Review #2: Daniel Smith Walnut Ink for Sketching

A few years ago, I invited my friend Marvin Chew to review the Daniel Smith Walnut Ink. Recently, at an art store, I saw a few bottles and bought one to try since they were selling at rather affordable prices.

My friend's review focused more on painting with the ink. My review will be more on using the ink for drawing or sketching.

The instruction says that it's good for brushes and dip pen. This bottle has a 59 ml capacity so that should last for a good time.

This ink is a water-based sepia coloured ink. There are nice gradations that can be seen even within the lines. That has got to do with how much ink was deposited. The more ink that's on the paper, the darker the lines will be.

The ink is not particularly dark. So if you're writing or drawing with a fine tip, the lines may appear too light. The pen that I'm using creates broad lines and deposits more ink to make them look darker.

You can use glazing or layering techniques but subsequently layers are only slightly darker. The difference in values between layers is not obvious so layering techniques isn't that suitable for use with this ink.

The ink writes very well. Ink flow is good. And you can see the gradations in colours due to how you handle your pen.

Overall, the Daniel Smith Walnut Ink lends a vintage look to drawings. And it's quite cool to use once in a while to break the rhythm of drawing with black ink.

Note that this ink is not waterproof so it's not suitable for use with watercolour.

Availability

You can find the ink through the following Amazon links:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp