If you have ever wanted to incorporate ink into your watercolor paintings, I recommend these supplies! Watch the video below for tips on how to use them!
Below is a list of all the ink supplies used in today’s vlog. If you purchase a supply through a link listed below, I receive a small commission from the purchase. Thanks in advance for helping support Watercolor Misfit.
Why Use Black Ink with Watercolor?
My love of using ink with watercolor actually started with Inktober — doing one ink drawing every day for the month of October. Ink and watercolor pair so well together because ink is permanent once it dries, while even a dark watercolor mix like Payne’s gray, neutral tint, or black watercolor can soften or bleed a little at the edges when you paint over it later. If you want crisp, exact black lines or shapes that stay sharp no matter what you glaze on top, black ink solves that problem.
Outlining with a Micron Pen
The easiest way to outline a watercolor painting is with a SAKURA Pigma Micron pen. I like the 005 size for very fine, intricate lines.
A few tips for getting the best results:
- Ink your drawing before you paint it, not after. If you add ink at the end, it tends to bleed slightly into the paper and the lines look fuzzy instead of sharp — especially on 100% cotton papers like Arches, Fabriano, or Paul Rubens hot press.
- Let the ink dry thoroughly before painting over it. Micron ink is permanent, but it still needs time to set.
- Outlines tend to help lighter, softer illustrations (think a classic storybook look) stand out against a white background. On paintings with darker, more vibrant colors, outlining can sometimes look distracting, so I use it sparingly or just for small details in those cases.
Getting Varied Line Widths with a Dip Pen
For more variety in a line — very thin in one stroke, very thick in the next — I switch to a dip pen. There is a bit of a learning curve to controlling one, but it gives you much more range than a fixed-tip pen like the Micron, similar to calligraphy. I dip the nib into a bottle of black ink, fill the little reservoir, and draw with it directly. As with the Micron pen, let dip-pen lines dry completely before adding any watercolor on top.
Tachikawa Comic Pen Nib Holder Model 36 Pink Grip (T-36P)+ Nibs(PG-6C-C-K) https://www.amazon.com/Tachikawa-Comic-Holder-Model-PG-6C-C-K/dp/B07QWH6SX5?pd_rd_w=xl8HR&content-id=amzn1.sym.7e9f1c55-8db7-45c5-bfbf-adf1bc16de34&pf_rd_p=7e9f1c55-8db7-45c5-bfbf-adf1bc16de34&pf_rd_r=BHB5KHJA59583RDJGZKP&pd_rd_wg=PB9GH&pd_rd_r=dae85bc0-cbb4-424f-b916-6b9391a38bd0&pd_rd_i=B07QWH6SX5&psc=1&linkCode=sl1&tag=wmblogaff-20&linkId=de194744a1e067fa068c2ba5b7f4c1e5&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
Painting with Black Ink Instead of Black Watercolor
My go-to bottled black ink is Dr. Ph. Martin’s Star India Ink in matte black. I use it both in my dip pen and, for finer control, with a very tiny detail brush — that combination gives me even more control over thick and thin lines than a dip pen alone. I’ve also tried Higgins black ink and liked it, though Dr. Ph. Martin’s matte black is the one I reach for most.
One thing to know about this ink: if you lay it on thick, it develops a shine despite being labeled matte. To avoid that, I build the black up slowly in thin layers, glazing it the same way I would watercolor, until I reach the depth of black I want. That keeps the matte finish and avoids the shine.
Why reach for black ink instead of a dark watercolor mix at all? Because once it’s dry, it’s permanent — it won’t lift or soften if you glaze more color over it later. Dark watercolor mixes like Payne’s gray, neutral tint, or black watercolor can bleed slightly at the edges when painted over, softening shapes that I want to stay crisp. Painting those shapes with black ink instead keeps the edges exact.
Dr. Ph. Martin’s Star India Ink Bottle, 1.0 oz, Matte Black https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Ph-Martins-400034-XXX-Black/dp/B001UN1K2I?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.n4psZ0p70zDov-II61nkwXXIUuHviAfHDsZD8ueFbf2NIKlKiE3hvoTiVB_-5jCAfD65eoEB9rNwJp6a-d8kPjo04ckWwPC8wWckwvxBl0Z76EJbVRA4lAksXmtLfCwvqBjs4w2dAAQUb5dqUzpd-eEqP0fGLCa4ggmZBY5YsM_biXhF-0u_b0t2tzWeJPIIPkZhJcpp4x9sekoGKEU5h_tBlU64LwB3YozxGx_Nac0.yaJzvPwUYeRUBC_FRUGoAXaMJzlzkHy_xKvULEIWVF0&dib_tag=se&keywords=ph+martin’s+matte+black&qid=1730431597&sr=8-1&linkCode=sl1&tag=wmblogaff-20&linkId=886df483b15568448607c03dbd0a03cc&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
Ink Supplies Used in Video
- SAKURA Pigma Micron 005 — for crisp, fine outlines
- Tachikawa Comic Pen Nib Holder Model 36 (Pink Grip, T-36P) with PG-6C-C-K nibs — for varied thick-and-thin dip pen lines
- Dr. Ph. Martin’s Star India Ink, Matte Black, 1.0 oz — for permanent black that won’t lift once dry