Drawing inks

Drawing inks are liquid inks in bottles that you apply with a pen, brush or airbrush for drawing, illustration, comics and manga. Here you will find deep black Pébéo Graphic and Daler Rowney Kandahar inks, Renesans shellac ink and Meyco Indian ink. KOH-I-NOOR coloured drawing inks come in 20 g bottles, including metallic and fluorescent shades. Pébéo Colorex watercolour inks come in 60 shades and are also sold in sets of 5, 6 or 12 bottles. Jacques Herbin rounds out the range with Éclats watercolour inks and decorative inks in gold, silver and copper.

Waterproof Indian ink or watercolour ink?

• Black Indian ink (Pébéo Graphic, Kandahar, Renesans, Meyco) gives a rich black and clean lines. Pébéo Graphic is a carbon dispersion that resists water and erasing once dry; Renesans Traditional Shellac is waterproof thanks to shellac.
• KOH-I-NOOR coloured drawing ink is tinted with pigment pastes and forms a waterproof film once dry, so you can keep colouring the drawing.
• Watercolour ink (Colorex, Éclats) is a translucent, dye-based ink. The shades can be mixed with each other and diluted with water, so they behave much like liquid watercolour.

For a drawing you plan to paint over with watercolours later, choose a waterproof ink. For areas of colour and soft gradients, reach for watercolour ink.

Which tools and paper do you use for drawing inks?

Drawing ink is applied with a dip pen and holder, a quill or a fine brush; for Kandahar, Meyco, Colorex and Éclats, the manufacturers also list use with an airbrush. Colorex bottles have a pipette that lets you dose the colour precisely or top up the refillable Colorex marker. Shake KOH-I-NOOR ink well before use and protect it from frost. Inks give rich, even colour on drawing or watercolour paper, Bristol board and card; you will find suitable paper among the sketchbooks for inks, markers and pens.

Where can you find acrylic, calligraphy and alcohol inks?

Acrylic and calligraphy inks are in the Inks category. For the alcohol ink technique, in which the colour spreads across a smooth, non-absorbent surface, use alcohol inks.