Masking with alcohol ink has always been a great technique for preserving or protecting areas from the ink. Alcohol ink colors are vibrant and often stain many substrates, and there is no easy way to create white space without the use of masking. Sure you can use a gel pen or white paint pens to add accents and doodles, but that’s not the same as masking.
The way we typically mask off areas is using masking fluid, frisket film or contact paper. But in the past couple of months, I started noticing one of our fellow alcohol ink artists on TikTok, Instagram, and the Facebook group, dropping the ink onto the surface and there was some sort of invisible barrier, that contained the ink into “sections” without mixing or touching. Honestly, I was mesmerized and baffled. I have been creating with alcohol ink for a decade and hadn’t seen anything like this.
Every now and then an artist discovers a new way to do things. This is certainly one of those times. Lone Zimino has discovered a fun new masking technique and has graciously shared it with us all!
I reached out to Lone for a short interview, and she graciously shared her experience. Thanks so much, Lone!
Q. How long have you been working with alcohol ink?
A. I started with alcohol ink about 7 years ago
Q. Your masking technique has caught the attention of many in our Facebook group, on Instagram and on TikTok. Can you give us a quick description of it and how you accomplish it?
A. The posca pencil technique can be considered a new form of masking. Unlike masking fluid that many use, you do not have to remove the masking after you have finished. Alcohol ink and posca pencil are used together to become a painting.
Q. It looks like tedious work to get the subject area outlined. How long do you typically spend setting up the masking?
A. I think all new techniques are difficult at first, and you have to think about alcohol ink in a different way. Especially since the result is dependent on the expansion of the alcohol Ink droplet. You need to concentrate more with this technique.
Q. What masking pencils do you use? Why those?
A. I started my experiments in September 2021 with different pencils, None of them had everything I wanted to achieve. Some of them had problems with the finish varnish coat. Some were not strong enough to hold the ink within the area. Then, I discovered POSCA pencils, which had all to characteristics I needed – a perfect balance between wax and oil.
Q. Where can our readers go to learn more about you and your fabulous art?
A. The best place to see my work and techniques is on my Youtube channel ( @Ziminoart )
Watch the Posca Pencil Masking with Alcohol Playlist below or on Lone’s Youtube Channel.
Supplies Used with This Technique
- Posca Pencils (not POSCA pens) (https://amzn.to/3ww49lx)
- Alcohol Ink in .5 oz bottles (Ranger, Jacquard, Nara, T-Rex)
- Small tip bottle for dispensing alcohol ( https://amzn.to/3pKlVxk )
- Isopropyl Alcohol (91%) or Blending Solution ( https://amzn.to/3QU5WZA )
- Molotow One4all Spray Varnish to seal Art (Alternative to Kamar Varnish)
Posca Pencil Masking with Alcohol Playlist with Lone Zimino
Laurie Williams
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So amazing! What a cool technique!
Laurie, this is amazing, thank you for sharing.
I’ve been a big fan of lone and many times I’ve asked for her opinion and she so graciously replied . A wonderfully talented artist who just keeps us enthralled with her ingenuity .
Thank you Laurie for taking the time to acknowledge Lone.
I love working with ink. I got sidetracked with acrylic pouring techniques and I’m coming back to ink. This video was so inspirational because I always had problems in the past with masking. I love these pencils and will be ordering today!
Thank you so much for sharing, Laurie! This looks wonderful, so I purchased Posca pencils and can’t wait to begin exploring your technique.
Would this potentially work on ceramic tile as well as paper?
Again, many thanks
My pleasure, Sharon.
I don’t think the pencils work well on ceramic tiles. You could give it a try, but I doubt it works well.
It is fantastic. But were can I get those pencils. I live in Denmark and I can’t find them anywhere.
Please help.
Hi Hanne, if you still haven’t found the POSCA Pencils yet, I have found a place that has them in Europe. Also, I think they are waxed based and you could probably substitute them with another brand of pencils that is wax based.
I did find a website that has them and ships to the EU. It’s called ‘Penstore.com’ They seem pretty expensive (£89). DickBlick also carries them in 36 piece seat for $64 and in open stock for $2.30.
This is a wonderful technique. I attempted to experiment using Cyber Top pencils. They work but the ink sometimes runs over the pencil lines (I may be using a bit too much ink!)
I just received my Posca white pencil from the UK/eBay and was so excited to try it out. I drew a simple circle just as an experiment and the ink breached the drawn area. I then tried sharpening the pencil thinking it may have a sort of barrier that prevented the “wax” from creating the barrier, and the ink still breached. I then introduced an actual flame to the pencil to see if it was in fact “wax”, and that seemed to help, but the ink still breached in certain areas. Any tips for me to accomplish the “barrier?” Your reply is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
I had the issue, too at first.
Here are my personal observations… anyone else is free to add to this.
1. Work on a hard surface when drawing with the posca pens. Otherwise, you create an indention (even a slight one) in the paper.
2. For the alcohol ink, make sure you are using a non-porous surface. (Tile, YUPO, NARA, Grafix, or similar surface)
3. I go over the pencil marks more than once to help build them up.
Keep practicing. I think it will start to happen for you!