Many people ask me about the differences between ink and watercolor paints. This is a difficult question to answer because there are so many different types of inks available for artists to use.
For example, I used India ink for many years to do calligraphy. I also use this ink to add details to some of my watercolor paintings.
Recently I have gotten into using watercolor ink with watercolor paints, and it is a pretty neat combination. You can get this ink in liquid form, but I prefer to use ultra-fine-tipped pens because they allow me to create the tiniest of details in my paintings.
For the sake of this post, I will be discussing watercolor inks today. In the future, I may add another post about different types of ink. If I spoke about all of them at once you would be reading a book instead of a post!
If you want to learn more about watercolor inks and how they work with watercolor paints, continue reading.
Watercolors and Watercolor Ink Comparison
| Factors | Watercolors | Watercolor Ink |
|---|---|---|
| Good for beginners | Yes | Yes |
| Price | An inexpensive set of 12 colors costs around $10 | A set of five colors costs $20 and up |
| Drying time | Each layer of color dries in about 10 minutes | Dries in about 10 minutes |
| Use with any paper | Yes, but watercolor paper is preferable | Yes, but watercolor paper is preferable |
| Color variety | Many colors available | Many colors available |
What are Watercolors?
We have talked about watercolor paints in past posts. Watercolors are made with colored pigments and a water-soluble binder, with some paints also including brighteners or other fillers to create more enhanced colors.
You will find watercolors available in three varieties, pans, tubes, and liquids. The most common type of watercolor paint is pan paint, and it is the least expensive of the three.
While I have used watercolor tubes and pans, I haven’t tried using liquid watercolors, yet. I am curious to try them though, and can’t wait to play around with these paints because they are more portable (you don’t need to add water, so you can start painting immediately).
Watercolor paints should be used with watercolor paper. This is because this paper is much heavier than regular drawing paper, so it is less likely to warp and buckle. There will be some warping and buckling, but not nearly as much.
There is one thing about watercolor paints that can be a blessing or a drawback, depending on how you look at it: they dry very quickly. If you are painting in layers, you don’t have to wait for very long to finish a painting because each layer will be dry in around 10 minutes.
On the other hand, it can be difficult to fix mistakes in your work once the paint has dried. So, you only have a short amount of time to fix any mistakes, both large and small. You can make changes after the paint has dried, but it is much easier to do so while it is still wet.
Watercolors are very easy to work with, which is why they are so popular with beginners. There are advanced techniques that are used with watercolors that take some practice, but for the most part, these are often the first paints beginning artists work with.
Pros and Cons of Watercolors
Pros
- Watercolors dry quickly
- Watercolors are relatively inexpensive
- A little goes a long way
- Dried watercolors can be reactivated with water
- Great for beginners
Cons
- Fixing mistakes after the paint is dry is difficult
- Pan paints crack and break easily
- Not best for use with regular drawing paper
What are Watercolor Inks?
Watercolor inks are pretty neat. They are designed specifically to be used with watercolor paints and the two work very well together indeed.
This type of ink is made from a combination of pigments and dyes, and they will produce colors that are intense and vibrant. This is particularly true when they are used in combination with watercolor paints.
Pigmented resin is often used to create watercolor inks. This resin is great because it keeps the ink from running when it is used with watercolors. Other inks tend to run when they come in contact with water.
If you want to create long-lasting watercolor paintings, I suggest getting yourself some watercolor inks to work with.
You will find watercolor inks available in a huge range of colors. They can be used to create a myriad of effects, and you will have loads of fun using them.
One of the things I love about using this type of ink is that you can be more effective with your drawing. This ink can be used for many purposes, including mixed media art.
There is one huge drawback to using this type of ink though. If you make a mistake, it is there to stay because watercolor ink is waterproof. This means that it is going to be much more difficult to remove than other types of ink, and you can’t lift it off the paper as you can with watercolor paints.
You may be wondering if watercolor ink is the same thing as liquid watercolor paint. The answer to this question is no.
As I mentioned, watercolor ink is made with pigments and binders. Liquid watercolors are made with dyes, and the color is more translucent than watercolor ink.
Watercolor ink can be used for calligraphy as well as being used in combination with watercolor paints. You will love having so many color options to choose from, and this type of ink is a lot easier to clean up than traditional ink. Simply dip an ink brush into the watercolor ink and start making letters.
Here is something that is loads of fun: you can make your own watercolor ink! All you need is a bottle, water, and food coloring. Simply fill the bottle with water, and add a few drops of food coloring at a time. The more food coloring you add, the more intense the color will be.
Once you make the ink, you can use a paintbrush or a fountain to draw or write with it.
Pros and Cons of Watercolor Ink
Pros
- Bright, vivid colors
- Many colors to choose from
- Easy to use
- Can be used with watercolors
- Easy to clean up
- Make your own with food coloring and water
Cons
- Difficult if not impossible to fix mistakes after the ink is dry
- Much more expensive than watercolor paint (but you get more per bottle so it evens out)
Conclusion
As you can see, watercolor paints and watercolor inks are ideal to use in combination with one another. You can greatly enhance the appearance of your paintings by using watercolor inks, and they can be used to create details that you may not be able to achieve with watercolor paints.
While they are more costly than watercolor paints, watercolor inks are a fun medium to work with. I suggest buying a set of four or five colors to get you started. You may even want to try making your own just to get a feel for how they work before you go out and spend a lot of money.
Sari Green is a semi-professional artist and professional writer. She has been hosting paint & sip parties for the past couple of years, and truly enjoys helping other people to create their very own masterpieces. She loves to create, and you never know what she’s going to come up with next!