Blending colour with a dip pen

Are you tired of using the standard black ink for your modern calligraphy? Not only can you write in any colour you fancy, but you can also blend the colours too to create a truly gorgeous effect.

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Lets start off with what you’ll need to achieve this affect:

• Nib of your preference (My go-to is the Nikko G nib)

• Pen holder

• Gouache

  • I have the primary colours and mix these to create the colours I like

• Good quality card for finished piece, or layout paper if you’re experimenting

• Paint brush

• Mixing pallet

• Kitchen roll

How to get started

Begin by mixing the colours you like, go easy with the gouache as you’ll only use a tiny amount! Add a sufficient amount of water to the mixed gouache so it has a watery consistency. You’ll know when you haven’t used enough water when you can’t get the ink to flow off the nib!

Now you’ve mixed your ink, use the paintbrush to paint the inside of your nib. Too much and it will drop off and too little and you wont get into a good flow.

Start writing! Now you have the first ink on the inside of your nib, use that to start your first letter, after your first letter you can introduce another colour to the back of your nib and continue to write. You’ll need to clean off your nib after about 2 colours so they don’t all blend into one

I didn’t say this was a quick process, however, it’s so rewarding once you’ve got a finished piece with lots of colour!

Reel coming soon on how I wrote this ‘Happy birthday’ card