Ink Resist Art Technique - Washing away the Ink

Ink resist art techinque involves the use of permanent black ink, tempera paint, watercolor paint, gouache paint or acrylic paint.  Ink is being wash away using a water bath as show above.  With a little bit of scrubbing with a large brush, most of the ink is being washed away with another change of water.

Ink Resist Art Technique - Painting being soak into water with ink almost gone.

The above photo shows the ink almost all gone.  Because I have used a green tempera paint as the layer between the paper and the permanent ink, a faint green underpainting is seen due to the fact that not the entire green color can be removed by washing.  A white tempera paint should be used if you want no background shade to be left on the ink resist painting.

Ink Resist Art Technique - Painting left to dry completely

At this stage, the watercolor paper is lifted out of the water bath and hang up to dry.  As show above, where the frisket was, a permanent black outline is shown.   Other areas of india ink and tempera has been washed away.  There is also hints of black shades on some areas of the painting which is normal and is a characteristic of the ink resist art technique.  If watercolor is used after it is dry, some of these black area will show underneath the watercolor paint.

After the paper is dried completely, watercolor, guache or acrylic paint can be applied.

Ink resist watercolor - Washing the Ink away using water bath

Ink resist art techinque involves the use of permanent black ink, tempera paint, watercolor paint, gouache paint or acrylic paint. After the permanent ink and all the ares are dry, the watercolor paper is put into a water bath to wash away the ink and tempera color.  The ink other than the ones on the lines can be removed because it has been painted on top of the tempera paint.

Watercolor ink resist - Washing away the ink with brush

I have my watercolor paper inside a stainless steel pan which I got from my darkroom.  You can use any plastic tray the size of the paper or even do it in a bath tub.  I use a large brush for washing away the ink.

Watercolor Ink Resist - Washing the ink away

After several change of water, most of the ink is washed away and permanent lines (where the frisket was) beginning to show.   The ares on the corners need more work and a few more change of water should do the trick.