So just before the snow filled the farm across our back garden, we spotted two kawaii brown bunnies meandering in the field playing with each other. It must be so cold for them! I thought they would be hibernating during the winter so was quite pleasantly surprised to see them appearing the other day. And then that inspired me. Let’s paint about those two bunnies! This time, I decided to use India Ink. Let’s see what happens when you paint with them, rather than just sketch with them!
Pencil Sketch
I went for my Strathmore’s Mixed Media sketchbook for this painting. First I made a brief sketch with my aquarelle pencils, keeping close attention to the composition. So what I saw from my window were two bunnies hopping around in the grassy area between two small brooks. Further away from the brook is the huge field. So far, so cute!
Coloring In
For this painting, I used Dr. Ph Martin’s Bombay Ink range which come in 36 beautiful colors, twelve of them being iridesscent. The outlines of the bunnies were traced with some bronze oil pastel to prevent the ink from bleeding in when painting. Although a wet brush was used to spread the ink, I made sure no water went into the bottle which meant that a few drops were added on a palette before touching the paper. I also didn’t want to dilute the ink too much or else you lose the strong colors. So first the background. As you can see, I also integrated some iridescent inks. The water looks great!
And now I filled in the bunnies with some brown ink. Then with a Bamboo nib and cocktail stick, I began doodling in the leaves and grass stalks randomly making use of all the greens and blues I had in the India Ink range. More blue was covered where the water lies after which I scratched out areas with the end of the cocktail stick to add some texture. In some of the leaves, I added some veins with some gel pen. Then the eyes were dotted on. And now!
A simple painting again but I just wanted to experiment with painting with India Ink, something I never get to do. Although this medium has been integrated in a mixed media setting or in combination with say watercolor, I wanted to experience painting entirely with it. I think it turned out quite beautifully! The colors are so vivid and strong. Another wonderful thing is that India Ink lets you layer one after another without interfering with the colors below. I shall definitely be painting with it more. Meanwhile, I hope to see more cute little bunnies from our back garden soon!
My Kawaii Quarter 