Advice on Line and Wash

This discusses some of the issues raised in the previous post:

"Line and Wash:  This is probably the most common combination of media in use in children's book illustration, allowing as it does for so many different approaches to drawing and colour.  The balance between the respective roles of the line and the wash will vary greatly from one illustrator to another.  In some instances the line will be used to convey most of the information, including tonal values, with colour being used as a flat background that would make little sense on its own.  By contrast, other artists will describe most of the form of the image with washes and use the line only to strengthen and clarify.  It is important to be clear about the balance between these roles as they can duplicate each other, leading to an image becoming fussy and overworked.

"The colour of the line is important, too.  It may be black, if you intend to give the drawing greater prominence, or you might choose to use a neutral-coloured line to play it down a little in relation to the colours in the washes.  Alternatively, you might use different-coloured ink lines for different areas of your design, blurring the boundaries between drawing and painting, and bringing elements forwards through the use of warmer colours.

"A perennial problem with line and wash is what sort of paper to use.  A surface that takes a line really well is rarely ideal for a wash, while a good watercolour paper is usually too soft and absorbent to take a line well.  I find that the best compromise is a stretched hot-pressed watercolour paper, or a thick, good-quality drawing paper."

from Illustrating Children's Books by Martin Salisbury (2004), pp44-45