Ink Swatches
I’m a methodical artist. That means that the way I do things is important. The method. If I want to make some art I have certain ways of doing it. I don’t have just one way though. I have a lot of different methods. Sometimes it’s not even about whatever style I’m working in or the tools I’m using but in the way I’m organizing the tools. That’s how things were this week as I worked on another color ink drawing.
I wrote last week about how I was working on some new color ink drawings in my “Comic Book Covers to Comics That Don’t Exist” series. I’ve continued with a couple more of them and came up with a small tweak that helped me get them done. It wasn’t a tweak to the way I used the ink or laid down the brush strokes but a tweak to how I physically used the ink containers.
First of all I don’t have any of the color inks in their original bottles. Back in 2020-2021 when I first started buying color ink in order to work out a style with them I also bought some Rubbermaid 1/2 cup food containers. They come with lids and stack on top of one and other. I have about thirty of them and poured a whole bottle of ink in each one. I find it easier to dip my brush into those Rubbermaid containers than in an ink bottle. Plus I can spin the brush tip against the side of the container to point the tip. It’s a method that works well for me.
The containers of ink sit over on a side table that I have filled with various art supplies. The fact that they stack and click together makes them take up less room than they otherwise would. I also have a page full of swatches of the ink colors. How I was working earlier in the week was that I would pick a color from the swatches, go over to the table and pick out the ink, and then bring it to my drawing table and use it. I’d usually leave the ink right on my drawing table when I went to pick another color. The containers would then build up on top of my drawing table and crowd me a little.
Here is where me being methodical comes into play. That method of piling up the ink containers on my drawing table wasn’t working for me. As the table got more crowded it somehow crowded my thinking too. It wasn’t the end of the world but it also wasn’t serving me so I wanted to try something else.
Color Inks In Their Cubbies
My solution to the crowding was simple. I would only leave one container of ink on my drawing table at a time. So for the next color ink drawing that I did I would pick a color, walk over to the table the inks were on (it’s only a couple of steps away), pick a color, bring it over to my drawing table, used the color, and then return it to the side table with the rest of the inks.
I found this helped me out a lot. I was only thinking about one color at a time and there weren’t other containers of ink to distract me. Especially since I was trying to avoid spilling any ink. Y’see my black ink (which I wasn’t using) has a special place in my side tray that is outside of the swing of my arm. I can’t accidentally knock over my black ink because it is a little too far away for that. But with the multiple containers of color ink flat on my desk there was a much higher chance of spillage. I even did spill a some ink at one point. That was annoying.
The one ink container at a time really cut down on my chances to knock some ink over. It helped me think a little more clearly too. As soon as I was done with a color, at least for that part of the drawing, it was away from my drawing table and back in place on the side table. No clutter under my arms.
The funny thing is that when I’m working with markers I work in a similar way but it’s still a bit different. I have all 200 or so of my markers on a side tray on the left hand side of my desk. They are close at hand so I can easily get to them and pick a color. That part is a little bit different than the color inks but not the next part.
Markers In TheirHolders
When I work with markers I only have one marker at a time out of their holders. I’ve seen people work with markers and they pull a color out of their marker holder but then put it on their desktop as they finish using it. People can work with a dozen or more markers kicking around their drawing surface. Not me. I can’t do that.
If I pick a light green marker to work with then I pull it from its slot in the marker holder and then use it. After I’m done using it the marker goes right back into its slot and I choose another color to use. Even if I know I’m going to use a color agin in the piece I don’t leave it out on my desktop. It goes back into its spot. I need the top of my drawing table fairly clear. It’s never totally clear but I don’t need extra markers rolling around it.
So that’s it. Simple stuff. That’s what method is sometimes. It’s not always about whatever technique that you’re using in a piece. Often it’s just about the physical process of working and how you organize your tools.
I have to say that I was much happier working with only one color ink on my drawing table at a time. At first I thought this method would be too distracting as I had to take a couple of steps every time I wanted a new color but instead it actually helped me concentrate.
Sometimes it’s the little things that help me get things done. That’s why it’s good to pay attention to them.