A Tutorial on Alcohol Inks

Given my lack of technical savvy, I figured it would be easiest for me to do pictures and written instructions. A few of my friends asked to know how I created my alcohol ink creations, so this is how I did it. I am not very experienced in this art form, but it is so fun and unpredictable that anyone can get similar results.

Supplies:

• Gloss paper, yupo, transparency film, metal....just about any nonporous surface
• Alcohol ink (Adirondack, Piñata, or any alcohol ink marker refills such as copic)
• Blending solution (or alcohol)
• Applicator and felt pads
• Needle tip bottles
• Compressed air or air compressor with fine nozzle

Here are all my tools and supplies. I don't have alcohol markers yet, so my color selection is limited, but if you have Copies or other alcohol ink markers, you could add them, as well.

 Here is the paper I am using today. It is called Gloss Paper,

 Here are a couple other options. Those who do a lot of AI work talk a lot about yupo paper, I only recently got some and have not had a chance to try it yet.

 Here is the postcard I am working on. I dropped raspberry ink and sprayed gently with the compressed air. Do not shake the can, and keep it as upright as possible.

 Here I dropped some salmon ink and sprayed again.

 This is with citrus drizzled on through the little needle bottle.

 I added some watermelon to the centers of the pink, but it spread fast, and I ended up spraying it as well.

 Because the watermelon was more red than I wanted, I put blending solution on a felt pad and dabbed it over and over just on the pink areas. The blending solution will pick up some of the ink, and if you mix pink and green, it is not a pretty color!

 Here I put some blending solution into another needle bottle and touched it to the green areas. I kept working it until I had it like I wanted it. I will go back later and use my gel pens to highlight or outline various areas.

 The next piece has basically the same technique only I used piñata lime green and added a drop of wild plum in the center. Of course it was too purple for what I wanted, so I added salmon and more raspberry and blender.

 The last one I had blender and the pink ink it had picked up from the last one, so I just dabbed it all over. I did the same thing with a green felt pad, then went back through and used the needle tip to more precisely add the green. Then I got wild and dripped the ink along the edges while holding the paper it a steep slant so the ink would run. I did this on all four sides, the two short sides with pesto and the two long sides with raspberry. As a finishing touch, I dropped some pearl mixative on and sprayed with air to spread it out.

As you can see, all three have very different appearances with almost the same techniques. I hope it was helpful!