Thursday, April 2, 2015

Blogging A to Z: B is for Bright

April is here!! It's time for daily blogging, lots of visitors and meeting new friends.  In other words, time for the Blogging A to Z challenge hosted by Arlee Bird and his team of minions.  Thousands of other bloggers from all over the world participate in this blog hop each year, and anyone may join in as long as they blog each day during the month of April, (except Sundays) the blog posts correspond to the appropriate letter for that day, and they sign up on the link list. Simple!

One of the things I love about art is that it affords the opportunity to create colorful works.  I have never, as long as I can remember, cared a thing for pastels or neutral colors.  I like bright, stimulating colors that swirl and mix together, whether they are in the same color family or a combination as diverse as the rainbow.

I can sometimes accomplish the task with acrylic paints and my gelli printing plate as in these evelopes. Many of the colors I used in these prints are Silks acrylic glaze, which contain various minerals to give them a shimmery look, which is another dimension to art that I find appealing.


One of my favorite mediums to accomplish this is alcohol ink, which I mentioned in yesterday's post. Here and here are a few examples of how vibrant and bold these inks can be. The second link is a tutorial I wrote awhile back.


Alcohol ink works best on slick, non-porous  surfaces, such as photo paper, Yupo which is a synthetic "paper", and plastic or glass. In addition to the little bottles of alcohol ink you can purchase, there are alcohol based markers such as Copic, Spectrum Noir, PrismaColor, and even Sharpies.  The piece above was done with drops of ink shot with canned air, then highlighted with gel pens.

Most of my art projects feature bold colors, and it is my preference for home decor as well. I know there are many people who like neutrals, especially in their decor, but I am drawn to the outrageous and daring.  How about you? Do you like bold and bright or bland and boring unassuming?

8 comments:

Robyn Proctor said...

I love that second picture, it's so vibrant!

betty said...

Of course I like bold and bright! Never heard of alcohol ink. I am learning lots here :)

betty

Anonymous said...

That is a beautiful picture.

Manzanita said...

Bold and beautiful, indeed, like a South of the Border sunrise. Thank you for visiting my blog and I liked your comment.

Bushman said...

I love bright colors. My living room is 4 different colors. LOL

Bushman
2015 A to Z Challenge Ambassador
@jwb81074

Birgit said...

Alcohol inks are so great. I use them to create backgrounds for my cards. I love bold colours as well. I plan to paint my back hallway a mossy style green and the ceiling a dusty (a little grey in it) purple. So..Yes I like bold colours also

Trisha said...

Wow, such beautiful colours in this artwork! Love it!

Sandy said...

I love the colors! I love a lot of color myself however hubby doesn't so much. I did paint our front and back doors a nice turquoise color last year without telling him because I got so tired of the white. Working on getting color in other parts of the house.