Bister, carbon, sepia, and iron gall inks are all present in old master drawings. Discusses the manufacture and characteristics of these inks and reviews visual clues that aid in the identification of the media. Drawing inks of known composition were analyzed with x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. Case studies of examinations of ink drawings are presented to illustrate how these methods can be used together to identify inks of unknown composition. -- AATA