Alcohol ink art typically requires a non-porous substrate in order for the effective “flow” of the ink. If you attempt to paint with alcohol ink on a porous surface, the inks will soak into your surface and the wonderful flow that makes alcohol ink a great medium with which to work goes away. One of the most common questions from those just starting out with alcohol ink is “How can I prep Canvas for alcohol ink painting?” Here’s a quick video demonstrating how this is done!
Alcohol Ink Art Community Contributor, Denise Balcanoff demonstrates how to prime a canvas for alcohol ink.
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Growing up in N.Y.C and being exposed to its culture and many art museums, Denise Balcanoff discovered a passion for art at a very young age.
Art has been a part of her through every stage of her life – as a youth, parent, teacher, and now as a professional artist.
Click here to see Denise Balcanoff's full profile.
Latest posts by Denise Balcanoff (see all)
- How to Paint Glass Ornaments with Alcohol Ink - November 13, 2017
- Combining Alcohol Ink with Other Mediums (Watercolor and Acrylics) - October 9, 2017
- Creative Pallet Cleaning - September 13, 2017
Anyone know what product you can use instead of Kilz 2 on canvas it didn’t appear to be available in Australia?
Any house paint primer. I use Kilz to prep my canvases for acrylic painting.
This may be a silly question since hardware store products are not really meant to be archival, but does anyone know what the longevity of the primer is? How it affects the longevity of the inks?
Alcohol inks are not archival and have low light fastness. Fix with a varnish for longevity
I used alcohol ink on a gessoed cotton canvas panel, and when I used other mediums over top the alcohol ink rank onto the other (paint, ink, stain spray, etc.). Is this to be expected?
Painting with alcohol inks on aluminum board…. does the aluminum board have to be primed in any way?
I don’t believe you do. Aluminum is non-porous.
Can you use gesso as the primer?
Yes. Definintely… or gel medium works too.
I have found that the inks don’t flow as well over gesso and if you use a lot of alcohol it can remove the gesso. That’s why I prefer A latex house primer like Kilz 2.
When using alcohol inks on a gesso cradle board (white) can you use a UV spray to protect or do you have to resin?
YOu should use a sealant that won’t reactivate the inks. Most of us use Krylon Kamar Varnish which works well to fix the inks. Then, we spray UV to help prevent fading. So you do not have to resin the artwork.
Though I like the effect of resin on my canvas, Can I put resin after the Krylon and UV?
Yes. Definitely! Many of us do this.
Can I use gel medium as primer on canvas? Can I use any wall primer sealer on canvas? I live in Pakustan and don’t know from where I can get Killz latex primer
Yes. Gel medium works for sure. Anything you can put on it to make it non-porous.
Hi, I live in the UK and do not have access to Kilz 2 latex primer. I have tried the UK version of Zinsser B-I-N primer and also gesso on another canvas. However for both when I add alcohol onto the canvas it starts to lift the primer also. Does anyone have any suggestions of things I can use where the primer will not lift when I add alcohol? Thanks
Roshni, You could also use a gloss medium, which I’ve done before. The inks don’t really flow the same, however. I’ve also used gloss spray paint before on wood, but not canvas. That may be worth a try too!