Today Indian ink is used by illustrators, calligraphists, designers, cartoonists and tattooists all over the world.
It was only in the mid-17th century, when Europe began importing ink from India, that it became known as Indian ink. Black ink was known as masi in India: a mixture of different ashes, water and animal glue. In India, scribes have used needle and pen since antiquity to write many of their Buddhist and Jain scripts. Traditionally, black inks were favoured by Chinese artists who excelled in producing monochrome paintings conveying texture and emotions through ink strokes and varying shades of black and grey. These then needed to be rubbed with water to create a liquid ink. The pigment was dried into small sticks or little saucers, often using animal glue as a binder. Around 3000 BC, drawing ink appeared in China. Made from ash mixed with a binder such as water, liquid or glue, various recipes for carbon black can be found as far back in history as the ancient Egyptians and Greeks.Ī recipe by the Greek scribe Dioscorides from 40-90 AD survives to this day on parchment. The History of Indian inkĪlso known as Chinese ink, Indian ink stems from one of the oldest and most durable pigments of all time: carbon black. It flows well on paper, producing strong, crisp black lines which makes it popular across many genres. It mixes well with other colours, adding a cool, dense tint. When buying, be careful not to mix up with the Liquid Indian Ink because the packaging and design of the bottle look rather similar.Probably the most renowned ink, Indian ink is a permanent, opaque black. The bottle is only 14ml which is half the size when compared to most other ink bottles. The ink flow is nice, it's dark, dries fast but unfortunately it feathers a bit on the edges so use it with caution. When dry, it's waterproof and resistant to erasing. The major downside to the ink is it does feather a tiny bit at the edges. The ink flow is good and it dries extremely fast to a rather even wash. Winsor & Newton does state that this black ink is permanent to light. Note that the other coloured inks are dye-based and hence not lightfast. It's difficult to find information on whether this ink is pigmented, but I suppose so. They can be applied with a brush, dip pen or airbrush. The ink comes in a small 14ml square base glass bottle. Let's just focus on the Black Indian Ink. The Liquid Indian Ink is the water based solution of traditional Chinese stick ink, in short very much like sumi ink.
The Black Indian Ink is part of the Winsor & Newton Drawing Inks series which features a total 26 colours. Winsor & Newton produces two black inks: Black Indian Ink and Liquid Indian Ink.
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