I is for India Ink

Today's post is about India ink. India ink is a very versatile art supply. It used to be used mainly for writing, but now is used mostly for art projects. India ink was actually invented in China in the third century BC (or BCE). Today's India ink is made of a combination of a fine soot, called lampblack, and water. It can be either waterproof or not.

Above is a mixed media painting that I made. The media used are acrylic paint, India ink, and correction fluid. I used the India ink in the background to make the flowers pop out. The India ink makes a very flat background and the eye is drawn to the subject of the painting. In this case, the eye is drawn to the Black Eyed Susans, which are a little more realistic, and the leaves, which are drawn in correction fluid, and are a little more abstract.

This is a pen and ink drawing that I did of the Butterfly Boy. The tale of the Butterfly Boy is a Chinese story of a boy who saw the world from the perspective of a butterfly. There is a book about the Butterfly Boy, written by Laurence Yep and titled The Butterfly Boy. It is a beautiful, delightful picture book for children, both young and old. It incites your imagination and makes you wonder what it would be like if you, too, could experience the world from the perspective of a butterfly.