Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Methods For Creating Alcohol Ink Tiles

By Joshua Reynolds


Creatively inclined people have a lot of varied mediums from which to choose to explore their artistic visions. Every product will have a particular group of characteristics and be suited to certain surfaces. One project those who enjoy the look of marbling or the use of multiple tones to create a background, might find making alcohol ink tiles to be fun.

The facts that it is forgiving, quickly dries, is made with concentrated pigmentation, and is free of acid, are what make this product stand apart from others. It comes in a range of vibrant color that can be diluted to provide the versatility to achieve a scale of hues for different techniques. This medium is not intended for porous surfaces because it is liquid and would saturate the material and look muted.

Before getting started on the project, one must obtain both the necessary materials and the optional ones they might use as embellishment. The working surface will be of ceramic which can be found in many shapes and sizes in either gloss or matte finishes. It is entirely up to the individual artist to decide the specifics of the pieces since the techniques are adaptable to almost any circumstance or format.

Inks can be purchase either singly, or in packs of three colors that are coordinated to work together effectively. Other products one might want to have on hand to enhance versatility are a blending solutions, pigmentation to customize hues, metallic additives to add luminosity or a polished effect. Stamp pad applicators, refillable markers, gloves, straws, canned air, felt, and clear coat sealer, are also needed to complete the project.

The first method is adding felt to the bottom of the stamp applicator and applying only a couple drops of the chosen colors to the pad. The next step is to dab the ceramic piece repeatedly until the intended pattern and coverage are obtained. Do not be alarmed if felt strands are left embedded in the ink, as that is the nature of the material, because they can be easily removed once the medium is sufficiently dried.

An alternative method is to apply the medium directly on the chosen surface, which allows better control of how much is used and precisely where it appears. These areas can be blended in various ways using compressed air, straws, gloves or fingers, or felt. To get a lovely fractured dispersal effect, droplets of blending solution can be applied to dilute the colors.

Another choice is to drop some of the medium into water that is placed inside of a wide container. The colors float, and when the artist submerges their tile into the liquid, it will collect the inks on its surface. This produces a beautiful marbling that one may opt to either leave in its natural state or use the tools to alter it.

Every technique's look may be altered as preferred, by dispersing or diluting the inks with blending solution, tapping with felt pads, using canned air or blowing through straws to move the colors around, or detailing it with markers. Due to the forgiving nature of the medium, the user can wipe remove and reapply it repeatedly until they are fully satisfied. In order to preserve the achieved look, it will be necessary to cover it with three thin layers of clear coat sealant.




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