Ink and wash question

[1972Lt1]

If you thin an ink will it behave like a wash (settle into recesses) or willit just be thinned ink and cover everything? Is there a way to make an ink behave like a wash? I have Vallejo and P3 ink.

 

[Zab]

Thin it like a wash and and then just use your finger, a cloth or a damp brush to wipe it off the high areas. But yes inks do tend to tint the surface they cover slightly even when thinned. Also they can be very glossy Hope that helps.

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

Don't let GW's crafty labeling fool you, my friend. There is nothing chemically different about a wash, AFAIK. To me, washing is a verb, not a noun. You can mix a wash with anything, it just requires sufficient dilution. Just like GW Glaze paints aren't anything special either, just a crafty name given to diluted paints. I think that inks tend to be higher gloss than normal acrylic paints. That is probably the sole difference. Seriously, don't put too much stock in the names of these paints-they are all just diluted differently, some may be more matte or gloss or satin, but the same hold true for different colors of regular (non-ink, non-wash) acrylic paints.

So there is nothing about a wash that programs it to fall into recesses without overly tinting the entire surface-other than dilution. So if you dilute an ink similarly, you should have similar results. Some inks from some companies are very high in pigment. This, combined with glossiness, means that you may have to dilute it A LOT.

 

[MAXXxxx]

Don't let GW's crafty labeling fool you, my friend. There is nothing chemically different about a wash, AFAIK. To me, washing is a verb, not a noun. You can mix a wash with anything, it just requires sufficient dilution. Just like GW Glaze paints aren't anything special either, just a crafty name given to diluted paints.

sooo true.

I think that inks tend to be higher gloss than normal acrylic paints. That is probably the sole difference.

There is 2 more. They tend to be more transparent when dry, but also more pigmented giving stonger colors.

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Also a neat tip from... around 2004 or so from GW itself. Mix ink with PVA and water (about 1(ink or paint):1(pva):10(water)).
Because of the glue it tends to settle stronger in the recesses, making it excellent for shading the deepest parts.

 

[AndyG]

One trick with inks is thin them a lot and add a tinny dot of washing up liquid (I mean a very tiny dot!) this helps break the surface tension and it goes into the recesses more than the flatter surfaces. On the whole though I find the inks very shiny and tend only to use them on things like smooth worn leather were you tend to get more of a natural shine on the material.

 

[Stewsayer]

I agree with most of the above.

Pre-mixed washes are different than home made ones in that they have additives in them to improve paint flow and break surface tension. But nothing you can't do yourself as AndyG has pointed out.

Inks make great washes. They tend to be close to thin enough and flow off the brush well and into recesses well. They do have brighter colours and are more transparent. And they do dry glossy. But you can always reduce the glossiness with a coat of matte varnish or matte medium. My experience with inks is that they don't form as good a skin as paints. They can reactivate if you get the surface too wet this can lead to tearing of the ink layer or movement and mixing of the ink pigment with your subsequent paint layers. You can avoid this by allowing them to fully dry (it takes a couple of days) and sealing the ink coat with varnish (gloss or matte).

 

[1972Lt1]

Thanks for the answers everyone. I ran into an issue when using the new gw retributor armor gold with the old wash Gryphone sepia. It was almost the same shade as the gold when dry. Brown ink was a little closer to the new wash, but I couldn't figure how to get it to behave like a wash and just inhabit the recesses. Thanks for the tips!