Sunday Inspiration

2018 has been a challenging year for me so far - so much going on behind the scenes that have really limited my time in the studio.  When I do get in however, I make the most of it!

I have not had much time to share here on my blog, so today I am taking a bit of time to share one of the pieces I did - I hope you enjoy!

Inspiration - Alcohol Inks

Playing with Ranger Alcohol Inks on Yupo paper isn't something I have done for a few years!   I had been taking an online workshop by Wendy Brightbill and this was something she was showcasing in her workshop.

I must say, it is always fun to delve back into something you haven't even looked at in three years!

In the first photo, you can see the colors I chose to use (Dandelion, Wild Plum, Aquamarine, Red Pepper and Pitch Black)

In the images that there is more 'flow' (vs seepage), that usually depicts that I have a good amount of Rubbing Alcohol down.

Here, I have dropped the Rubbing Alcohol directly onto the 'cells' in hopes of making some interesting visual textures. Really like how they look when wet, but they often dry with a smoother look, which you will be able to notice further into this post.

 

Now that this layer is dry, I have decided to add another layer on - Daler Rowney F+W Acrylic Inks.

You have seen me use these many times in the past, but I had never used them along side my Alcohol Inks...fun results!

Colors used: Lemon Yellow, Turquoise, Process Magenta & Purple Lake

Yes, these are a fluid, but I even added more fluidity to them with the addition of water and/or rubbing alcohol!

When I get larger puddles. I will pull our a shaping tool and move the colors, puddles and rivers around.  Getting them to flow more, intersect and create yet more patterns and colors.

You can see in a few spots I tried to add a few marks - these were done using Alcohol Markers (Copic)

I introduced the White from F+W Acrylic Inks in hopes to lighten up the piece a bit.  I tried t make it so that it was diagonal in nature and therefore would draw your eye along the piece.

There was an area that was too dark in the top left, so I added white there as well.  Along with some water and forces the colors movement using my shaping tool.

I love the close ups on this piece - they remind me of sliced geo stones. 

Now it was time for some mark making!  I varied my tools from Sakura Gel Pens [Souffle & Raised Ink (Clear)] along with Golden High Flow Acrylic in a FineLiner.

I found it once again getting too dark and even busy if you can imagine - so I added more water to the river that ran through it....

Yup, too much!  Sometimes this works to my advantage, other times not so much.  This time, I was not wanting this to happen.  

So how does one fix this?  Well in my case, I added even more fluids....

 Golden High Flow Acrylic Paints (Teal, Quinocridone Magenta, Hansa Yellow Medium and Naphthol Red Light) along with even more water of course!

Really was not happy at this point and was about to toss it.  You can see areas that I added more alcohol inks, paints, inks, water and even rubbing alcohol - UGH!

Gesso to the rescue! Super Heavy Gesso and a good amount of water!

 I walked away at this point, thinking it best to let it dry and decide at that time if I wanted to continue or simply move onto my next inspiration....

You can usually find me more often over on Instagram or one of my Facebook Pages W2 Scrapbooking Mixed Media & Art Studio (only until end of 2018 then it will be removed) or the newer W2 Studio Arts

Don't forget to check out the online store - there are loads of great deals to be had with this being the last year - stock is moving fast! Be sure to use the coupon codes, they can be found on the home page.

until next time...