I’ve always loved greys in their many forms, but grey inks hold a
special fascination for me especially as I play with them with a waterbrush.
Blue-greys, purple greys, green-greys leaning into muted greyed browns.
Grey inks are better than watercolors because their peculiar chemical makeup
allows the best ones to separate into colors; I swoon!
I am working mostly with greys and muted colors in my portraits
during the #oneweek100people challenge.
Robert Oster Australian Opal Grey 
appears subtle, but hit with water
it also produces turquoise!
However, not as bright
as Robert Oster Graphite ink,
which produces bright turquoise
when a generous amount of water
is used.
Above, pencil then line work with a
Lamy Al-Star stub with Robert Oster Australian Opal Grey ink; waterbrush produced the colors and shading.
Left, FPR Himalayan with an Ultraflex nib with Robert Oster Graphite ink, touched only a little with the waterbrush.
I love using a softer pencil in a sketch underneath greys…
Sometimes I leave the guidelines in, as in the couple kissing,
sometimes I erase most of them, as in the man with the hat.
If you had not seen the lines melt into dark purply-grey
next to the sketch above you’d never know the wild color in those lines!
I love Robert Oster Charcoal because it
behaves well for a meeting then becomes steamy when wet…
FPR Himalayan with Robert Oster Charcoal ink.
It annoys me that I still find myself frozen with fear of failure in my sketchbook.
I can turn the page — hell, I can tear it out and draw the damn thing over again but my monkey mind still gets caught.
The moody boy (gads I hate drawing babies!) was drawn with a TWSBI Eco 1.1 with Birmingham Tarnished Nickel ink… They made the most stunning grey inks — Tarnished Nickel and Slag Grey are my all time favorite greys inks.
My favorite waterproof ink isn’t black —
though I use a Platinum Carbon pen a lot for ease when sketching under watercolors.
It is Super5 Frankfurt ink, a slightly green grey.
Above, layers of waterproof Super5 Frankfurt ink
followed by Pilot Iroshizuku Kiri-same ink for shading.
I moved into the mostly muted colored inks
on the the side for the foliage behind and her tee..
The man’s head was drawn with Edison Nouveau 1.1 stub nib
with Pilot Iroshizuku Kiri-same ink.
Thank you to the photographers from
Sktchy and Pexel, named in the drawings!
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“Memory is more indelible than ink.”
Anita Loos, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
“I think not….”
Me… why I journal!
Hahnemühle Nostalgie Sketchbook,
Super5 Frankfurt ink in Pentel Aquash waterbrushes,
Lamy Al-Star stub with Robert Oster Australian Opal Grey ink,
Edison Nouveau 1.1 stub nib with Pilot Iroshizuku Kiri-same ink,
TWSBI Eco 1.1 with Birmingham Tarnished Nickel ink,
FPR Himalayan with Robert Oster Melon Tea,
FPR Himalayan with Robert Oster Graphite ink,
FPR Himalayan with Robert Oster Charcoal ink,
Pilot Parallel pen and Pilot Metropolitan with Super5 Frankfurt ink,
Platinum Carbon Pen with Platinum Carbon ink waterproof cartridges,
©D. Katie Powell.
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I teach architectural sketching,
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D.Katie Powell Art 