The question I get most from people is “what kind of medium do you use?” I’d love to say it’s some super-secret medium, but it’s walnut ink. Walnut ink is made from…wait for it…walnuts — mostly black walnuts.

Why walnut ink? I love using this medium because of how versatile it is. It has a longer workability time than traditional ink and is more transparent. However, if you want to work dark, you can sit it out and get some very vibrant darks. Sit it out in the sun for a day and you’ll get some ridiculously pretty dark colors.

You can make your own walnut ink, but I like to buy mine from Utrecht Art. If you want to learn to make walnut ink, here is a great article. This blog post will focus on different walnut ink techniques. All you need is walnut ink and a brush…if that.

Dry Brush

This is my favorite technique with walnut ink. Let the ink sit in a little dish. Once get starts drying, dip a dry brush and apply on your drawing. This technique will leave a lot of brush strokes — great for building up textures like hair and happy trees.

Washes

Watercolor artists should know this technique really well; building up transparent layers to get some great value. The majority of this mixture is water over ink. Keep in mind that walnut ink never really dries unless you fix the drawing. Give the ink some time to settle before you lay more washes. If you’re impatient like me…work under a strong light or use a blow dryer to speed up the process — now we’re just playing God!

Wet-on-Wet

If you’re going for a more refined look, the wet-on-wet technique is the way to go. Apply some ink around the area you want to blend. Add some water to the other area and blend them together with your brush.

Cross-Hatching

Traditional drawing technique to build up value — used with ink. Load your brush with walnut ink and begin applying straight lines one way, then go the other. You can also draw little x’s — I like to do that sometime. I use cross-hatching to build up structure…see the Alex’s nose below.

Spray and Pray

This is actually a term used in the military, where you shoot your weapon on full auto and hope you hit something. Clearly, this is a great technique for abstract artists! Mix walnut ink and water into a spray bottle and apply on your drawing. Consider using contact paper or a piece of cardboard to mask of certain areas. We don’t want unnecessary casualties now! If you work on large substrates, consider using a super soaker!

Drawing of my friend Alex (not done yet). Can you spot the techniques used?

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at david[at]davidhoang.com. Want to learn more? let’s Tweetup! Follow me on Twitter