Basic Drawing-Ink Wash Drawing

The Assignment- Find a white or light colored cloth, and hang it on something tall so that the drape hangs down like a backdrop. Place two white or light colored objects on a table in front of the drape, and shine a direct light to create strong patterns of light and shadow. Draw on a sheet of your 18" x 24" paper, using light pencil contour lines to sketch out the basic shapes of objects and cloth, then using the ink wash to draw in the value. Ink wash is made by putting a few drops of ink in a small water container (like a paper cup). Test the strength of the wash on scrap paper or a corner of your page- add water to lighten it, add ink to darken it. The typical way to make an ink wash drawing is to start filling in the lightest values first (everything not white) and then gradually darken parts of the drawing by gradually adding more drops of ink to the wash. You may want to let the paper dry a little between washes. An example of how values can be built in successive washes can be found here.

Do two such drawings, rearranging the two objects between drawings. Spend about 90 minutes on each. As with other value drawings, try to eliminate lines in favor of shapes, and try to match values from the set up as closely as possible. After the drawings are completely dry, you may erase any visible pencil lines. The above student drawings include some non-white objects, but they are still good examples of how a resulting drawing can look.