chelydra

I love the punch line. Kinda puts all our fussy pedantic technique-chatter into perspective. I guess no matter what you do (linen, rabbit skins, etc.), you can always run a car over it to complete the process.

five

Pentel ink pens -- she said it earlier.

Not everything I do pretends to be archival. I did a series of pieces with graphite on newspaper as the substrate several years back because I want them to age into that yellowish look; it's about time to open it back up and see how the aging is going. I plan to enclose them later floated in some kind of laminate or acrylic fluid that hardens and solidifies, though I have not figured out what yet. Newspaper, though, will keep for a long time if properly maintained.

I am going to have to find a time and place (press) to try viscous printing, too. Another thing to add to the list. Ages ago, I did colored monoprints with watercolor where the layers of paint manage to occupy different layers on the plate and then on the print without being mush. Interesting how that worked out. If you want to give this a try, get a piece of plexi, scratch the surface with sand paper, apply YES glue and let it dry. Paint on it (in the reverse order of the colors you want to sit on top of the print, e.g. bottom colors on the plate end up top colors on the print (more or less, there is some bleed through). Wet good quality printing paper (BFK, Arches, etc.) and run the plexi plate through the printing press (you have to adjust the pressure as it's not a metal plate). Or drive over it with the car (cheap press for relatively small plates).

chelydra

There are a lot of different inks, and it seems likely you're using a kind that either doesn't have additives (like shellac, to make India ink waterproof), or else maybe it's the additives that are binding the ink with the other stuff. Whatever you're doing, it seems to work. Might be a good idea to share the specific kind of ink you were using in case anyone else wants to try it. (I can't visualize what you're describing so I can't try it. Same applies to Qsilv's riff on gossamer asphaltum.)

inked_gemini

It's actually a pretty archivally sound process. I’ve never had an issue with the ink drying and flaking off. On the first picture I did using this method, I used a fixative (btw, the fixative I use is hairspray—don’t judge me). But I haven’t used any since, and the pictures I’ve done are still intact and without any color fading or cracking. I rarely just leave a layer of ink on top of the oil, though. Usually I use tortillons or even Q-tips to blend the two media together. They actually blend really well which is why I like to work with this specific combination of mixed media. It allows for subtle shading without sacrificing the vibrancy of the colors.

I’ve tried this with soft core pencils which are wax based. It works equally as well. The only problem is that if I choose not to cover the entire pencil layer with ink, I end up with serious wax bloom issues. Then I absolutely have to use a fixative which I would prefer not to do.

five

Don't be quiet

I like sharpies! I used them to ink in animations once upon a time, then discovered I liked cut paper animation better. A bit crazy, multiple sessions of 12 hours under the camera for 30 seconds to a minute of film, or something like that. But I really liked the way it flowed and the in the zone process of moving the small pieces bit by bit.

Description of your method sounds interesting. I've not used oil based pencils. My only question would be how archival using ink on top of oil based media is.