Here’s another one of my bird drawings in ink, this time a raven. I showed how I explore this technique a few weeks ago with the ink drawing of a duck. With a bird that’s all black you have to decide where to put lighter and darker areas, so that you still can show some feather details, and make the bird look round, instead of just a solid black block.
As mentioned before, I really enjoy working with this technique, especially with the fountain pen as a drawing tool.
Like for all drawings in this series, I used Hahnemühle Nostalgie paper (190gsm) and Rohrer & Klingner Sketch Ink (the umber color). The lines are done with a Lamy Safari fountain pen (F nib) and for the brushes I use synthetic rounds (I keep brushes for inking separate from my watercolor brushes).
I hope you’ll enjoy the video:
Drawing a raven in ink (video)
I’ve added a few of the inked birds to the bird section of my portfolio (scroll all the way down).
And if you’re looking for more things to sketch in this season, check out my class Drawing ideas for autumn, in which I share a lot of ideas for sketching nature in autumn as well as many field sketching tips. For more bird sketching tips, check out my class on How to draw birds. The classes are available directly here.
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This is beautiful……. Ravens are such amazingly inquisitive birds…. Just full of character. I love the idea of painting with inks and this is a beautiful colour. I have a black waterproof Noodles ink….. I will have to see what other colours they have.
Thank you Janey! Yes, ravens are amazing creatures, and it’s a great pleasure to watch them or even just hear them. I’m sure this technique will work great with Noodlers ink.
Your raven is lovely, Julia. I like your idea of mixing three puddles of different shades. I’ll have to try this. I hope one of your current projects you mentioned is creating a new skillshare class:)
Thank you Jill! Yes, definitely try it and see if you like it, that’s why I share these techniques! Unfortunately, my projects for now are client-based, so no new class right away. But I hope I can return to creating classes soon. 🙂
Great video and such a sassy raven! I am making my own inks now and just learning to use them apart from watercolors. Your idea of various shades of an ink in puddles is great!
Your process was beautiful and insightful to watch. I will have to try your methods. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much! I hope you’ll enjoy trying this inking technique. 🙂