Flower Power class is no longer available for new students. Those who signed up can take the class anytime!
Some folks think I never totally botch art projects – and that couldn’t be further from the truth! But one thing I do that could be different from YOUR approach to messes: I don’t give up.
Supplies for this project are linked at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links may be used at no cost to you.
The dark purple flower is the one that had to go through a million transformations…the end result isn’t my favorite card but it’s still very pretty!
The light purple flower did totally different things than I thought, but I love this look!
The leftover circle of Neenah scrap needed just a little embellishing – and I chose a vellum butterfly so I could see the color through it!
Supplies
Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. If you choose to shop using my EH (Ellen Hutson) links, please accept cookies on that site in order to retain the link to my blog, or that compensation does not happen for me. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art
Mondo Chrysanthemum, Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps — Dies
My followers may well have some idea how much the shape of a hexagon makes me happy – well, I found hexagon tiles, and was just totally thrilled! And tiles can be painted on with alcohol inks with no prep at all – just start dropping on color and alcohol!
Supplies for this project are linked at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links may be used at no cost to you.
Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. If you choose to shop using my EH (Ellen Hutson) links, please accept cookies on that site in order to retain the link to my blog, or that compensation does not happen for me. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art
Well well well – I’ve finally done it! I’ve been working on this for a couple months, and it’s all ready for you now! And it’s on sale through the end of April in case you need to wait for the government checks to start arriving.
WARNING! Alcohol inks are smelly to work with and can be toxic if ingested. Be careful and work in a ventilated area.
I started down the rabbit hole of alcohol inks late one night when I couldn’t sleep – and found a few alcohol ink videos that led me to more, and more, and more – and people were using them in crazy beautiful ways!
I ordered in a bunch of supplies; what I was finding was that many of the artists making fine art with these inks didn’t really provide tutorials and links like craft reviews did – so I ended up doing all the shopping so you won’t have to. Oy! (Note to self, teach artists how to do voiceovers and explain stuff, ha!) Anyway……
I began to do my own exploration after trying what I could learn from viewing these artists’ videos…applying my own understanding of color theory, pigment movement, papers, and more.
Check out the video complete with demos – and be sure to read through the info below too for more details and context.
Class
At long last, I have an introductory Ethereal Alcohol Ink class available! I made it a mini class, so be prepared for just a dip of your toes in the water…errr the alcohol! I kept it a mini class due to the times we’re in…and as encouragement to perhaps consider some of the blowy tools that might feel pricey. If you think you’ll get into this, they’ll be worth it. In the text below, you’ll see LOTS more info on each product and my recommendations.
After testing, two of the inks I looked at – Ranger and Pinata Inks – these are basically equivalent in performance with a few differences. Scroll to the end of this post for swatches of all the inks I own.
some of the Pinata colors are more “staining” than others (meaning they’re harder to lighten to white with alcohol) but are otherwise the same in performance.
bottle nibs are different, with Ranger’s being more of a narrow needle-type point, but that doesn’t make any difference in use.
Pinata inks have a smell to them even beyond what you’d expect from alcohol inks. Not illness-inducing or anything, but it’s different.
Noddway are most cost-effective, however the quality is not high – but they WILL provide decent results. Some colors are not as the name describes, though that doesn’t make them ugly, just makes them poorly named! A few colors are quite pale, but that can also be beautiful.
Cost comparison:
Ranger Inks, 18 colors about $55 (You can get them in singles, 3packs, full sets – so do some searching around)
My recommendation for swatching – cut up some paper to swatch each color you have, including some WHITE open space on the sample, as well as part of it being very heavy with pigment, so you get a full picture of what that color can do. I swatched mine on transparent Yupo since I didn’t want to make art on it – and just put a little slip of computer paper behind it so I could see it against white. Then I put them all in pages. The Yupo folks make a fun pack of tiny pads that are almost perfect for this – they’re just a tiny bit tall and need trimmed to fit.
For my type of application on paper, alcohol seems to work best; the Ranger solution, I am finding, is better for using on metal, glass, etcetera. Some artists mix them.
For beginners – by all means get a big pack of inexpensive photo paper! The HP used throughout this class is cheap paper that came with toner, and the back side works wonderfully aside from having little tinted logos on it.
$8-$10 for 100 sheets of 4×6 = 8-10 cents per sheet (Epson photo paper or other brands)
Yupo is an artist-quality paper; once you’re feeling confident it’s an excellent paper to move up to. It comes in medium weight or heavy weight, priced accordingly of course.
Medium weight, 9 x 12 pad of 10 sheets (4 small paintings per sheet=40) = $13 = 32 cents per sheet
Heavy weight, 9 x 12 pad of 10 sheets (4 small paintings per sheet = 40) = $19 = 47 cents per sheet
Terra Slate works very nicely too. For the price it should! It comes in larger sizes than the 5 x 7, too.
