Acrylic inks

Acrylic inks are fluid, pigment-based acrylic colours in dropper bottles that you can apply with a brush, pen or airbrush. Most of the range consists of Daler Rowney FW inks in 29.5 ml bottles, with standard, fluorescent, pearlescent and shimmering shades, including imitation gold and silver. FW sets with three or six bottles are suitable for getting started. The range also includes Amsterdam acrylic ink in a 30 ml bottle.

How do acrylic inks differ from traditional drawing ink?

In acrylic ink, an acrylic binder holds the pigment. While the ink is wet, you can thin it with water and mix FW shades together to create exactly the tone you need. Once dry, it is water-resistant, so you can paint another layer over it. The manufacturer of FW also states that it has high lightfastness, so an illustration displayed on a wall will not fade. You can find black India ink and coloured inks for pen drawing in the Drawing inks category.

How can you apply acrylic ink?

• With a brush: ink diluted with water gives you delicate tones and watercolour washes, while undiluted ink creates areas of rich colour.
• With the pipette in the cap: dispense drops directly onto paper or into a mixing dish.
• With a dip pen: for lines, illustration and calligraphy; the manufacturer specifically recommends a dip pen and brush for FW pearlescent inks.
• With an airbrush or technical pens: the manufacturer states that standard FW inks are suitable for these tools, but Pearlescent inks are not because they contain larger pigment particles. You can find airbrushes and accessories in the Airbrush category.

Which FW shades should you choose?

Process Cyan, Process Magenta and Process Yellow are the primary colours for mixing further shades. Fluorescent inks have vivid neon colours. Pearlescent and Shimmering shades have a subtle sheen, and six shimmering colours are also available in the Shimmering Set. If you are looking for thicker paints in tubes or bottles for painting on canvas, take a look at Acrylic Paints.