a question for mr.sakai about ink

gunblade007 · Post by **gunblade007** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 18:23 -0700

hello mr.sakai,
i was wounding what kind of ink do you use on usagi yojimbo. all the ink i use makes a mess and it looks awful and if i touch it. it gets all over the picture. i like to know the name of it so i can go to the store and buy it. and if i ever get my web comic started would you visit the site? i'll post a message with the link when i get started thanks again.

Stan Sakai · Post by **Stan Sakai** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 1:25 -0700

I use Badger Black Opaque ink. It can be difficult to find because it uses a different distributor than most inks. It is also used for airbrushes, so it flows nicely out of a pen. It is also nice and black and waterproof. This ink is the old FW ink formula. FW changed to an acrylic base but I disliked the results, so complained to the company. They pointed me toward this Badger.

An alternative ink would be Higgins Black Magic.

takematsu · Post by **takematsu** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 15:25 -0700

My experience is as a (western) calligrapher rather than artist, but I also had problems with ink until I started using Pelikan Colors (Pelikan is the company name). It's very good running through calligraphy pens, and dries fairly firm. I also blot any shiny-looking patches with one of those malleable "gomme" erasers.

Choice of surface may also be a problem-- if there's soo much sizing on the paper, the ink will just sit on top. Oddly enough, the higher-quality bond paper for printers is an offender in this area. Again, for calligraphy, I use a smoother-than-medium grain watercolour paper, above 80-pound weight. Perhaps Sakai-sensei could comment on appropriate papers for the artist?