Let's talk ink for a bit. It's been a while since I've done a watercolor or a calligraphy post, or any post for that matter. I've recently adopted the "slow blogging" method. I spend most of my time teaching these days. You know I
teach calligraphy right? If you're new, it's a stellar class that includes personal coaching so you know you're getting the right instruction for your specific needs (and yes, I totally teach lefties).
Sometimes I find I want to do some kind of watercolor wash after doing an illustration or a name. But I can't, because the ink inevitably smears everywhere. I thought I'd test out to see how many of my inks are waterproof. Now, I didn't test
all of my inks, I just tested the ones I have that are easily available and most common. I have some small-batch inks that are a little harder to source. I've also only tested black (or black-ish) inks. Pigmented inks are a whole different can of worms because of the unique properties from pigment to pigment. If you're hoping to use a pigmented ink with watercolor, I would recommend trial and error before working on a finished piece. Well, and really trial and error no matter what you're using before working on a finished piece.
Among my inks, I tested:
So what inks do you think performed the best? I personally thought that the Pebeo Encre De Chine and the Ziller Glossy Black would do the only waterproof ink. I was mostly wrong. Continue below to find out which ones did the best!
See above for everything before the test. Sorry my hairlines are too fine. ;) They don't show up that well on the camera so let's get a little closer for the results, shall we?
- Ziller Glossy Black - Was a total joke. It bled everywhere. But it bloomed so beautifully.
- Speedball India Ink - Smeared a little bit when wet. I personally don't love this ink because it can be harder to manage than most. So I kind of ignored this one.
- Calli India ink - The bottle says this is waterproof, so I was happy they were right. Unfortunately I believe my brush wasn't totally clean when I tested it so you see the faint ring around the squiggle. The pigment didn't budge at all when I got it wet.
- Iron Gall Ink - Smeared, plus it's very light. Iron Gall ink darkens with time, so it would get more permanent, but I wouldn't mess with it for watercolor use.
- Pebeo Encre de Chine - WINNER! I was right, this one didn't budge a BIT. No halos. In fact, the ink repelled the water.
- Higgins Eternal - Like I tell all my calligraphy students, this is a great ink for practice, but isn't practical in most applications. Unsurprisingly, it didn't do well.
- Ziller Soot Black - This one surprised me. I got finer hairlines than any of the other waterproof pigments and it held so well under water.
- Sumi 60 - Yeah right. Someone once told me that sumi is waterproof when it dries. It's possible for other brands, but definitely not Zig (the most popular).
- FW Acrylic - This ink is a little tough to manage to put on the paper and it budged a little in the testing process. For that fact I didn't really give it much attention.
- McCaffrey's Penman's Ink - This moved a little bit under water, but not much. It's a very light ink that darkens over time (like iron gall), so I wouldn't use since there's just not enough contrast.
- Walnut Crystals - You have no idea what kind of marking I made, this bled so much and I didn't have to agitate the water above the pigment at all. DEFINITELY NOT WATERPROOF.
- Sumi + Walnut Blend - I love mixing 50/50 walnut ink and sumi together. They're both very much NOT waterproof, but together they were more waterpoof than they were apart. Interesting, right?
The above was done by my friend Suzi Brown. We had a conversation about waterproof inks a while back (which inspired this post). Her findings were frustrating. None of the above inks were completely waterproof. Additionally, she allowed each ink to dry overnight! In the test pieces I completed, the ink was barely dry before I tested it.
My favorites out of the testing were the
Pebeo Encre de Chine,
Calli India and
Ziller Soot Black. So I thought I would test even more by illustrating and painting flowers using each ink.
I used a dip pen (pictured) and watercolor paper with each one. I used both
Strathmore and
Canson watercolor papers and yielded consistent waterproof results on both papers.
I was impressed with the super-fine lines I was able to produce with the
Ziller ink (as mentioned before). The super-fine hairlines got a little lost under the darker washes, so I'm not sure a name with a dark wash would work as well with this ink if you plan on photographing the names. It wouldn't yield as much contrast. But besides that, it looks quite nice in person.
The
Encre de Chine flowed like butter from my nib. It's a very smooth, almost slippery ink. It dries rather quickly so I found myself cleaning and wiping my nib often. The paint almost beads up off the ink because of the glossy texture of the pigment.
In some cases I had a hard time controlling the
Calli ink (see blobs in there?), but it could have been a nib/ink compatibility issue. This ink gave me bold hairlines that are easy to spot in darker washes and easy to photograph.
So there you go. Three spectacular options for waterproof calligraphy/illustrations. Hope it was helpful! Like I mentioned before, you can find
my class quite helpful, too. ;) Follow on
Instagram and
Periscope for more stuff, too!
This post is in partnership with Lily Jade. Their bags are insanely awesome for motherhood and adventuring.
I've fallen head-over-heels for the MEGGAN bag, it doubles as a backpack and has like a zillion pockets with a removable insert that can be easily washed. Connect with Lily Jade on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.
Parenting can be rough. I've found a few things have helped my journey, among them are: my Lily Jade bag (I can hide ALL the food, diapers and calligraphy supplies in those 27 pockets and still have room for more) and the encouragement of random strangers. Some of the most impactful moments as a mother have been when someone was there to lift, give comforting advice, share a laugh and saying that it's all going to be okay.
When I first became a mother, I found myself the center of a lot of scrutiny. It seemed to drown out any encouragement I got. As time went on, I listened to the encouragement more and more. It has helped those wounds heal. So I'd like to pay all of that kindness forward in a small way.
Last month when I flew to Charlotte with the kids, there was a child on the plane that had a terribly hard time with the flight. My heart just ached for his parents, who were likely stressed out by the situation. I heard snide comments about that child by the passengers near me. UGH! I understand that no one wants to hear a screaming kid on a plan, but good grief, I don't think anyone on that plane was more tortured than the child's parents. A little bit of understanding goes a long way, in my opinion.
Oh how I wish I had had a card with an encouraging word to pass along to that family. So I've made these so I'm not so unprepared the next time I see a parent who needs a laugh or a bit of encouragement. I thought I would make these available to you as well. You can print them double-sided as postcards for easy mailing or keep the backs blank for a flat notecard or a simple pass-along card.
I found a few funny quotes that I hope would brighten up someone's day. Print them out or simply download by right clicking on the images on this post and sharing to a friend's timeline.
I think it's important that we buoy each other up in the parenting community. There's just so much negativity and judgement that we need to start offsetting that. I hope you enjoy these cards and send something out soon to someone you admire.
