The is the third in a series to help you understand why and how Alcohol Inks work. In the this lesson we look at “how” by applying what we have learned in the first two lessons to a simple flower petal exercise. You will see how the amount of alcohol dictates how far the dye will move, practice pushing and gliding to begin to gain control, layer multiple colors of inks, add alcohol as a layer, observe evaporated condensed ink and paint with the richer darker ink.
Questions and comments are always welcome.
[vimeo 222022274 w=640 h=480]
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Sheryl Williams is an accomplished alcohol ink artist and instructor. She provides online courses where she teaches building blocks of techniques and tools that develop the necessary skills to express the art within you. Learn more about Sheryl and her course offerings on your profile page here!
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I’m watching Lesson #3. I’m curious as you move from color to color are you changing brushes or rinsing them out as you move from color to color? Assuming you’re rinsing the same brush…in what?
Hi Terri. I do clean my brush off in alcohol. I keep a little shot glass near my palette and rinse in there. When it’s dirty I soak it up with a cotton ball, toss that and put in more alcohol.
Thank you so much! I’m pretty new to alcohol inks and have been dropping inks and blowing with a straw or canned air and also dropping inks and adding blending solution. I am addicted to the amazing things these beautiful inks can do. But I just love the basic instructions here, they are truly helpful!
Not familiar enough in color names to be able to tell which is Ranger and which is pinata?
When you use a brush for alcohol inks, can they be used for other mediums such as acrylics, or should they ONLY be used for alcohol inks. Very new to this art form and don’t want to have issues if using an acrylic or watercolor with the same brush.
You’ll want to make sure the brush is clean, but yes you can repurpose the brushes.
I clean mine by dipping in 91% isopropyl alcohol and wiping off on a paper towel. I do this about 3 times (at least) to make sure the dye is out of the brush.
I do clean my brushes off with isopropyl alcohol. You can use any brush and I do like watercolor brushes for alcohol ink. I’ve got a set of brushes for AI and a separate set for watercolor that are my most expensive brushes.