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Home | Exhibitions | Barocci: A lesson in drawing | Barocci Drawings: MediaInks have a double use in Italian Old Masters drawings. They can either be applied straight onto the paper with a pen to trace the lines of a drawing, or they can be diluted with a solvent, made mainly of water mixed with a binding medium, and applied with a brush to increase tonality, volume and shadow. In the latter use they are named washes. Iron gall inks were the most popular in Italy, but carbon-based inks were used as well and preferred by northern artists. Ink tints are more resistant than dry media techniques (chalks, charcoal and pastels) and both Cennini and Vasari suggest combining them with lead white heightening to create ‘chiaroscuro’ effects.