White on Black

Draw in white on black is the challenge that Laura has put to us this week over at the Diva.  I am not sure what happens to me when I make this simple switch but just changing the ink color can stymie my progress faster than anything else.  Maybe it is just that I over think it.  Who knows.  This week though, I wanted to embrace the challenge.  Getting things started has been difficult for me these days, so I used the challenge to do something, anything no matter how it looked.

For white ink these days I have been using a dip pen and white ink from Speedball that has been thinned with some water.  The ink is great but when it isn't thinned, I have to fight with it to get the ink from the pen onto the paper.  I still have my white gelly roll pens but when I want to do a lot of drawing, not just some highlights, I go for the Speedball ink.

My first try at this week's challenge was going well.  I started with Arukas and went from there.  It was when I decided to give Athitzi a try that I jumped to a new piece.  I almost never just abandon a drawing, it is a rule of mine.  Pushing through a drawing that I am not excited with has resulted in some of my favorite designs.  Other times, a little piece that I love turns into a study for a new drawing to come.  Either way, today I didn't want to push through, I wanted to try out more Athitzi right away.  The pattern is so simple, yet I have not had good luck making it work the way I wanted it to.

So, launching onto another 5x7" of black drawing paper, I drew some circles randomly and got started.  My first circles are very controlled but I can tell when I got the hang of the pattern.  I worked quicker and the lines weren't so straight any more.  They get a little hook on the ends and while I do pick up my pen for each stroke, they touch and seem to be connected sometimes.  The dip pen worked for me here and a against me.  I like the way that the ink becomes more grey as the reserve is used up.  It makes for nice variation in the strokes and even makes over lapping strokes stand out a bit more.  Where it worked against me is my lazy hand.  I smeared this a bit by not watching where I placed my hand.  In all though, I think the smears work rather than ruin.  In the end, I think it works and I am trying to decide if they look more like dandelions or fireworks.

This is a zendala that I did a few weeks ago.  I wanted to try a larger drawing in white and black. Sorry for the odd photo.  It is too large for my scanner.  I hope you all have a great week!  Thanks in advance for stopping by and comments you leave.