Simone Nijboer's newsletter this morning fires me up to use India ink and a dip pen. The unpredictability of that kind of pen calls out to me as does the spontaneity and freedom with which Simone paints.
So, I pop into my studio on this gloriously sunny and deliciously warm November afternoon with windows wide open, insert a nib into a wooden holder, open a bottle of India ink, and add line work to one of my b&w exercises.
I also poke around Wikipedia:
• Basic India ink is composed of a variety of fine soot, known as lampblack, combined with water to form a liquid. No binder material is necessary: the carbon molecules are in colloidal suspension and form a waterproof layer after drying.
• Woods and Woods (2000) state that the process of making India ink was known in China as early as the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, in Neolithic China, whereas Needham (1985) states that inkmaking commenced perhaps as early as 3 millennia ago in China. India ink was first invented in China, but the English term India(n) ink was coined due to their later trade with India.
#5
4 comments:
Love your messy fun!! WOW, so long ago!
Hey, what a surprise, my name in your blog! ;-)! Yes, India Ink is fantastic stuff. I just love it.
Sheila, no idea how I missed notification of your message (along with the development of India ink, 'so long ago') until today. Thanks for celebrating the messy fun and appreciating with me the history of India ink : )
Simone, glad you saw your name in lights! The unpredictability of the dip pen and India ink is especially appealing to me of late.
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