Exercise Sketch...after Archie Sutter Watt by Fiona Phipps

If anyone has experience of walnut ink I would appreciate any tips, do’s and don’t’s etc. Thank you.

Never heard of walnut ink, Fiona, but like the hot colours and pen work in this.

Now this is my kind of work. I have no interest in photo realism, I like art to be original and of the kind where everyone who looks will see something different. The lane draws you right into the heat of the landscape, it’s lovely.

A really strong and powerful image Fiona, the sky is great! I’ve got walnut W&N ink, but that’s only the colour.

Like this a lot Fiona

Great colours Fiona, and spontaneous,

Full of lovely energy, Fiona.

Thanks Jenny. I like to use Indian ink but sometimes the black can be too harsh in a landscape, so I thought I would try this. I quite like it so far, need to have a play around with it. Snap Jacqueline! I like work that is loose quirky and a little bit scruffy.....thank you for your comment. Thanks very much Alan. I don’t think this is made from walnuts either, unethical these days I believe. Heather, Richard and Shirley....thank you all for your lovely comments, I enjoyed doing it.

This is a great experiment, Fiona. Love the strong pen-work and colours.

Looks like a great exercise Fiona. Good job.

Ve8ry bold Foina, I like the autumnal feel and strong definition.

I'll just echo a terrific Fiona. Distinctively you however achieved..

This is great Fiona. Love all the curves.

...and the colours

Lovely painting and autumnal colours Fiona, are walnuts inks shades of orange?

Love the energy in this.

Great depth and lovely colours.

Exciting Fiona.

Excellent painting Fiona.

Sorry Fiona. Never heard of walnut ink but I do like your sketch!

Thanks very much to you all for commenting, and for the info on walnut ink where appropriate. Hi Lesley, it’s a light to dark brown depending on the shade....like sepia I suppose.

Love these colours Fiona.

Thank you Jill.

Energy, gorgeous colours, fab.

Love the colours and the energy, Fiona.

Thanks very much Gudrun and Anne!

How do you get ink from a walnut? Sounds like the start of a joke, but whatever, you’ve created a joyfully colourful autumnal scene Fiona, and I like this sort of composition which makes me want to follow that road and see where it goes. Unfortunately we’re now in lockdown again so it’ll have to wait! 🙇🏼‍♀️

With great difficulty Tessa! I know that the husks of the walnuts, not the shell, were used once upon a time to darken hair and skin. It has a staining property to it, so I would think that the original walnut ink was probably made this way. I know a lot of the old masters used it to do their ink drawings but it fades badly. This particular walnut ink is synthetic, so it doesn’t fade....hopefully! Thanks very much for your comment.

Great movement and colour Fiona.

A very expressive work !

Shaun and Lea....thank you, your comments are very much appreciated.

Lovely Fiona like the sun😎

Thanks Dennis x

I don't think I've ever used walnut ink, I've made furniture out of walnut wood and done a salad or two with walnut oil though. I use a continuous spray thing I got off Jacksons to wash the ink off, sometimes as soon as I have put it on sometimes I leave it for a short while and then wash it off, try it on a scrap piece of paper you'll get some really interesting effects. Another one is to put salt on and then let it dry you get nice textures, if you do either of these repeatedly especially with different colours it builds up layers, especially if your inks dry waterproof like most of mine do. You may need to mask off areas with tape or fluid if you want them to stay white.

Ah, now I understand about your reference to “jet washing” your painting. I had visions of you getting the Karcher car pressure washer out! You’ve given me some good tips for using inks, I especially like the idea of applying the ink, washing off and then layering another colour on top, that must give it lots of depth. Thanks Justin, really appreciate you taking the time.

Missed this first time round, struggling to keep up! Really like this Fiona. I have some of Tom Norton’s walnut ink which I haven’t used for a while. I feel inspired to dig it out.

Wonderful bright colours, and a very interesting description. I'd never heard of walnut ink - good on you for being so experimental. As you can see am doing a huge catch-up of my favourite artists!

Many thanks Katy and Sandra.