I’ve always loved working on Yupo as a substrate and have recently returned to it as I work with inks again. Working with textures and colours to create backgrounds has been fun although I’ve been left with two paintings that I love as they are. So I’m putting them aside for a few days and I’ll revisit and add to them if necessary.
I’m a member of quite a few Facebook groups dedicated to alcohol ink artists and am so in awe of some of the art they produce. Most artists love the way the inks move and merge and react to each other to create fabulous abstract pieces, others paint to create simple pieces that are full of vibrant colours but others take it that step further to incorporate alcohol ink pens like Copic and Spectrum to create absolute masterpieces. Just google alcohol ink paintings or check out Pinterest and you’ll see what I mean.
I prefer to keep it simple although I have dabbled with pens too in creating more realistic paintings. When I actually find some time to do some larger realistic paintings I’ll post them here. The beauty is when you are working small the painting and inks are very portable so you can work anywhere. As they dry so quickly you can always be creative during a quick break. Now it’s cooler in Texas I can even work outside early in the morning or during my lunch break.
I love working with alcohol inks simply because they are so unpredictable and because you can get so many effects. One of the things I like to do is create abstract florals using just a straw, inks and a piece of Yupo. This is the same technique I use for creating flowers on coasters. It’s such a simple process yet you get the most amazing effects.
I start from the outside and work in towards the center. In this painting I decided to use a couple of different shades of green dropped ink near the edge and blew through the straw spreading the ink to the edges.
Once I’ve worked around the entire edge I’ll move on and add coloured inks, sometimes layering a couple of colors
If you want you can also use canned air, the sort you buy for a couple of dollars, to clean keyboards. Just make sure you have a few practice blasts first and watch those curtains😱
I will continue in a circular path until I reach the center and voila you have a beautiful abstract flower. Easy peasy !!!
Sometimes you just create some thing that turns out far better than you expected and this to me, is one of those paintings. I love the way tthe sky looks with all those fantastic pinks and tangerines and moody purples while the temple turned out way better than I could have hoped for. Usually I’ll work with a couple of inks but this particular sky was created using layers of coloured ink interspersed with white inks until I got the effect I wanted. The temple I was going for was the kind you see in adventure movies like Indiana Jones or those old Johnny Weismuller Tarzan movies where the temple has fallen into ruin and is covered in vines. This too took quite a few layers of more subtly coloured inks, covered with white ink then washed with alcohol to create that vine covered look.
Size 5 by 7 inches matted to 8 by 10 inches
To see this painting in my store click here
I’ve always loved working in acrylics but recently rediscovered alcohol inks as a painting medium. Alcohol inks are highly pigmented inks that are available in a variety of colours. Traditionally used by crafters and artists to enhance their works they are now coming into their own as a marvelous painting medium. They are acid-free and fast drying and when applied to a non-porous substrate like Yupo paper, photograph paper or even glass and ceramics they produced the most amazing abstract effects and vibrantly coloured paintings. If you do a search on an social media site for “alcohol ink art” you will find gallery upon gallery of beautiful art.
They are an amazing medium which you can use to create some quite spectacular and colourful art with. Just by dropping, pouring, stamping, moving the inks around with paint brushes. cotton swabs, blowing them through a straw or just allowing them to flow into each other by lifting and turning the surface you are working on to direct the flow of the ink, you can create beautiful effects which are art in their own right or to use as a basis for more detailed paintings. If you look at the painting here which is part of my Peacock Painting – The Prince you can see the almost marbled effects you can achieve. The tail feathers on The Prince were created by firstly masking out the feather shapes using a masking fluid then I dropped small amounts of inks into each individual area. The inks move magically and blend creating new colours. Any areas which remained white I simply used a paintbrush dipped in 91% rubbing alcohol and dropped either alcohol or more ink into those spaces which allowed the inks to move further and create more effects. Once the inks were dry I simply rubbed off the masking fluid to reveal the shapes of the feathers.
The best thing about alcohol ink is the fun you can have in creating wonderful art. If it all goes wrong and you have an accident or “inkcident” you can always wipe back the inks and start again especially if you are using tiles or glass. Ceramic tiles are available for just a few pennies in hardware stores and always a good surface to play around on and have fun with. Some of my favourite paintings have emerged out of happy little inkcidents. Why don’t you give it a try?
Art Supplies
Alcohol Inks can be purchased in packs of three for around $10 and you will get a lot of use out of them. A little ink goes a long way. You can purchase Adirondack inks directly from Hobby Lobby stores in the craft section or online. Often there are coupons and sales which will discount your purchase even further. For more information click here.
Yupo Paper.
Yupo is a unique alternative to traditional papers. It’s an incredibly durable stain-resistant non-absorbent synthetic paper that holds ink and watercolor with razor sharp precision. This extraordinary surface also resists tearing and buckling and it remains perfectly flat. Yupo’s ultra white color and super smooth finish makes all of the colors of the rainbow sing when applied to this revolutionary surface. Colors are brilliant and they lift off completely. It is an extremely forgiving sheet! This synthetic paper made of 100% polypropylene offers a unique alternative to traditional art papers. As a watercolor paper it has the advantage of being non-absorbent so colors lie on top of its surface producing brilliant vibrant effects. Colors retain their true clarity and brilliance. Yupo requires no soaking stretching or taping flat. Best of all it allows you to wipe off unwanted sections of your painting and start again with a fresh surface. Neutral PH hot press 74lb. 10 sheet pads- 100% Polypropylene.