I’ve been filling water-brushes with dilute inks, creating another portable limited palette of colours that I can blend on the page. I’m using Windsor and Newton inks which are transparent and quickly become waterproof, enabling me to layer colours, building up tints, tone, and intensity. So far I’m using 6 colours, along with Lexington grey which I use for a sort of  grisaille or underpainting.

So here are three attempts at a local view, early afternoon, sunset and twilight. The last two are the same picture, first with just Lexington grey, and the second with a watercolour wash for colour (note the slight loss of detail…).

I like the way that using these ink brushes encourages me to be more ‘painterly’ in my sketches, looking primarily for colour and shape rather than line. It also enables faster sketching!

Water-brush with Windsor and Newton and Lexington grey inks, A6