Polar bear

With white being dominant for this bear, the ink was diluted to create paler washes that better re ect this and let the luminance of the paper show. The bulk of this was drawn in Turquoise, Deep Green, Raw Sienna and Purple. Because most of the ink was diluted, it uses a light tonal range with paler shadows.

Drybrush textures with dilute ink

Again, the fur textures were produced by using dry brush techniques, this time with a larger, at hog hair brush. The brush was a little wetter this time, as the ink is quite diluted and wouldn’t show very well if it were more thinly applied. To produce the idea of white fur, the shadows need to be applied in a way that leaves the white of the paper showing through.

Mixing blacks from colour inks

The few dark areas in this drawing, such as the paws, eyes and mouth, need to appear black, but using neat black ink is too dark in comparison to the light colours. Here Raw Sienna was mixed with brown-red and deep green. Red and green inks tend to mix well to create neutral greys, and a little Raw Sienna helps warm it up to unify it with the rest of the colour scheme. ▫

Drawing with a natural stick

To tighten up the shape of the bear and add some extra denition to detailed areas like the paws and face, extra line work was added in a few places. This was done with a twig, which has a more uneven ow of ink from it, making it great for producing broken lines. I didn’t want to outline the entire body, as it would likely reduce the appearance of light in the image.