Struggling To Find A Waterproof Black For Watercolor Sketches

[steve50]

I mainly use Rohrer and Klinger Document Brown with watercolour - it doesn't lift and I find it dark enough to pass for black (and find the little bit of warmth pleasing for figure and landscape sketching). They do make a document black as well, but I haven't tried it.

 

I've used a couple of colours out of their SketchInk series of waterproof sketching inks and find they stay put too. I haven't tried Lotte (black) so can't vouch for that either.

 

Hopefully you can find reviews of their blacks specifically to see if they might suit you.

 

I don't know if the OP has seen this, but Rohrer and Klingner Document inks and Sketchinks are what you are looking for, not Noodler's or MB.

[A Smug Dill]

I do like the stamp you're using, and hope you find an appropriate ink to use with it.

Thanks. Spectrum Noir Finesse water-proof dye stamp pads work wonderfully for this project; the ink dries and sets on the paper completely in a matter of seconds. Bleeds right through Rhodia 80g/m² paper, though; not that I'm intending to use that, or any types of paper found in the journals my wife and I normally use, for swatch cards in our ink catalogue. Those stamp pads are relatively expensive, though, and even more so (for me, anyway) now that I can't buy them shipped and sold by Amazon UK (via Amazon AU); I have no idea why the prices on Amazon AU for this line of US products shipped and sold by Amazon US are consistently and significantly higher.

 

That's an issue that's easily fixed with original art to which you own the rights.

 

I'm hopeless at drawing. Otherwise, instead of hatching and stippling to show the ink colour at different densities on the swatch cards, I'd be drawing dill on them freehand. Or it'd be fun to draw lingfu, although it would be unfortunate if my randomly made up symbols inadvertently summoned hopping zombies or coronaviruses!

 

What's your favourite ink bottle?

 

That's a good question. I never actually thought about that, and don't have a ready answer.

[pearlfox]

Tried going over the dried inks with a kneaded eraser before coloring?

[Maurizio]

Late to this thread.

 

As I mentioned in another post, Ive experimented with Noodlers Old Manhattan Black, Sailor Kiwa-guru, and Platinum Carbon Black. Among those, I have found that Platinum Carbon Black is most waterproof. I find that it doesnt bleed at all or bleed is minimal to not noticeable at least with the wet on dry technique whereby you apply a brush wet with watercolor to a dry paper, not to a wetted paper. Attached is a one of my tests - some hastily drawn flowers just for the purpose of checking for bleed. This was not even watercolor paper just a leftover envelope of I think some Strathmore writing paper with cotton content.

 

I dont know what happened with that little yellow flower. I think that was my impatience; its the only obvious bleed.

Edited October 12, 2020 by Maurizio

[Maurizio]

Hi all, like the title says, I can't seem to find a waterproof black that works in Stillman & Birn sketchbooks, or similar, that will actually stay on the page. So far, I have tried GvFC Carbon Black, Montblanc Permanent Black, a few different Noodler's Blacks, and Platinum Carbon Black. The GvFC used to work great, but lately the ink seems to have lost its permanent qualities and I'm not sure if it is because the bottle is a few years old.

 

The only thing that seems to work is leaving the sketches alone for several days and then coming back to add the watercolor. I don't like waiting that long so I have been using my Rapidographs with India ink.

 

Does anyone know of some other inks that will be waterproof within a few minutes of going on the page? Thanks

Use a hairdryer.

 

See my late Platinum Carbon Black post here also.

[vans4444]

Sorry, original post posted in error

 

 

Edited October 27 by vans4444
Wrong thread