Description
Black Inks Guide:
| Colour | Temperature | Wiping | Plate Tone | Recommended Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portland Black PBk9, PB29 |
Neutral | Easy | Moderate | Highly recommended for etching, drypoint, aquatint, mezzotint and engraving processes. |
| Portland Cool Black PBk7, PBk9, PB29 |
Cool | Easy | Moderate | Highly recommended for etching, drypoint, aquatint, mezzotint and engraving processes. |
| Portland Stiff Black PBk9, Pbk29 |
Neutral | Moderate | Moderate | Recommended for etching, drypoint, aquatint. Highly recommended for mezzotint and engraving. |
| Bone Black PBk9 |
Warm | Easy | Light | Highly recommended for etching, drypoint, aquatint, mezzotint and engraving processes. |
| Carbon Black PBk9 |
Warm | Hard | Heavy | Needs additives to work well for etching, drypoint, aquatinit, mezzotinit and engraving processes. |
| Graphite Natural Graphite |
Gray | Easy | Heavy | Recommended for etching, drypoint, aquatint, mezzotint. Needs additives for engraving. |
The Portland Black Inks were developed specifically for edition printers who want inks with excellent working characteristics. They offer printmakers:
- Deep rich blacks.
- Great sensitivity to line and detail.
- Total control of plate tone.
- The most potential for subtle value shifts.
Portland Black: Formulated to wipe with ease, offers a moderate level of plate tone ideal for creating subtle value shifts, and still prints sensitive plates like drypoint beautifully. This ink will be the choice of those doing edition printing, and those working in schools that need an ink for general printing techniques. Portland Black is neutral in colour.
Portland Cool Black: Cool in colour with the same working properties as Portland Black.
Stiff Portland Black: Ideal for engravers, printers of mezzotints, or others who need more resistance from their ink.
Bone Black: A traditional black that is warm in colour, wipes easily, and leaves very light plate tone. The combination of the light plate tone and easy wiping makes it less suited to works that require a subtle value range and ideal for work that requires strong contrasts.
Carbon Black: A silvery, dense black with a heavy plate tone. It is one of the most difficult black inks to wipe but remains in favour due to the strong, deep blacks it can produce. Like Bone Black it also has a warm plate tone.
Graphite: Makes prints look like pencil drawings – low contrast and a great sensitivity to the grey scale.
**Note: As printmakers develop their own preferences for the qualities of an ink that print their plates best, this information should be considered a guideline.
Black Ink for MONOTYPE and MONOPRINT
Either Gamblin Etching or Relief Inks can be used for monotype.
Etching inks work best for reductive techniques where the image is revealed by wiping or scraping ink from the surface of the inked plate. This is because etching inks are stiffer than a relief printing ink and inherently want to remain on the surface of the plate, which allows the artist to have more control over how much ink is removed.
When using an additive process Relief Inks may be a better fit as they are softer than etching inks and will transfer even the faintest of ink tones. Relief Inks also work extremely well with a brush or knife.
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