More playing with alcohol inks.

 I have finished my tapestry and had time to have another play with the alcohol ink. I'm still not greatly enamoured of my results but enjoyed the time. 

I bought myself a hand blower, from Zart Art, and it was much better than trying to blow the ink around with a straw - despite having the window open, I was taking deep breaths to blow and could feel it affecting me. Not so with the blower. 

I found some very shiny paper this afternoon - I actually managed to do a bit of tidying up of my collage resources (not that you would notice, it isn't better looking in the room, it is just better organised).  I don't know what the paper is or where it came from but I thought it might work. It did although it tended to curl a bit with the liquid. I also tried Yupo paper again and it takes the inks well. 

I still don't know what I am trying to achieve but I had fun. There was a vague idea of getting some background for the collages but, so far, I have no inspirations from them. 

I try to take notes but get too involved in what I am doing and forget. On some of them I sprayed the alcohol, some I just dropped some on, on others I used a blender which I bought when I got the blower. I also tipped the paper in different directions to get the ink to run. It dries very quickly and doesn't always do what I am hoping for. Note to self: check that you are putting the correct lid on the bottle - I got some mixed colours when I accidentally swapped the yellow and green lids - but I did have the chance to print some circles onto the paper, using the lids. I don't think they are particularly noticeable as the inks ran over them.

So here are some pictures. 

    

This is the shiny paper that I found. 

I am not sure if it is making the inks darker or I just used different colours. 

Playing around with alcohol inks

 Happy New Year - 2024!! How amazing, I remember 1986 quite clearly - or parts of it. 

Anyway, I have decided to experiment with alcohol inks. I am a member of a group of lovely people who get together fortnightly to cut and paste paper to make collages. I am not really a collage artist but I enjoy the company and stimulation very much.

This year, we are going to try to experiment with different techniques - I am currently trying alcohol inks to make a background (or usable in another way) paper.

So ... I have just done a first experiment. I have looked up various sites that have given some information and now am playing. I found this one very useful.

I bought some rubbing alcohol from the local pharmacist and found some very old bottles of alcohol ink - I have no idea what I may have used them for in the past. 

I bought some paper specifically for alcohol ink - Yupo. I also had a pad of paper that is bleed proof, not sure what is if for, or why I bought it. 

So, after reading several sites, I started playing. Of course, I didn't take much notice of what I was doing and have used techniques from several places. 

The obvious outcome is that the Bleedproof paper curled. But, apart from that, it was ok. 

TheYuko paper (which I cut into A5 size) worked better. 

A lot of the sites said to use a hair dryer (they didn't mention what heat to use but I assume it is cold). I didn't use that as I was only starting to play. I used a straw. 

Warning: you inhale a lot to blow, be aware of the alcohol in the air!! I am hoping I won't develop a headache (as one of the sites warned).

One thing I noticed, the inks dry fairly quickly. 

I am not sure what I will do with this paper, if anything. But I will experiment a bit more tomorrow. 

It might be useful as a background or I could cut it up and use it in my collages, time will tell. I am just glad to have started experimenting again!!

I may use some of the papers to do some doodling - or not. It is that time of year when you have some ideas but may not follow up on them. I am just glad that some ideas are coming up!!