Can You Use Acrylic Ink For Calligraphy
One of the first things that people think about when starting out pointed pen calligraphy is the supplies that you are going to need to use. Part of that is choosing the ink that best fits your needs.
So the big question that I am going to be answering today is can you use acrylic ink for calligraphy? Here is the quick and short answer to your question:
You can use acrylic ink for pointed pen calligraphy and can also be used for drawing with a dip pen. The other thing you have to consider is that you don’t have to use acrylic ink for calligraphy.
As you can see you can totally use acrylic ink for calligraphy and it all just depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for black ink, I would tell you to look into India or Sumi ink. If you are going a more colorful route you can instead use acrylic ink.
This is a summary of today’s article:
- Is Acrylic Ink The Same as India Ink
- Is Acrylic Ink The Same as Acrylic Paint
- Different Types of Acrylic Ink That You Can Use
- Options If You Don’t Want To Use Acrylic Ink
- Final Thoughts
Is Acrylic Ink The Same As India Ink
I first want to quickly go over some common questions about acrylic ink to be able to help you out. So in the next two sections, I am going to be going over two of the most commonly asked questions.
Let us get started…
So is acrylic ink the same as India ink?
Acrylic ink is not at all the same as India ink. Acrylic ink is water-based and uses different pigments to get different colors. While India ink mostly is known to be made from carbon black.
These two different types of inks are usually used for different things.
For example, acrylic ink is usually used for airbrushing. While India ink is mostly used for drawing. But these can both be used in some form of watercolor. They can also both be used to do pointed pen calligraphy.
Both Acrylic and India ink can be diluted with water to get some form of watercolor technique. Most India inks and acrylic inks are waterproof once fully dried. Meaning you can layer colors on top of them and do many other types of techniques.
As you can tell there is a difference between India ink and Acrylic ink and sometimes it just comes down to personal preferences, but they essentially can both be used for calligraphy.
Let us move onto the next question…
Is Acrylic Ink The Same As Acrylic Paint
In another tutorial, I talked about doing calligraphy with acrylic paint, but now we are talking about acrylic ink. So what is the difference between the two?
Essentially Acrylic ink is just a thinner medium than acrylic paint. From what I know these are made from around the same type of pigment and the difference is just put into a thinner substance.
Acrylic ink since is a thinner substance or more see-through and can be layered to create different colors. While with acrylic paint when you layer it you can not see the other color under it. This can either be a positive or negative, depending on what you wanting to use these for.
These two different mediums are usually used for different things. Acrylic paint is used for painting on a canvas, while acrylic ink can be used for translucent drawings and watercolor techniques.
Acrylic ink can be used for pointed pen calligraphy but not necessarily acrylic paint.
Different Types of Acrylic Inks That You Can Use
Now I am going to be going over the different brands of acrylic inks that you can use to start doing pointed pen calligraphy.
Let us first go over…
This is one of my own favorites and is great for all different types of beginners who are looking for any type of ink, this is also one of the inks I am using right now.
POSITIVES
- Has a great consistency for you dip pen
- Since it has a great consistency it has a great ink flow
- These are waterproof when dry
- Has great light fastness and is acid-free
- Comes in small sizes if you are just wanting to try a sample
- It is Great if you have a low budget
NEGATIVES
- Bottles that they come in are plastic and not the best quality
- Their metallic inks are not the best
- Colored inks might be too translucent for some people
This ink is more commonly known for doing airbrushing and watercolor, but it is possible to use this for your dip pen.
POSITIVES
- Great lightfastness
- Comes With Syringe so you are able to mix different colors
- Can be used with water
- Is Permanent and Waterproof when completely dry
NEGATIVES
- Ink can be too thick for some calligraphy nibs, but you are able to dilute it with water
- Ink flow not that great
- Can be quite expensive if you have a low budget
Options If You Don’t Want To Use Acrylic Ink
Now if you are not interested in using acrylic ink there are two types of inks that I recommend getting into.
Two of the best inks I have found are using India ink and Sumi ink. They both are usually black ink and are waterproof when dry. These are great if you are usually not used to using colorful inks.
Sumi ink is quite affordable and comes in big sizes, but the consistency at times might be too run for some dip pens.
If you want a more in-depth explanation of these two types of inks I talk more about them in this article here.
Final Thoughts
You have all just learned that you can actually use acrylic ink for you pointed pen calligraphy. This hopefully helped you when looking for calligraphy supplies and specifically your inks.
If you have any more questions feel free to comment.