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.
All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord stands forever.
1Peter 1:24-25
A couple of helpful tips I recently picked up sheila …. You can label the brushes with tape (ie: blue, red, yellow, etc.) and use them over and over without cleaning them. Also you can use an acetate print sleeve on your scanner first so the ink doesn’t get on your glass. But no worries, if it does, it should clean right off completely with alcohol. 🙂 Don’t worry, be happy! xo
Awesome tips Sandy. I was thinking about that, I have enough brushes to do that. And I am using brushes just for the ink, keeping them seperate from my watercolor tools. Why didn’t I think of using a sleeve??? Because I am not Sandy the Alcohol ink master! LOL
Gorgeous. It seems definitely worthwhile to explore various techniques by repainting the same subject. The artist Alex Katz has some food for thought on this: “Part of what I’m about is seeing how I can paint the same thing differently instead of different things the same way.” I think your direction is a good one.
Thanks so much for sharing that Laurelle! WOW, his site is awesome. I will have to spend more time with his work 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
I love your flowers, and since you are learning a new medium its good to work in familiar territory. Those are really intense colors!!! I think you will soon get a handle on the media. Love your setting and should copy some of it for my acrylic experiments.. I am sure you can scan with it part open… I have done book pages like that.
Hi Carol! Yeah, I think it will work. And waiting just a little longer for it to dry 😉 Thanks for the vote of confidence, hope your explorations are humming along 🙂
I think your before and after shows why I gave up on this medium – to my eye, the before colours are nice and clean while the after colours are a bit muddy. I like your before piece better – lol. I like your layout for your work space – makes sense to me. Have a great day, Sheila!
Thanks Val, for your honesty 🙂 LOL I can understand that, from looking at your work! I think the muddy comes from the fact I did some splattering as well. It’s possible I went to far with it, ha ha ha Good day to you as well Val! Thanks for visiting!!
This is beautiful Sheila … From John Cage’s rules for teachers and students – “8. Don’t try to create and analyze at the same time. They’re different processes.” Let the inks show you the way . . . Just get lost in the process and see what happens. 🙂
Yes my Sensai 🙂 I will remember that as I work today 🙂
My thought was ” Magnificent!!!” These colors are so vibrant. I love these flowers!
LOL, thank you Karin 🙂 That is what I (and everyone else) love about the inks, they seem to be lit from within 🙂
Sheila, I am fascinated by all the details of this new medium and process and way of thinking and way of cleaning up and, and, and. Thanks for sharing. PLUS, love the signature Sheila flower : ) Colors and their edges/transitions are beautiful!
There’s another terrific title Dotty! LOL I am enjoying your lovely limited stripes 🙂
This is great, Sheila! And this flower is the same flower that I loved so very much before. My favorite!!
Thanks so much Kat 🙂 Happy tangling to you teacher 🙂