What to do when the ink won’t dry?

Written by mw

Drying ink with blow-dryer.

It’s time to get out the blow-dryer.

On days when it’s really humid ink can stay damp for quite a while, especially when drawing on 100% cotton paper, it tends to take a long time to dry. And considering my drawing process includes dragging wheels across the surface of the paper that can make for a lot of smudging and ink all over.

Don’t get me wrong, I do love some smudging, hazing, and ink blobs—they are all evidence of creation and make the work richer by those imperfection of human touch. I don’t want to loose that characteristic.

Work in progress on “Scarlet.”

This time-lapse shows some of the work in progress on “Scarlet” a 26 inch diameter figure. If you watch closely you’ll see the blow dryer every so often.