Danson pen and ink drawing 81 x 42 inches white and black pen on paper tinted rich brown

Drawing of my friend Danson – again, white and black ink pen on tinted paper. In this piece, I really LOVE the color I painted on the paper. It was so luscious I hesitated to draw over it. I’ve been layering up these colors, mixing pigment suspensions in water and using a spritzer to apply the color and a squeegee to gently smooth the liquid over the paper. I’ve discovered that the application of several layers of different color gives a livelier and more interesting surface than trying to hit it in one shot. Also — everything seems to work best if I dampen the loose sheet with color quite thoroughly, then apply vacuum to suck the sheet flat, then tape it down while it’s still very damp. I leave the vacuum running on low until the drawing is complete and as the paper dries, it shrinks slightly and becomes taut and flat.