The Wonderful Words for This Wednesday are “Alcohol Inks”
I’ve been posting a lot of art created with alcohol inks recently so I thought I’d share what this medium is and how it works. It’s VERY different from other mediums.
What are they?
“Alcohol ink is a translucent, acid-free, highly pigmented fluid medium intended for applying to a nonporous surface. Alcohol ink is made of dye and alcohol. The alcohol is what gives the dye its fluid nature, and the alcohol evaporates as the dye dries.”
– quote from ‘Creative Alcohol Inks‘ by Ashley Wahlberg.
My Love / Hate Journey With Alcohol Inks Thus Far
Watercolor paints are my first love and we are still best friends, but one of the things I love about watercolors is their transparency. When I first laid eyes on an alcohol ink piece of art, I thought it was watercolor and desperately wanted to know how to create that effect. When I looked into it further, I discovered it wasn’t created with watercolors after all, and I went down the rabbit hole of this ‘new to me’ medium – alcohol inks.
This is when I learned that I HATED alcohol inks. And by hate, I mean DESPISED WITH A PASSION! At that time, my fellow artist friend Belinda had her own studio and would host these wonderful ‘open studio’ times where she would put out her supplies and we could just play. So when she was going to put out alcohol inks, I jumped on the opportunity to try this medium in a more controlled and learned environment.
I learned a lot more about them that day, but I also learned for sure that I HATED this medium. If you want a lesson in NOT being in control of your outcome, then play with alcohol inks. Really, it’s an object lesson in NOT being in control of anything.
When I got home that day, I dropped the ‘art’ I made straight into the garbage and then proceeded to put my alcohol inks WAY back into my closet of art supplies, not to be seen again for a LONG time.
BUT, thanks to Belinda and her studio and philosophy of ‘play’, a seed was planted. Granted, it was a prickly and defiant seed that stayed dormant for at least a year, but it was a seed nonetheless.
I’m going to be honest here, it bothered me to no end that there was this medium out there that I could see others making beautiful things with (things I desperately wanted to make too), and I couldn’t create anything but a mess.
You could say that alcohol inks brought up a lot of strong emotions for this girl, mostly anger! At some point, I became determined to learn how to tackle this medium. I had a friend who was also learning, so I got the inks back out and we learned together.
Supplies
Alcohol inks – There are many different brands out there, but the three brands that seem to be the most widely used by artists are:
- Ranger Inks: You can find these in various size sets or even individually on Amazon. They are also sold at Michaels.
- Copic Ink (refills): Copic is a professional quality alcohol ink marker that many illustrators use, but you can also use their ink refills for doing alcohol ink art.
- Piñata: I’ve heard this brand has the best gold available for alcohol ink art.
Isopropyl Alcohol -Watercolors are pigments that are activated with water, and alcohol inks are dyes that are activated with isopropyl alcohol. You need to use 91% to 99% isopropyl alcohol to achieve good results with alcohol inks.
Little bottles with needle nose applicators – They are called ‘Needle Tip Glue Bottles’ and they are fairly inexpensive.
Something with which to move the ink around – I use Ranger’s ink blower, but some people just blow through a straw or use a blow dryer or even an airbrush.
Synthetic paper – In order for the alcohol inks to move around, you have to have a nonporous surface. You can use tiles, glass, or synthetic paper. There are a few standard types of synthetic paper I’ve found most people use: Nara Paper (comes in round, too!), Yupo Paper, and Craft Plastic. These papers come in various sizes and some come in black as well.
What do you do with alcohol inks?
You play of course!
Pro tip: You should have some ventilation when you use this medium as the fumes can get a bit strong. I just open a door or a window where I’m working and that’s good enough for the work I do, but if you’re doing a big piece or using a lot of isopropyl alcohol, some people actually wear a respirator mask.
Try this:
Fill one of the needle nose bottles with 91-99% isopropyl alcohol.
Pick a few colors of inks that go well together, like a pink and an orange or a blue and a green and have them ready to go.
Set up your art station something like this (I have also included a palette, a brush and a small container of isopropyl for doing brush work like stems):
You will have to work quickly once you get the ink on the paper, so make sure you have your supplies with lids off and ready to go.
Just to get used to how these inks work, make a drop (or two or three) of ink on a nonporous surface and then add one or two drops of isopropyl alcohol right onto the ink and use your blower to blow the ink around and see what effects you can create. Many people do abstract art with this medium so just let go and try things out.
Just the simple act of blowing the ink around the paper and seeing the different effects that happen is enough, but then it changes as it dries and you can just watch that happen right in front of your eyes!
Continue playing using the ‘what if’ method. Say things to yourself like, “What if I tried more ink and less alcohol, or vice versa?”; “What if I angled my blower in a different way?”; “What if I let the ink dry and then reactivated it with isopropyl alcohol?”; “Can I layer different colors if I let one color dry and then add another color on top?” etc. etc. etc.
Try putting a few drops of ink down and just painting with a small brush. See how the inks react. Can you paint a stem and a leaf?
Want to take it further with alcohol inks?
It’s time for an expert! There are many people who teach how to use alcohol inks on Skillshare and YouTube etc., but my absolute favorite and probably the leading artist for this medium is Anne Roos from the Netherlands.
If you want to learn all things alcohol inks, you will need to go see Anne on Instagram, YouTube, and at her website. Her classes are fantastic! I learned almost everything I know from her. Because she makes a living selling her original art and teaching others how to make art with this medium, I cannot show you her secrets here, but you will not be sorry if you invest in one of her classes!
One of her biggest specialities is floral art. Here are some of the flowers I’ve made after taking her classes:
To Conclude
And there you have it folks, an introduction to alcohol inks. There is WAY more to it, but now you know what they are, some of the specific supplies you need, and an expert teacher’s links for those of you who want to take this further!
Go forth and play some art my friends!
Kimberly Snider, Virtuoso, Signing Off
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