After my disappointment last week, I was back on form this week.

The subject was pen-and-ink (for the first half of the lesson) and water colour wash (for the second half).  We were working from originals that were ink drawn, so we could copy hatching techniques to get the hang of how to shade using just ink.

Due to the permanence of the ink, Will brought in some photocopiers so we could have several attempts.  We were to first do some construction lines in pencil, then make a copy.  Then we could ink in over the construction lines (having multiple attempts on multiple copies if necessary).

I did this, but in the end stuck with my first attempt.  I’d expected the nature of the pen and ink to make this a very precise technique, but actually found it worked better when I let go and just let myself sketch almost at random with the pen.  Again I think it’s relaxing and letting out my creativity (left brain/right brain?) that works for me.

I was well chuffed with the result!

Here it is in comparison with the original:

Will then taught us how to do water colour washes.  Will is excellent in this respect.  He only gave us 2 or 3 things to remember, but they were spot on, and following his instructions was a doddle.

Here’s the coloured version:

I really like this.  It reminds me of books from the 1930s that got handed down to me during my childhood – such as in Enid Blyton books or E. H. Shepard’s illustrations in Winnie the Pooh.

Finally here’s the progression from pencil to ink to water colour: