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9th Annual Art-a-Day Challenge, January 2018!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Another "Wing" Study, and a new medium

My friend and fellow artist, Christine Blevins, has mentioned the fun she's been having recently with alcohol inks. If you get an opportunity, please do check out her lovely Valentine Art Cards that will be on display at the DS Watkins Studio for next week's Art Walk. And check out this very fun medium. If you love brilliant colors, this is the medium for you.

Today while perusing the many offerings at Craft Warehouse, I happened into the alcohol ink aisle and down the rabbit hole I went. With so many pending projects that need attention, I can scarce afford to point myself in another direction.... but with it's similarity to watercolor, I gave it the green light. After a short while, my day's dilly-dally moment became another expressive piece in my newest "Wings" series. These seemingly disjointed pieces will somehow come together into a wonderful expression of all things winged. 

How to do it? You need a slick surface paper, like Yupo (I used drafting acetate). Water doesn't work too well with the inks, so keep them pretty much away. I did a lot of dripping from the fine tipped bottles of ink and watched mesmerized as the blobs took on a life of their own--mixing with other colors and pushing them out of the way. I used a brush too on the edges and a paper towel for blending. Also a Sharpie and extremely fine tipped archival marker was used to create some stippling and edges. I'm sure there are more advanced techniques, like spraying or using other mediums for resists, etc. Will have to discover more next time.

Brilliant alcohol inks, in a "wing" format

3 comments:

Cheryl Goyer said...

What fun! Love the intense colors! Don't know what it is about them but I'm like a small child when it comes to bright colors and sparkly rocks. They stop me in my tracks every time.

Lara said...

Amazing with the bright colors. I keep thinking about what gems would look like in that sort of mixed array.

Bobi Wilson said...

whoa, look like yet another addiction waiting to happen.