technique a try one day too.

[Jack Ruttan]

I would try to loosen up a bit. Draw with your arm, sometimes, further away. I think that's what the Chinese masters were doing, when they were finished copying.

[Charlie]

Hi Cin, nope it's not something I have played around with before.

Jack, yes I was actually holding the brush vertical and high on the brush handle to obtain a loose light and variable stroke. I guess it is a matter of try and try again until it clicks into place and copying the style of exisiting works as you say. The doodle here was based upon an image I found on the web while having a look at the styles of Chinese painting.

[soapstone]

I would agree that ink is my favorite as well. There is something about the finality of it that makes me inspired.