Nick Stewart Inspired Ink Washes

[axialix]

Nick Stewart is an amazing artist who has advanced our knowledge of inks and the possibilities of what can be done with them. If you don’t know who he is, you should check out his site: https://nickstewart.ink/

 

These ink washes are very easy to do. Nick has a great video showing how here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgMg8CUN6Y4. It’s a bit lengthy, but the action heats up at about the 17:11 mark.
 

Most people include a chromatography in their ink reviews. This is the one part of the review that I really look forward to. I love to see the colors that inks are made of and a simple water wash will reveal most of them. Although Nick is known for pioneering the use of bleach with inks, I did not use it for any of these washes (except where noted).

 

I’ll start with blacks:

 

Aurora Black

 

Colorverse Black Hole

 

Perle Noire

 

Sailor Black

 

Noodlers Black Eel
(did not react well with water)

 

Iroshizuku Take-sumi (small drop of bleach for suns)

 

Monteverde Onyx

 

De Atramentis Document Black
(pigmented ink)

 

Sailor Kiwaguro
(pigmented ink)

 

Colorverse Methuselah Grove

 

Platinum Carbon Black
(pigmented ink)

 

Blue Blacks:

Sailor Seiboku

 

Sailor Souboku

 

Sailor Blue Black

 

Blue/Blurples:

Colorverse Supernova

 

Colorverse Saturn V

 

Sailor Yamadori

 

Colorverse Proxima B

 

Colorverse Quasar

 

Colorverse KSLV-II

 

Greens:

Colorverse Vortex Motion

 

Colorverse Sea of Tranquility

 

Colorverse Redwood Forest

 

Yellow/Orange:

Noodlers Apache Sunset

 

Colorverse Electron

 

Brown:

Colorverse Space Laika

 

Colorverse Hubble Zoom

 

Pink:

Colorverse Felicette

 

That exhausts my supply of inks. I’ll add more images when I get my next delivery of samples.

[yazeh]

I'm speechless! Thank you so much for lighting my day with beauty 🙏

[Detman101]

Wooooow...those were BEAUTIFUL!!
Thank you for sharing!
EDIT: Those were some friggin fantabulous blue Colorverse inks in there as well!!! 👍

[Recursion]

Very beautiful, thank you for sharing 

[Tas]

Marvelous reference. Thanks for sharing them. Really useful.

 

(*must dig out Sailor jentle black again - looks just like Sumi-e ink 🥰)

 

[mizgeorge]

Fabulous, not to mention inspirational

 

Thank you!

[Arcticart]

Oh wow! Some of those colorverse inks look especially stunning. Thank you.

 

I might have to give this a go too.

[axialix]

2 hours ago, Arcticart said:

Oh wow! Some of those colorverse inks look especially stunning. Thank you.

 

I might have to give this a go too.

 

i wouldn't want to write with some of them, but they do look rather nice in a wash. Hubble Zoom for example.  Don't know anyone who likes that color. I was expecting a dull nasty brown when it hit the water. Came back in a few minutes and couldn't beileve my eyes.

 

Most of the these took less than 5 minutes to make. The key is to not overdo it, less is more. Wet your paper, put a couple small drops for the sky, and let it sit for a few minutes. Then go back and do the horizon line/foreground/trees/etc.

[inkstainedruth]

For someone I presume is a beginner, these are REALLY nice.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[axialix]

31 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

For someone I presume is a beginner, these are REALLY nice.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Thank you Ruth. Yes, I just started doing these a few days ago after watching Nick's video and seeing the art people here have posted in their ink reviews. I hope more folks will post their washes. I'd love to see what others come up with. I'm sure they will have more exciting inks as my supply is rather paltry. I have not been collecting for very long. 

[squirrels]

Beautiful work!

[PithyProlix]

Really, really nice! 

 

MayI ask, please, what paper you used? 

