Jackson’s Art Black Indian Ink

Indian Ink in 50ml Bottle With Dropper

Going straight to first impressions, the 50ml bottle with dropper is not a good idea for Indian ink. It has a child safety cap, the one you need to press down and twist, which takes a while to open.

The issue is that you need to press the small cap down with quite a bit of force. Many times I ended up twisting but not opening.

Once you manage to open the bottle, you will find out that the bottle neck is too narrow and tall, so it is not possible to use a dip pen as it is, and you would need to pour the ink into some other dish. The dropper is not long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle either, so you will be struggling to get the ink out when you are at the point of running out.

Ink is formulated with a base of high-quality shellac, which I am assuming is what makes it slimy. I’ve never come across ink that would form a string of sliminess before, imagine melted cheese on your pizza.

Ink wash – Wet on Dry

An ink wash of pure undiluted ink has a nice solid texture, and you can create a flat wash easily. It leaves some shiny spots, so it may not be the ink if you are after the matte finish.

When it is diluted down with water, the sliminess leaves streaky marks behind, which I personally don’t like, but I can see how it may be handy to use in creating some textures. When ink is diluted and applied to dry paper, you can see curdling in some spots but not much. It is almost invisible unless you are closely examining your drawing.

Ink wash – Wet on Wet

Here it gets very interesting. There are some Indian inks that curdle when mixed with tap water, and you should be using distilled water only, but some don’t. This one is in the curdling group. You can create the lovely texture of stones or exploded galaxies. Artist Stephanie Law is, or at least was, using the curdling technique a lot in her artwork. Depending on the type of water, you can curdle ink a little or a lot, so playing with it is definitely worth it.

Using Dip Pen

So far, I was not very impressed with the ink, I must say, and was starting to think that this one is one of the worst inks I’ve ever used. All has changed when I used a dip pen.

The pen was gliding on the paper so smoothly that it was a joy to draw with it. The ink was drying at just the right speed – not too fast but not too slow either, leaving beautiful lines behind. I would definitely recommend this ink for line work with a dip pen.

Conclusion

• Pure Indian ink wash looks nice and has shiny spots
• Diluted ink wash leaves streaks
• Can be curdled for creating textures
• Line work with a dip pen is impressive
• It is resistant to erasing
• Lightfast – not sure yet, testing is needed
• Waterproof and Brushproof – great to use with watercolours

From Manufacturer

• Rich deep black colour
• Permanent, dries to a water-resistant film
• Formulated with a base of high-quality shellac
• Suitable for use with dip pens – not the fountain pens, brushes, and airbrush