Awesome Ink

Did you know that putting ink from a ballpoint pen on the tail of a leaf turns it into a tiny, self-propelled boat? Science educator Steve Mould digs into this phenomenon and explores the chemistry and physics at work to make these leaf boats move and leave a trail of ink on the surface.

Artist Roman De Giuli created this fascinating experimental short film by dropping metallic paints and inks into a fishtank. Using 4-axis motion control and zooming in to 5x magnification, he captured the ethereal imagery. It looks even more impressive if you have a display with HDR support.

Artist Edson Aurélio Hudson shows off his improvisational abilities by tossing some random hardware soaked in ink onto a sheet of paper, then incorporating those blobs of ink as the foundation for an imaginative illustration. See more of his improvised images in this compilation video.

Artist Roman De Giuli created this abstract interpretation of the skies and heavens not by pointing his camera upwards, but down at wet pieces of paper where he manipulated watercolors, inks, and acrylic paints. The darker colors with the sparkles really do look like space.

Artist Dr.Bks Varma shows off a remarkable drawing technique, in which he takes a cotton thread saturated in india ink, and uses its tip to draw solid lines, and its edge to create feathered shading. Watch him create another string and ink portrait here.

If you take a felt tip marker and whip it fast enough, some ink will come out and create a spatter. The Slow Mo Guys decided to take this idea and amp it up by building a multi-pen spinner rig for a power drill, then let the ink fly in front of high-speed cameras. It’s a great way to make modern art too.

Artist Dino Tomic shows off a cool effect he achieved using a two pens – drawing one layer with permanent ink, and another with ink that disappears when heated. The result is a secondary image that reveals itself as the lighter passes over it.

Thomas Blanchard creates eye-popping visuals by spilling acrylic inks into a large vat, then capturing their movements in slow motion. In MYST, he introduces geometric and letter forms for the colorful inks to flow over with stunning results. Check out more of his work on Vimeo.

The end result is cutesy but this artist’s ability to paint a snake without lifting his brush from the paper is just as mesmerizing as a real serpent slithering in front of our eyes. (Thanks Bebba W.)