17 02 19 25 minutes

They are a stylistic choice.
I use a glass dip pen and Noodlers Bullet Proof Fountain Pen Ink.
I have tried acrylic ink (Dr. PH Martin Ink) and India Ink. But they dry to fast and I don't like the flow of them.

About a year ago I was drawing a little baby elephant (reference photo from here of course) and my pen flooded near the trunk. As a way of covering up the mistake and leaning into it I dipped the pen back in the ink at the end and whacked it against my hand to make splatters.

It created such a wonderful addition, the baby elephant looked like he was splashing his way through mud.



I adopted it as a part of my regular practice now.

So much of my work is carefully controlled. Even when the lines spark out and it looks wild everything is carefully placed and under control. But when I get to the splatters at the end I influence them but do not control them.

I can influence the size and shape by how I hold the pen, if I whack against hand or fingers. How much ink I put on the pen and how I angle it as I come down. But there is a level of chaos and randomness inherent in what I am doing that you canot escape from.

So I have to let go a little and fly off the cliff.

Sometimes I screw up and I get a big blotch where I don't want it. But no risk, no reward.