Snippet Day

[wayfaringwordhack]

 I meant to post this earlier but life has been tumultuous the past week and a half. I still have yet to finish this Inktober piece or sum up my thoughts on my month, but I did apply an ink wash after much hemming and hawing over whether or not I should do it. I decided that I have no experience in this and never will have if I don't take risks. So after trying to get a good photo for future reference's sake should I totally ruin the sketch with a wash, I went ahead and laid down some ink.

The wash totally changed the look of the piece and created new challenges and needs in terms of shading and darkening the values elsewhere in the piece. That is what I will be working on little by little.  

Execution aside, do you prefer it with or without the dark background?

Comments

[asakiyume]

Good for you for taking the plunge and giving the wash a try! It does make for a different effect--it's striking and makes all the details and creatures of the reef pop in a way they didn't before. Possibly, for me, it's darker than I would expect for a picture of reef life, since I think of reefs as being bright places rather than dark ones (though this impression is one I get totally from photos--I've never actually been diving at a coral reef--and the photos are probably achieved with flashes, etc.) So in that sense, maybe I like it without the wash. And yet I really love the way the wash makes the central fish stand out--he seems to be swimming toward me in a much more three-dimensional way--I like that effect. So I don't know--I think maybe I like aspects of both.

[pjthompson]

I love it.

[green_knight]

This has acquired depth and emotion - it's marvellous. I am deeply impressed with both your patience and your skills.

[rimturse]

I liked both, but like I said I think the version with the wash has more depth. :)

I'm wondering if it is possible to manipulate ink the same way you can manipulate watercolour? In which case streaks of light from above would have been cool as well. That said, I'm not sure I'd have the nerve to try after having put that much work into something. And it's a big piece, which means huge areas of washes are more difficult to control - even with layering.