White ink is all the rage and for good reason – It is crisp, fresh and can be used on a variety of surfaces to add romantic flair to any project. I love using white ink when addressing wedding envelopes but it definitely took some trial and error before I got the ink just right. Below are a few tips worth mentioning before you get started with white ink.
- Make sure you’re using quality paper – Check out our previous post for our favorite types of paper. Papersource is always a good option for a smooth textured paper which goes well with white ink.
- Obviously enough {but important to mention!} make sure you get paper dark enough for the white to really pop. This does not always have to be black or navy! Try out a few different colors and tones and see what works best for your purposes.
- White ink has very thick particles so make sure you’re using a clean nib that has not started to dull so you can get the finest hairline possible.
- If the ink is too runny/thin you can add thickener to it – if you are using our preferred white ink, we recommend using our thickener as the line of inks in our shop don’t pair well with gum arabic.
- Likewise if the ink is too thick and acts more like paint, I recommend adding a little bit of water at a time, until the ink flows freely from the nib without too much pressure. If you press too hard, all the ink will come right out. If you have to press really hard and little to no ink is flowing, then you haven’t thinned out the ink enough. **Add the water SLOWLY – if you put too much water, the white will lose its opacity (ie, it will not show up on dark colored paper, you’ll see the paper through the ink)**
- You don’t want any unnecessary pencil marking on your work so writing straight on dark paper can be accomplished with the phantom liner from our shop.
How else have you used white ink? What projects have you been working on?
