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 product that I have recently discovered in my foray into the art supply jungle is Yupo paper. Yupo is an incredibly durable, waterproof synthetic paper that is 100% polypropylene, has a smooth finish and is awesome to use with alcohol inks and (I am told) watercolor. It comes in loose sheets or pads, and a variety of sizes.
So far I have used it for alcohol ink because the surface tension allows the ink to sit on top and do its thing with brilliance, but I intend to try it with watercolor as well.
Thank you for dropping by today! I hope you learned something new or were inspired in some way. Tomorrow is the last A to Z post! Wow, this month went by fast! I am so happy to have made so many new friends.
Showing posts with label alcohol ink. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alcohol ink. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Friday, April 10, 2015
Blogging A to Z: The Letter i
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 tools in the mixed-media artist's arsenal is ink. It comes in such an amazing array of colors and a wide variety of styles that it is one of the more versatile mediums available. Most people are familiar with ink pens. Of course these are very important for art, especially drawing. Whether using gel pens or markers, I find myself reaching for a pen for almost every project, and I am not very good at drawing! Anyone can draw a circle, though, and I draw those a lot. :)
In addition to pens and markers, there are lots of varieties of bottled ink--acrylic, carbon, India Ink... Dick Blick has dozens of varieties for sale. I have a small collection of bottled inks by Windsor & Newton, FW, Higgins and Clearsnap's Smooch and Aladine Izink, which are my favorites because of the pearlized finish. These can be dripped or painted on, as well as used with a dip pen.
Of course there are also ink pads, which come in Dye ink, Archival Ink, Distress Ink, Pigment Ink... and all the refills, which can not only replenish the pads, but used full strength or watered down to dip or spray or drop and splatter. Some markers are refillable, such as Copic and Spectrum Noir which means that the refills are another source for ink colors to apply in any of those ways.
I have already discussed Alcohol Ink in my Letter A post, but it is so fun to use!
The last section of inks I want to highlight is the spray. Several brands of spray inks are readily available, many by Ranger, Inc., but there are other manufacturers as well; Lindy's Stamp Gang, Tattered Angels, etc. Some of the sprays are infused with minerals to give them a shimmery look. Of course those are my personal favorites, but I am happy with any source of color, whether it shines or not!
Here is an example of an Artist Trading Card I made with a wide variety of inks.
I stamped with archival ink, sprayed with Adirondack, SEI and Dylusions spray ink, drew with a gel pen, and dripped IZink which I then sprayed with pressurized air to spread.
And here are a few more examples of some work made mostly with ink.
Next time you look at any printed page, whether in a magazine, a newspaper, or a letter, remember that at some point ink was applied to it in some manner. We take it for granted, but ink is an important part of our lives every day! Thanks for stopping by today, and if you'd like to leave a comment, I would be so happy! :)
One of the tools in the mixed-media artist's arsenal is ink. It comes in such an amazing array of colors and a wide variety of styles that it is one of the more versatile mediums available. Most people are familiar with ink pens. Of course these are very important for art, especially drawing. Whether using gel pens or markers, I find myself reaching for a pen for almost every project, and I am not very good at drawing! Anyone can draw a circle, though, and I draw those a lot. :)
In addition to pens and markers, there are lots of varieties of bottled ink--acrylic, carbon, India Ink... Dick Blick has dozens of varieties for sale. I have a small collection of bottled inks by Windsor & Newton, FW, Higgins and Clearsnap's Smooch and Aladine Izink, which are my favorites because of the pearlized finish. These can be dripped or painted on, as well as used with a dip pen.
Of course there are also ink pads, which come in Dye ink, Archival Ink, Distress Ink, Pigment Ink... and all the refills, which can not only replenish the pads, but used full strength or watered down to dip or spray or drop and splatter. Some markers are refillable, such as Copic and Spectrum Noir which means that the refills are another source for ink colors to apply in any of those ways.
I have already discussed Alcohol Ink in my Letter A post, but it is so fun to use!
The last section of inks I want to highlight is the spray. Several brands of spray inks are readily available, many by Ranger, Inc., but there are other manufacturers as well; Lindy's Stamp Gang, Tattered Angels, etc. Some of the sprays are infused with minerals to give them a shimmery look. Of course those are my personal favorites, but I am happy with any source of color, whether it shines or not!
Here is an example of an Artist Trading Card I made with a wide variety of inks.
And here are a few more examples of some work made mostly with ink.
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 andboring unassuming?
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
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Catching Up
The days fly by and I forget I even have a blog with so many things going on! So, here I am, checking in with my few faithful followers for an update.
Friday night, Ornery tackled the wall in my studio that we had left deep teal colored when we painted in there earlier this year. We still had some paint, which he used until it was gone, then we started Saturday off with a quick trip to Lowe's for another quart. That room was done by noon, and while I worked on putting that room back together, he decided to paint the guest room and hall bathroom, which were also deep teal. That took up the rest of the weekend, and is still a work in progress.
I had a professional carpet cleaner come Monday morning, and they cleaned all the carpet, ceramic tile and a wool rug. I spent that day working on pen pal letters in the garden room, which was the only dry floor in the whole house!
Yesterday I caught up on a bit of art, as I had received two art journals to work in.
Today I am going to hopefully get the house cleaned up, then work more on my pen pal letters. I'm pretty motivated to do more art, so it's hard to focus on mundane tasks like cleaning bathrooms when I'd rather be creating, but soon this phase will be over and normal life can resume.
Friday night, Ornery tackled the wall in my studio that we had left deep teal colored when we painted in there earlier this year. We still had some paint, which he used until it was gone, then we started Saturday off with a quick trip to Lowe's for another quart. That room was done by noon, and while I worked on putting that room back together, he decided to paint the guest room and hall bathroom, which were also deep teal. That took up the rest of the weekend, and is still a work in progress.
I had a professional carpet cleaner come Monday morning, and they cleaned all the carpet, ceramic tile and a wool rug. I spent that day working on pen pal letters in the garden room, which was the only dry floor in the whole house!
Yesterday I caught up on a bit of art, as I had received two art journals to work in.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Playing with Alcohol Inks
A few posts back I mentioned that I needed to add one more page to my friend's art journal. This is the page I did using alcohol inks and canned air on glossy paper. I added some gel pen accents.
Here is a closer view in which you can see a bit more detail. I just love this stuff! The colors are so vibrant and rich.
Here is a closer view in which you can see a bit more detail. I just love this stuff! The colors are so vibrant and rich.
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