Ranger Glossy Cardstock – this one was a big fail for ethereal alcohol ink art – but try it out with other techniques if you’ve got some, it just doesn’t move like what you’ll see in this class.
If you’re really wanting to play on something cheap – lay out a huge sheet of freezer paper, slick side up! You can get a roll on Amazon, or check your grocery store for a smaller roll.
Blowy tools
Straws are the lowest cost, of course! “Bipple” straws have the bendy part that allows you to guide the air the best. However – be VERY CAREFUL not to inhale at all through the straw while it’s pointed at the paper. You’ll taste the ink! (Don’t ask how I know.) You’ll also possibly find your own saliva exiting the straw at some point, affecting your painting. You’ll also find out if you’re truly full of hot air. (Credit: my dad for the dad joke!)
“Bipple” or “Bendy” straws (no links)
Canned air did not work at all in my tests, but other brands of canned air might be fine. Test out what you have; can you control the exiting of air? Does liquid drip out after the air is used for a few minutes? Does it spit and sputter? If you find a good brand please do let me know and I’lll share it here for others to try.
No recommendation.
Ranger Blower Tool is awkward for ethereal color movement, as it has short bursts of expiration of air that doesn’t lead to elegant lines. With practice, puffs of air can create some nice effects though, and paired with gravity and a lot of alcohol, you can get some pretty results. Not recommended for those with arthritis; the hand motion becomes difficult over time.
A Handheld Airbrush is a reasonable option for mechanically-generated air. It comes WITH its compressor. There are MANY options available so do check around. The Gocheer shown in the video and used in class has a USB power cord – very convenient! It seems to stay charged for a lot of artwork. It’s not terribly powerful, but paired with gravity can produce decent results. It can also be used with other inks to spray as airbrush, so a dual use makes it a better value than first impression!
The Copic Airbrush system has both power and control – the high pressure of an air compressor, and the fine motor control and sensitive touch, make it the perfect tool to achieve the results I get. You can find other ways to do it, and I’ll show you some tips to try them with other tools in class – but for the most part those do take much more time and effort than this airbrush system.
Compressor – I’ve seen these in-store at Harbor Freight for about $69 without the full kit.
After playing off and on for six months (yes, six months!)….I think I can finally nudge this post to the front. It’s too much fun to keep holding onto!
Sometimes I’m slow. Seriously slow. And Yupo? This is a paper that brought me to a halt! I’ve been working with it for months off and on, trying to decide if it’s a product that’ll work with cardmakers. And I was nearly ready to say yes, because all the techniques I’ve been learning and trying have been more fine-arts oriented. But I think I’ve got a few ideas baked enough that some of you daring folks are going to fall in love. And some of you non-daring folks are going to watch the alcohol inks and oooh and ahhh til you need some of this paper. I know, I know. Just saying. Watch the video below, or click HERE to see it in HD on YouTube. And then come on back for the cards made with the backgrounds I created!
Alcohol Inks
Alcohol inks have always been good on slick papers – but I like them just slightly more, if that’s possible, on Yupo. I’m working out ways to create some paintings with them, since the colors are so intense. Hang tight, more will be coming eventually! Be careful not to put Ranger’s alcohol blending solution in a mister – I’ve been told it has some things in it that would be awful if you inhaled any of it. But for the texture here, colorless blender worked.
Copic Reinkers
Since Copic markers are alcohol-based, guess what? The reinkers are too! They also work with the same technique, drops on Yupo. Wait for it to dry a bit, and you can spray on some colorless blender in a mini mister for interesting effects.
Watercolor
I found that watercolor on Yupo is much softer in color, and all the brands I tried worked about the same. (It also takes WAY longer to dry!) As I showed in the video, you can’t let watercolor pigment build up too much or you’ll end up with a sticky puddle…but here are cards made from the watercolor images I created during the video. This first one features removal of color with a brush to create flowers!
I created this scene by layering colors – and being careful not to let pigment puddle too heavily.
One more? Sure! How about a leaf, traced from a real one? The color puddled up, and I dabbed it off – and created amazing texture. I removed the veins with a dry brush – very cool look, and I didn’t even have to put anything on the card. Beautiful just as is!
One last bit of watercolor – I just had to try Brusho! I dabbed color off, then set it out to dry – and didn’t even recognize the paper when I looked at it the next day! It’s almost a chalky surface – very cool! I stamped the sentiment and image – then used a damp brush to remove color from the egg…yes, what a cool thing this paper does, right!?
Stamping, Inking, and Copic Markers
Since I know someone will ask – more testing is still underway on a lot of our usual stamping and inking techniques. For the most part, I haven’t found any stamping inks that remain stable on Yupo and hold up an image.
But I’ve got a Copic drawing of a cat that I did with Copic markers directly, no stamping – it’s interesting to see how the marker works with brush nib application now that you’ve seen what’s in today’s video.
Supplies
Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. If you choose to shop using my EH (Ellen Hutson) links, please accept cookies on that site in order to retain the link to my blog, or that compensation does not happen for me. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art
