Everything I draw ends up wearing a bow-tie

Anonymous asked: Mod do you have any tips for getting better at inking? Im quite poor, so using what little good ink/inking pens i have to practice feels wasteful since i don't really know what I'm doing...

Actually I had the same fear of wasting materials in school when using ink and paint, and using ink with a brush can be pretty scary because you have to trust both it and yourself- you’re going to make mistakes that aren’t reversible! You have to learn to go with it and adapt those mistakes into something better, or just start over, but it’s hard to do that when you’re using something costly. What I used to practice was super concentrated black coffee. All you need is some cheap instant coffee and hot water to make it (best to let it cool down before you use it though, or it can warp the paper); the trick is to use a tonne of granules and not much water, just add it bit by bit until all the coffee is dissolved. The less water, the darker the liquid. Make yourself a little dose of it in an egg cup or something and away you go.

Try to get the solution as saturated as possible, and use a decent water colour brush- a good brush can make a good picture out of almost anything! You can also use beetroot juice, but it kinda stinks and the colour changes over time. Experiment with what you have available! It’s difficult to make a liquid as dark or permanent as ink, but this is a method for learning how to use a liquid medium; the important thing is to make your liquid medium about the same consistency as ink or watercolour, so it will get you better and more confident at using a liquid medium with a brush. That way when you want to step your game up you’ll be more familiar with the methods and less likely to make simple mistakes that could have been avoided with a little practice.

Anyway, that’s the method I used, and hey you can make some pretty great pictures using coffee! Go have fun :D