[axialix]

I used Canson XL cold-pressed watercolor paper for most of them, however I got more vibrant colors and a smoother surface using the backside of cheap Pen & Gear posterboard from Walmart. You can really see the difference in the Vortex Motion washes. That color just pops on the Wallyworld paper, even though the sheen was not as noticeable. I'm going to invest in some good quality hot-pressed paper. That would provide a very smooth surface to increase vibrancy while also showing off the sheen.

 

If you buy the cheap stuff, make sure you get the heavyweight posterboard. The regular weight stuff doesn't work and just makes a curled up mess.

 

[PithyProlix]

32 minutes ago, axialix said:

I used Canson XL cold-pressed watercolor paper for most of them, however I got more vibrant colors and a smoother surface using the backside of cheap Pen & Gear posterboard from Walmart. You can really see the difference in the Vortex Motion washes. That color just pops on the Wallyworld paper, even though the sheen was not as noticeable. I'm going to invest in some good quality hot-pressed paper. That would provide a very smooth surface to increase vibrancy while also showing off the sheen.

 

If you buy the cheap stuff, make sure you get the heavyweight posterboard. The regular weight stuff doesn't work and just makes a curled up mess.

 

 

Thanks for letting us know about the paper. (Which reminded me about some thick paper I have that didn't work well with fountain pens so I put it at the bottom of a drawer ...)

 

Yes, there definitely is a big difference between the two Vortex Motion washes!

[Arcticart]

I think I didn't use enough water on the paper on some of these as the ink didn't spread out as well. Although the Canson Mix Media pad I used probably isn't as good as proper water color paper either. It was fun, trial and error and all that, so I'll keep experimenting with the rest of my ink collection.

 

 

Pennonia Tihanyi Lila

 

 

Pennonia Rézvörös

 

 

Pennonia Orgona

 

 

Pennonia Mustvörös

 

 

Pennonia Méregzöld

 

 

Pennonia Hupikék

 

 

Pennonia Gödenyzöld

 

 

Pennonia Dungó

[axialix]

Beautiful! I love them. These are very nice. I like the first one, that purplish blue the best I think. Thank you so much for sharing. I hope others will post their's as well.

 

These are trial and error procedures. Some come out good and others I've thrown in the trash. I can't let myself get down because I made a mistake or it didn't look right. I just move on and try again. After all, most of those that made the cut were just plain luck. I didn't do much but slather on some water and a few ink drops, and out came a masterpiece! 

[yazeh]

You can use midori watercolour paper.. They work fine. Inspired by your work I did some on, the results were quite interesting. Greys are interesting btw. I was quite surprised by Noodler's Pasternak. 

[Audrey T]

2 hours ago, axialix said:

Beautiful! I love them. These are very nice. I like the first one, that purplish blue the best I think. Thank you so much for sharing. I hope others will post their's as well.

 

These are trial and error procedures. Some come out good and others I've thrown in the trash. I can't let myself get down because I made a mistake or it didn't look right. I just move on and try again. After all, most of those that made the cut were just plain luck. I didn't do much but slather on some water and a few ink drops, and out came a masterpiece! 

And yet when I just "slather on some water and a few ink drops," out come the rags.... I think you may have a little more than luck going on! 😉

[Audrey T]

On 1/14/2022 at 3:45 PM, axialix said:

 

i wouldn't want to write with some of them, but they do look rather nice in a wash. Hubble Zoom for example.  Don't know anyone who likes that color. I was expecting a dull nasty brown when it hit the water. Came back in a few minutes and couldn't beileve my eyes.

 

Most of the these took less than 5 minutes to make. The key is to not overdo it, less is more. Wet your paper, put a couple small drops for the sky, and let it sit for a few minutes. Then go back and do the horizon line/foreground/trees/etc.

Helpful tips -- thanks. These look terrific.

[mizgeorge]

This is Grigio Scribo - I was amazed that such a pale grey ink could produce the almost neon turquoise. I have a bunch more I need to take pictures of.