One Window, 3 Ways

Whether you’re a beginner or you’re just trying to dust off your supplies and get back into putting something down on paper after a break, I’ve always found ink & wash (also called line & wash) to be a great way to put down watercolor without the pressure of actually painting with watercolor.

Watercolor paint gets to be simply an expression of color, movement, and texture while the ink lines carry the job of rendering the object or scene.

As with any art that is made, there is no right or wrong way to approach ink & wash style.  Today, I want to share with you three ways I’ve tried using ink & wash style (with actual visual examples).

3 Ways To Try Ink & Wash Style:
1. Single line contour with a loose watercolor wash
2. A loose watercolor wash followed by sketchy ink lines
3. A pencil sketch, ink lines, and then watercolor paint

If you’d like to see these three approaches to ink & wash, here’s the video on YouTube:

I hope that this gives you some ideas or sparks a bit of inspiration today!
Susan

P.S. Here’s a link to the window reference photo if you’d like to try it out (it’s also linked under the YouTube video).

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