"How do I use ink" Topic

I got a bottle of strong tone ink in a paints package and I would like to know how to use it. I geuss it goes on after painting, but before the varnish. Do I paint the whole figure or run it along the line between two colors. I searched ink and got a weird array of topics that had the letters I N K in them such as sink, link etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, paint the figure first, then you can do several different stages.

You can line certain areas to add a 'blackline' effect.

You can wash the ink over bits of the figure to bring out the nooks and crannies.

You can wash the ink over the entire figure, base included.

You really need to experiment on some spare figures to scale the effects against the end result you desire.

Some inks, particularly strong tone can make the end result very dull, however that may be what you want.

Some guys varnish the figure first and then apply a wash of ink, the end result is a little less 'dull'.

Some guys 'highlight' their figures after a wash of ink.

There are lots of ways. You will be bound to get more suggestions here!

link

A wash of ink will "glaze" the figure. Sometimes the effect is complimentary (dark brown ink on khaki), other times it's more dominating than you might prefer (dark brown on white).

For light colors, I often simply don't ink 'em at all and stick with drybrushing for highlight and contrast.

Use the ink neat, water it down, add it to varnish. The moral of the story I think is to experiment. I keep a piece of embossed 'stonewall' patterned plasticard for testing different concoctions on

doctor faust

YouTube link

In general inks have finer pigment than paints that stays in suspension better, but usually are translucent when dry (you can see the underlying color through the pigment of the dried ink). You can mix washes from ink just like you do with paint, by adding water so as it dries, the surface tension pulls the pigment into the recesses of the model. You can make "magic wash" by using varnish instead of water, which enhances the surface tension effect. With less thinning you can use the ink as a stain, or with no thinning as a strong glaze. Any of these preparations can be painted over the whole model or over a whole color area, or painted only into the recesses for directed shading, or along the edges of a color border for blacklining (brownlining in this case).

Anyway "strong tone ink" is probably from Army Painter and is the name for what looks like their dark brown ink wash?

Army Painter Shop, Warpaints: link

Strong Tone Ink closup link:

The picture linked above as it says is painting the strong tone ink directly over a white basecoat. This is technically a glaze since it is full strength, but Army Painter calls their inks "ink washes" and as you can see the recesses dry darker due to more pigment collecting there (the surface tension effect) so in practice it is really a stain. By thinning the ink with water you could get more contrast, with the raised areas being stained less and appearing lighter. If you thin too much the recessed areas might not be dark enough, and you would fix this by applying at least one more light coat to build up the pigment. Another way to control the contrast might be with two steps, first thinning the ink a lot and painting over the whole model, then after that is dry, painting directly into the recesses with less thinned ink (or even full strength).

Thank you all for the information you have given me.

As a side note, true inks are made from dyes not pigments. It is also quite possible to reactivate an ink that has dried when painting over it.

For tabletop, I regularly will "slop and glop" Quickshade Ink over primed figures, so the details stand out. I often use it to thin paints, as well as use it as a "controlled wash" to blackline and shade the figure. If necessary, I will wash the figure again in a shade to unify the look. Definitely keep a few drops of Ink on the wet palette alongside your paints and experiment with mixing colors and consistencies! Also, experiment with washes on monster models first. Most painters new to washes start with the brown Quickshade Ink, which works fine with unhygenic miniatures, like zombies…

Zombie tutorial
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