Drawing Lesson 26, Part 2 – How to Draw a Boat

How to Draw a Boat – Cityscape Drawing

Video Lesson Description

In this video lesson you ill discover How to Draw a Boat. This boat is a part of London’s cityscape scenery rendered in black ink.

How to Draw a Boat – Drawing in Black Ink

When it comes to the subject of “How to Draw a Boat” in ink, keep in mind that the pen and ink drawing technique, in a way, is similar to pencil drawing. However, there are some distinct differences to consider. First is the opacity of line.

Unlike with graphite when changing pressure on the pencil will change the tone of line, black ink will always give a solid black line.

The thickness of the line will vary depending on the pen pressure. Another distinction of drawing in ink is the drying time.

Accidentally smudging a graphite pencil by hand is not as critical as doing such a mistake in ink.

In general, for this “How to Draw a Boat” lesson, you need just a few inexpensive materials for drawing in ink. The essential set of equipment can have two or three good quality metal nibs, a penholder, a bottle of ink and paper with a smooth and firm surface.

Black inks

The ink used in this “How to Draw a Boat” video lesson is Black Indian Liquid Ink, which is water-resistant but not waterproof.

There are many manufacturers offering Black Indian Ink. It is made of a carbon black pigment, also known as lampblack, which is mixed with a binder. It is up to you to decide whether to go for water soluble or permanent ink. They have similar pigments but differ in binders. Liquid Indian Ink is water resistant but soluble, while Standard Indian Ink has the binder based on shellac and withstands water well when dry.

Paper for ink drawing

Another thing to consider for this “How to Draw a Boat” ink drawing is a good support. Firm and smooth surfaces are best. Supports come with hot and cold pressed surfaces.

Hot Pressed Illustration Board is an ideal surface for ink drawing. Such paper is manufactured by passing through hot rollers. A very fine clay is used in the process. Hot rollers press the surface, making it smooth and firm, and the clay adds extra smoothness. The clay coated surface still has some absorbing quality and takes ink very well.

Cold Pressed Illustration Board has a less firm surface and therefore, ink can be absorbed faster. If the paper is not firm enough, the ink can bleed onto a fibrous surface. Unless it is your intention for lines to be softer and fuzzy, then choose a firmer paper. Also, it is much harder to erase ink from cold pressed paper; scraping it with a scalpel or using a firm eraser causes the ink to penetrate deeper under the surface of the paper.

Apart from its use as drawing paper, watercolour paper can be a suitable support as well. If you want to combine a watercolour under-painting with an ink drawing, then watercolour paper is an obvious choice. It will take watercolour paint much better than a clay-coated drawing board. I would suggest, in such a case, to go for a smaller grain type. Very rough grain paper may look impressive when watercolour covers the texture, but will be more difficult to manage when it comes to ink drawing.

How to Draw a Boat – Lines in Black Ink

In ink drawing, the density of lines plays a crucial role. Lines drawn far apart produce a lighter tone, while small gaps between lines results in darker values. However, there is a limit how close lines can be placed next to each other without ink bloating. When a darker tone is required, it is better to keep reasonable distances between lines but work in several layers in cross-hatching, making sure every layer is dry before attempting the next one.

How to Draw a Boat – Drawing Water Surfaces

When drawing still or slow running water like: lakes, rivers, pools or harbours, the reflection always looks darker than the objects, which are reflected. This happens because the light that is bouncing from the objects, is being defused when reflected from the surface of water, so less light reaches the viewer’s eyes from the reflection than originally comes from the object. Make the reflection a bit darker to keep it looking realistic.

Drawing in ink is very good practice and practice makes your skills perfect.