I mainly work with pencil and watercolor, sometimes a bit of colored pencil is thrown into the mix as well. I usually paint on the go because just sitting at my watercolor desk and working can be a bit of a daydream scenario when you have two little kids under 5 years old like I do.
One of my goals for the last Inktober challenge (creating with ink for the whole month of October) was to combine ink and watercolor for my daily pieces. That didn't work out because I had limited time for this kind of experimentation and I didn't want to have a ton of unfinished pieces for the challenge. So, I broke it down here on what inks worked and didn't, but the ones that didn't could be happy accidents for you. They were for me.
- Dr. Ph Martin’s Matte India Ink - an opaque matte ink that is my no. 1 favorite - no smudging
- Dr. Ph Martin’s Carbon Black India Ink - another opaque ink but this is a little glossier than the matte version - no smudging
- Dr. Ph Martin’s Sepia India Ink - a softer option if you don't want a harsh black - no smudging
- Dr. Ph Martin’s Pen Cleaner (mine turned black because of cleaning nibs in the bottle) - excellent nib cleaner
- Belle Calligraphy Starter Kit - found this at Anthropologie and I love the ink and nib w/holder even if the ink isn't completely smudge proof
- Daniel Smith Walnut Ink - this ink has a super soft look because it has various shades of brown when you use it. This ink is smudge crazy but I let that slide because the brown is so gorgeous. Could use this over dry watercolor washes as an option.
For a full list of what is in my kit, here is my watercolor set up
Do you know any inks that work well with watercolors? No smudging, no budging?
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