Buildings and Architecture in Dip Pen and Wash. Workshop with Susan Boddy

Review by Hannah Shepherd

Susan kicked off our 2019 workshops with a fully booked
class studying buildings and architecture. The students worked using lots of
different materials including:

Dip pens with a general drawing nib

Bamboo pens

Winsor and Newton Indian ink

Cartridge paper for practicing on

Hot pressed watercolour paper for final images

A selection of watercolour brushes,

Fineliner Pens

Limited palette of Winsor & Newton watercolour paints

Susan had a full class of students and they had a very busy and productive day.

The students firstly looked at textures and the best way to create them using fineliners on cartridge paper.

They went outside into the courtyard and in front of the shop to sketch the things around them. Once they had these sketches they then chose a few to paint onto watercolour paper, starting with a wash and then adding in marks to create the textures.

Then the students worked from reference photos and put a loose wash of watercolour paint over the paper, they then used dip pens to line out their drawing. The students could then work in with further paint to darken up any areas of colour if they wished. The outlines were drawn using Indian ink – which is waterproof – with a dip pen and general drawing nib and waterproof fineliners. This allowed them to use watercolours over the top without the pen smudging.

The students had lots of reference photos to choose from and
produced some wonderful work. See a few photos from the day below.

If you are interested in coming to a workshop at Tindalls in Colchester browse our workshop list online, pop into the store or give us a call on 0330 233 3390 extension 312 for more information.