Fish in Ink

 After a bit of stress toward the end of the week I was ready to get to Illustration class and unwind in an enjoyable class. After a bit of lecture, and looking at works of the "artist of the week" we were set to try a new technique. Today we would be working with ink.
 A paper was set before us and the instructor brought out some ink bottles. "First off, I want you to take your paper and set it on the floor. Now stand over your paper and drop some ink down onto it. Pick it up and shake it around a little- don't be afraid to let it drip. See what it does here? Neat huh?"
 Hooray! We get to make a mess! haha
 I personally love ink splotches and paint blotches. Things that look unintentional but are fully a part of the overall design. I remember having fun with paint on the walls of the garage, standing back and flinging paint everywhere just to get the blotchy-streaky look that came with flinging colors on a blank wall. There is no control, only chaos that creates an artistic feel.
 While the ink splatters dried everyone was given a ball point pen and a sheet of fish to reference and draw. There would be no underline sketch in pencil just the unforgiving ink that would become a finished sketch. By this point I've already become a "master" at ballpoint doodles. The evidence fully clear in my school notebooks that have pages upon pages of scrawled ink doodles along the margins of my notes or full pages when my brain just doesn't want to cooperate with the shorthand note taking.
 So I set to work immediately, working in light gestures and darkening areas with hatching and cross hatching. The real fun began when we were given a paint brush and told to use it to wash the ink across the fish. I remembered this technique from last semester in Drawing I when we were using ink washes to play with value. I loved working with the ink wash so once again my hand flew madly across the page bringing the fish to life with an almost watercolor feel.
 Then came the next experiment- drawing a fish in sharpie! I used to use sharpie for outlining work, but never to draw with straight on a paper. I will admit I didn't like the outcome, but what came next sparked some interest. Instead of using water to bleed out the ink- we used rubbing alcohol! It was an interesting concept and some of the other students had some really awesome results. However my own experience left me feeling less than excited over my drawing. But it gave me a new medium to experiment with none the less.
 "Now take your ink that you dropped on the floor and incorporate a fish with it using one of these techniques."
 It took me a long time to decide what to do. I stared at the blotches- I loved my blotches! Why did I have to draw an ugly fish with them? HOW could I incorporate the blotches with a fish? I had a hard time trying to decide what to do and finally resigned to draw a simple fish swimming below the blotches. I chose to use the ink wash with water since my first fish turned out so well. It was fun, but I don't think that the idea of incorporating the blotches worked too well. I will just have to try again! But I still love the results :D