Interesting drawing technique using water

Yesterday, Cory reviewed Emmanuel Guibert's graphic novel Alan's War: The Memories of G.I. Alan Cope. In the comments, J Meyers pointed to this video of Guibert's interesting drawing technique.

[#1 posted by 99centmenu , October 29, 2008 10:57 AM]

that was insane!

[#2 posted by JuliANSR , October 29, 2008 11:03 AM]

Interesting? It's pretty common to us painters. I gleaned this technique from my undergrad intro to 2D studio with india inks or watercolor. Natch, it makes me nostalgic.

[#3 posted by ZippySpincycle , October 29, 2008 11:12 AM]

Once again, boingboing advocates wasting perfectly good water in the name of "art."

Have you people no shame?

[#4 posted by dragonfrog , October 29, 2008 11:14 AM]

Well, it's interesting to me - seeing as how I lack an undergrad intro to 2D studio...

[#5 posted by zikman , October 29, 2008 11:21 AM]

why, that's only water...he's not even painting anything. this is ridiculous! he's mad! it'll never...

oh! how magnificent

[#6 posted by KevinC , October 29, 2008 11:30 AM]

I seem to remember seeing this as one of the 'end of the world' prediction on the web bot project.

[#7 posted by t3hmadhatter , October 29, 2008 11:33 AM]

it seems almost like throwing bones (a future prediction process) and making art.

[#8 posted by ST , October 29, 2008 11:35 AM]

That is fantastic! Like watching a black and white print come up in the developing tray, only... even more "magic".

I can't wait to show this to my kids.

[#9 posted by tomaq , October 29, 2008 11:55 AM]

I too wish to show this to my offspring.

Can somebody tell me the name of the device the artist is using?

I mean, is it a Water Pik, or what...?

[#10 posted by shutz , October 29, 2008 11:56 AM]

Could someone who knows how this is done provide some specifics?

JulianSR mentions India ink or watercolor, but does something need to be done to the ink or watercolor for this to work? Is a special kind of paper required?

Anything else we should know about this technique in order to make it work?

[#11 posted by Kawentzmann , October 29, 2008 12:10 PM]

Wow, cool extension to Warhol’s blotted lines!

[#12 posted by JamesMason , October 29, 2008 12:22 PM]

I second #9 and #10 - how do you do it?

I have a sneaking suspicion that the "brush thing" is hooked to a $1000 coffee machine - thus the link to BB...

Or perhaps the "ink" is really strong espresso?

[#13 posted by Anonymous , October 29, 2008 2:22 PM]

you should be able to rock this with plain speedball indian or acrylic inks- just wet up your paper with a brush or whatever that guy had... (non-absorbant paper would probably give you a longer time to "draw", watercolor paper would absorb the water too fast- bristol maybe?) then drop in that ink. i've done similar stuff but never a whole drawing like that- cool!!

[#14 posted by thievedrelic , October 29, 2008 2:37 PM]

yeah, you don't need any gimmicks to pull this technique off...basic watercolor like was already said. you can lay down the water with a clean paintbrush, and then use another presumably sullied one to flood color into it.
like an unstoppable rebel force.

[#15 posted by JuliANSR , October 29, 2008 3:19 PM]

I'm not sure what the tool he's using is, but i use a regular paintbrush and draw away. his looks more efficient since i have to re-wet more. the tool he's using looks like a small necked ink bottle with a small piece of a sponge on the tip. it can be made, but a decent Japanese calligraphy brush will do wonders for $2.00.

nothing has to be done to the inks, etc. the inks used are India or permanent inks (water based)and can be bought at most hobby places or art stores.

I use illustration board because it has a plush/absorbent top layer that absorbs a lot of ink which keeps it from looking too washed out, but also a thick backing that keeps the paper from warping when it dries. It's about 9$ for a big sheet. most paper will work, but Illus. board is designed for this kind of thing. I should also note that Illus. Board is pretty good about keeping a solid line without allowing too much spreading of the water/ink).

you're looking to get a slightly beaded/raised line of water on the top of the paper. that way when you add the ink it can flow freely along the paths you've drawn. If you leave portions as thinner water you end up with feathering off, as you can see at 0:53 in the video. this can be used intentionally to create gradients of fading color.

Sometimes watercolorists/inkers will give an entire sheet of paper (or large area) a wash of water and then add color. this keeps the watercolor/ink from creating paintbrush edge lines with ever stroke of color...allowing colors (one or many) to be spread across a surface without creating distracting lines or 'hot spots' of uneven pigment. Then after that layer dries it's possible to go back and re-wet/redraw the foreground images.

something I've done too is to create a line with water and then add multiple pigments to different areas/ends of it. they mix according to the science of osmosis, and can make very beautiful shifting color along the drawn line. you can somewhat hand-control the mixing by 'nudging' the inks in specific directions witha brush/stick/paperclip...whatever you've got.

the same can be done for larger wet areas.

when you get the paper wet like this, you want it to be done on a flat surface, and let it dry flat, too. Otherwise colors will run. If you are overzealous with the wetting, it can take longer to be dry, if you are overzealous with pigment you may have a little pigment dust left on the surface once it is dried.

with the inks: a little can go a long way. experiement on a blank sheet for a while to get the feeling of how much water and ink you really need.

ps. i love you mark & boing boing. didn't mean to sound so curt in my first comment, I've been known to experience a little human emotion called jealousy when someone else is lauded for something I take for granted ;)

[#16 posted by Anonymous , October 29, 2008 4:40 PM]

I feel sorry for the little bird he's using to draw with.

[#17 posted by anthony , October 29, 2008 5:29 PM]

It's a Batik tool-in this case operating as a very crude fountain pen.

[#18 posted by anthony , October 29, 2008 5:47 PM]

I've seen similar techniques used to illustrate the "aesthetic moment" in art classes. It's effective 'cause it's so captivating.

[#19 posted by Takuan , October 29, 2008 5:53 PM]

tjanting tool.

[#20 posted by sammich , October 29, 2008 8:41 PM]

Takuan @ 19 - really? cool! My tjanting tools are all brass and wood - I've not yet come across one like this - how long does a plastic tjanting tool keep the wax flowing?

[#21 posted by Takuan , October 29, 2008 9:09 PM]

mmm, could be silicone.. don't know really

[#22 posted by Anonymous , October 30, 2008 1:47 AM]

I'm surprised by the reaction this video get, don't all people do this? Maybe not creating drawings, but diffusion is a useful tool.

I do this when drawing and also in watercolour, where I use multiple colours inside a shape. I use a brush, a bamboo pen, a glass pen (hard to describe, but its a glass piece thats has been spiraled so that it can hold water, thin paint or ink on the ridges outside the pen, flowing down to the tip) or one of those rubber things you use to flush out earvax, to apply the water. Then you can add different colours at different places inside the shape and see them create beautiful patterns, when the water gets saturated with one paint, new paint can't flow there.

And no, you don't have to do anything special with the paint. This is how diffusion works (don't forreign (= not Swedish) kids learn anything useful from school, like really really elementary physics).

[#23 posted by AlfonsoElSabio , October 30, 2008 8:51 AM]

@19,@20,@21 ...

I think you meant "jaunting tool" ...

[#24 posted by Evil Jim , October 31, 2008 12:57 AM]

That was incredible. My jaw just dropped when he added the drop of ink.

[#25 posted by badger , October 31, 2008 9:37 AM]

I realize that this is old hat for some of you, but I've only happened on this technique on accident and it usually involves ruining my picture and swearing a lot. I have never seen someone use it to make an entire picture much less an entire book. That was really cool