Writing on water.

This is the fountain pen version of watercolor’s wet-in-wet technique. I use a dropper bottle (bought at Beabi) with a narrow opening to draw lines and shapes, then attempt to make sense of the water squiggles with ink. If you don’t have a dropper bottle, you can also paint lines with a brush, or use a disposable syringe (without the needle).

I fall into patterns when I draw, and doing this introduces random beginnings to a drawing, so I don’t get trapped by my hand’s habits.

And this is what it looked like after all the water dried:

Written on water
Written on water

I like how it still changes as the water evaporates. It’s a two-part surprise: the first while it’s being done, the second after it dries. I used Clairefontaine Drawing paper (83lb), a Wahl 5 and an Omas Milord with a Mottishawed nib.