Use an air-blower or straw to spread the ink out and create a more abstract effect. For more subtle effects, don’t squeeze the air-blower too hard.
Alcohol Ink Painting: A Beginner’s Guide
Are you curious about alcohol ink painting? This beginner’s guide will teach you the basics of this fun and therapeutic art form. You’ll learn about the different types of inks and substrates and how to create your own unique paintings.
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What is alcohol ink painting?
Alcohol ink painting is the process of using alcohol ink, which is made from isopropyl alcohol, resin and pigment, to create beautiful, fluid looking works of art.
Alcohol inks are vibrant, can be used on many different types of surfaces and are often used to create abstract pieces. The inks are fast drying and once dry are waterproof.
Some examples of surfaces that artists can create alcohol ink paintings on include metal, glass, plastic, yupo paper, primed panels and smooth non absorbent surfaces.
The colour layers are vibrant, yet translucent and artists will apply the inks with various methods, such as dripping and layering. Artists will optionally use a tool like a brush or air blower to spread the ink across the surface.
The supplies you need to get started with alcohol ink painting
To get started with alcohol ink painting, you’ll need a few basics: inks, surfaces, tools to apply the ink and manipulate it on the surface.
Alcohol inks
Ranger Tim Holtz alcohol inks are fast drying, dye based, permanent and come in an array of vibrant colours, including pearlescent and metallic colours. The colours are transparent, can be mixed and the bottles have precision tips, so you can squeeze them onto the paper or onto stamps with ease.
Blending solution
Blending solution acts like a medium that thins alcohol inks, making them fluid and adding to the body of the ink. It contains resin, just like alcohol inks, however it is clear in colour. It helps to blend, lighten or remove ink from the paper. The blending solution makes the ink workable, even after they have dried.
Isopropyl alcohol
Isopropyl alcohol is a clear, colourless liquid that’s often used as a solvent to thin the alcohol and make it flow better. Make sure to get Isopropyl alcohol that is 91% proof or higher and get a dropper bottle so you can dispense the alcohol onto the paper. Isopropyl alcohol makes colours appear lighter, and spread across the surface. This type of isopropyl alcohol is safe to spray in a mister bottle, if you want to create sprayed effects in the painting. However, the blending solution and the inks themselves are not safe to spray.
Surfaces
Yupo is one of the best surfaces for alcohol ink painting. This is because it’s perfectly smooth and non absorbent, so colours will sit on top of the paper, appearing bright and vibrant. The resin in the inks will help the colours to dry and stick in place on the Yupo, despite its non-absorbent nature.
You can also use primed wooden panels, glass and ceramic tiles. A great brand that makes panels is the Masterpiece Alcohol ink art panel, they are PH-neutral, non-porous, bright white and 1/8″ thick. Just like Yupo, due to the non-porosity, the panels give ink a luminous quality
Another great brand of panels is Pebeo. Their Liquid Art Panels are artist quality, acid-free and archival. They are also made with a wooden frame with a 3mm edge, to keep liquid contained and from running off from the panel.
Air-blower
Use this air-blower to spread the alcohol inks across the surface, watch the colours swirl and blend. Squeeze the bulb to control the airflow, and blow the inks around to create interesting effects.
Brushes and blending tools
Other tools that can help you manipulate the alcohol ink include, paintbrushes, sponges, stencils and stamps. Dab a stamp with some blending solution and stamp on the paper to lift colour from particular areas. Many artists will experiment with different tools to add texture and depth. If you use brushes, make sure to use synthetic brushes with alcohol inks, as the resin in the ink can ruin natural hair bristles.
Extra tools for clean up
Paper towels, cotton swabs, cloths and isopropyl alcohol are all great tools to clean up excess ink from your work surface, as well as to clean the brushes used for blending. Make sure to also wear gloves to protect your hands when using ink.
So, What Are Alcohol Inks?
Alcohol ink is a quick drying, richly pigmented, and acid-free medium that works well on non-porous surfaces. These inks easily glide around a non-porous surface, allowing you to manipulate them into swirling shapes. Because they dry so quickly, you can layer colors easily – or use an alcohol blending solution to blend them together. The result can resemble marbling or tie dye and you can create areas with less or more pigmentation for a really “watery” effect. They also come in metallics, which I cannot wait to try – especially because some of these pieces really look like malachite and other stone, just begging for a little shimmering “veining”!
What Supplies Do I Need for Alcohol Inks?
Alcohol ink is sold in small bottles and often you can buy a multi-pack. Here’s a shopping list of everything I bought for my first alcohol ink art experiments – including the exact colors I got:
- Alcohol inks: I bought two 3-packs: this one (Mariner-Indigo/Mermaid/Teakwood) and this one (it’s called Lakeshore) – and then later bought this whole 24 color mega set
- Alcohol blending solution (you can also use rubbing alcohol, but the blending solution is better)
- Yupo synthetic paper (it comes in different sizes)
- Paper drinking straws
- Rubber gloves
- Drop cloth to protect surfaces (I used a black garbage bag)
You can use alcohol ink on many different surfaces, but to start I suggest that you buy a pack of special synthetic paper. Yupo is a waterproof material that comes in a nice bright white (I’ve also seen translucent yupo). It’s durable and super smooth, which makes it perfect for alcohol inks.
Easy DIY Alcohol Ink Art Tutorial:
I watched a few tutorials on YouTube but honestly they didn’t help because you can’t try to recreate something you see someone else make, you have to just go with the flow and the best thing to do is just play with alcohol ink, as opposed to try and copy something! My Mom came over and we spent an afternoon just moving the inks around and that experimentation was the best way to learn about alcohol inks.
We began by dropping the ink onto the Yupo paper and then blowing gently with a straw. You can coax the ink around the Yupo by blowing air on it through a straw and it’s such a fun way to make designs and shapes. Alternatively you can use a can of compressed air or even a hair dryer. The ink has a mind of its own, especially when you add some drops of the alcohol blending solution (which helps slow the drying process). It will flow really nicely and you can even pick up and swirl the Yupo around. Something as simple as blowing gently, or giving the ink a big puff of air, will change how the ink moves.
There’s no wrong way to do this.
