New Blooms. 4 x 4 Alcohol ink, acrylic and pen on gallery wrapped canvas. © 2016 Sheila Delgado
Received a text from Grandma to be. Mama is dilated at 2 cm. She is on her way.
Came to my mind. I grabbed a canvas, dropped some ink, dripped some more. A few blades of grass, a wash of blue and I was done. So tempted to add Yellow or pink. But this fits mama’s color scheme.
Any day now!
Sunflower. 4 x 4 Alcohol Ink on Mineral paper. © 2016 Sheila Delgado
I know what you are thinking. Sheila! Paint something different!
Still here is another flower.
In an effort to gain familiarity with Alcohol Inks, I gave myself one less thing to worry about. Trying new subject matter. My first attempt turned out to have too many harsh edges. Notice the red below.
Sunflower, before. 4 x 4 Alcohol Ink on Mineral paper. © 2016 Sheila Delgado
I went back in with the yellow to soften the red. I don’t feel entirely successful. Not what I had in mind. But it did soften those lines. Maybe if I went back in with the caramel color, the mix of red and that… hmm. Thinking, thinking.
By the way, I am still learning the Brand color names, so bear with me. I don’t have them sitting in front of me now. The “red” is actually Pinata Senorita Magenta. Which I have decided I don’t like on its own, but mixed it has promise. (It is too neon pink for me.) Pinata colors are highly saturated, intense pigments.
I finally figured out how I should set my work space up for the inks. Sandy showed us how she works. But for some reason, my fear of making a permanent mess kept me from, spreading out.
Working like I do with watercolor. Two containers for cleaning the brush (usually use three). These are filled with alcohol. Two paper towels for the double dip cleaning. (Dip in dirty alcohol, clean on dirty towel, repeat with clean alcohol and towel). An extra sheet of paper to use as a palette, and another to use as a mask. I used a stylus to apply clean alcohol in the flower head for controlled spots, as well as splattering ink.
I feel more in control working with a brush. Rather than pouring straight from the bottle. But a brush requires MAJOR cleaning after each color. That makes me feel like I am wasting a lot of product. I think maybe if i use a different brush for each color, I can avoid the waste. (Thank goodness for cheap brush packs!) A limited palette and one thorough cleaning at the end of a session might work. Thinking, thinking.
And yes, Sandy, this is exactly how you showed us to set up! Teacher knows best! And yes, I trust you. It’s my clumsiness I did not trust.
I was leery about scanning the inks. Would they stick to my scanner? I waited until I thought this was dry, and I even pressed a clean paper over it to check, and pull off any wet ink. Still, it stuck. And I am not too keen on having to clean my scanner after every ink scan. The final image above was scanned, and the before was a camera shot (phone). Maybe if I scan with the lid raised a bit, it won’t be a problem.
Floral Study 1. 4 x 4 Alcohol Ink on Mineral paper. 2016 Sheila Delgado
Going through the lessons in Sandy Sandy‘s FUNdamentals of Alcohol Ink E-course. Still don’t have a decent hummingbird. Lesson worth repeating. Decided to try working the inks like I do watercolors. Hoping that familiar techniques will make the new medium feel familiar as well.
I thought these were a hot mess, but looking again this morning I see some redeeming areas. I can still go back in and rework each of these. That will be a lesson in itself.
I have a limited palette, but the background below is a mix from cleaning my brush. More lesson learning. In both pieces, the majority of the color was applied straight from the bottle. I moved the paint with a brush in the dark blue above, and the backgrounds. There is brush work in the center below as well.
Floral Study 2. 4 x 4 Alcohol Ink on Mineral paper. 2016 Sheila Delgado