I’m back! I’ve had to take a break from my Tea with Tammy episodes, but I’m back! I want to make more varied video posts on different ways to use some of the tools you might already have. Todays video looks at alcohol inks. Take a peek!
Unique Notecards available!
The Holiday Art Market at Brushwood in Riverwoods was a success! I do have a few sets of notecards left that are for sale. They are a set of 5 cards and envelopes for $20.00. See the images available below:
Here’s how they look bundled! Perfect as a gift, they can be mailed out as they come with envelopes, great for a 1st anniversary (paper), they can be used for any occasion, and they can be framed as is!
You can email me at tammy@tammyhaman.com to order your set today! Just let me know which set you are interested in!
Holiday Art Market
Looking for unique gifts this Christmas for those hard to buy people of your list? Look no further! Stop in at the Brushwood Center at Ryerson in Riverwoods, IL this weekend!
I was accepted as a contributing artist this year! I will be selling notecards of my work. After this weekend, I will be posting more notecards for sale on my website. Here are a couple of examples:
They are perfect for any occasion and they are blank inside ready and waiting for your personalization!
If you’re in the Riverwoods area this weekend, December 7th & 8th, stop in to see all the goodies!
| NATURE-INSPIRED HOLIDAY ART MARKET December 7th & 8th Shop local for all your holiday gifts this year at our third Annual Nature-Inspired Holiday Art Market! Enjoy some hot cocoa and listen to carols in the welcoming historic Brushwood home while you shop for unique art, handmade gifts, cards and prints from over 50 local artists and makers. Come support local artists this holiday shopping season, and be sure to check out the full schedule of events below: |
| SCHEDULE Saturday: Open 9 a .m. – 5 p.m. 9:30-11 a.m. Drag Queen Children’s Story Hour with Mother Nature 1:00 p.m. BASE UpCycling Championship Kick Off 1:30 – 4:45 p.m. Live UpCycling Competition 4:45 – 5:00 p.m. Judging and Award Ceremony Sunday: Open 12-4 p.m. 1-2:30 p .m. Mindful Merriment: A Guide to Holiday Eating 1-3 p.m. Botanical Art Demonstration by Heeyoung Kim |
Fun Mixed Media Techniques: Encaustics and Alcohol Inks
This week we are experimenting with adding color to encaustics using alcohol inks. This is my favorite technique!! Let me know if you try it!
Happy Mother’s Day!
To all the beautiful mothers out there, I hope you do something that you enjoy doing on Mother’s Day! Sometimes it’s not about what you’re doing but who you’re with! Sometimes it’s about both!! I’m lucky because I’ve been baking today (something I love doing), working with alcohol inks (see photo above) and I get to spend this weekend with both my Moms and 2 out of the 3 kids! Hope you have a wonderful day!
Alcohol Inks with a paintbrush?
Can you use a paintbrush with alcohol inks? Yes, you can!
Let’s start at the beginning. What are alcohol inks? They are solvent inks that contain alcohol. The alcohol is to the alcohol ink what water is to watercolors. They are very vibrant colors that can mix and blend like nothing else!
Safety: You don’t need a lot of supplies to start with alcohol inks, but you do need to set up your work space safely.
Alcohol releases a vapor especially if used in large areas. Always be in a well-ventilated area and use a respirator if you have asthma or any sensitivities. You will also want gloves to protect your hands from the staining properties of the inks.
Substrates: You will need to use a non-absorbent surface to work on. Examples include ceramic tiles, glass, Yupo paper, Duralar, Mineral paper, or canvas with 3 coats of Kilnz 2 primer.
If you are looking to save money while you start with practice pieces, you can use the glossy side of freezer paper, the back of a “Garage Sale” sign, or pieces of tin.
Start the background with 2 – 3 analogous colors. Analogous colors are colors next to each other on the color wheel. Blend those colors with a little Isopropyl alcohol (I use 91%) using a straw, canned air, or even just tilting your paper back and forth until the alcohol or blending solution evaporates.
Now put a couple of drops of a slightly darker color than your background colors in a clean palette. Let the alcohol evaporate and dry. This is a great way to be able to travel with these inks!
Put either some blending solution (by Ranger) or Claro Extender (by Jacquard) in a small pot. Dip your brush in to pick up just a small amount of the alcohol solution and then dip your brush in the dried ink color in your palette. If you use less alcohol solution on your brush, the more vibrant your color will be.
As you start painting, the background color will be reactivated when you paint in your subject on top of the background. This technique will take practice! You can start adding different colors as you experiment with different strokes.
Tip: if you have too much alcohol or blending solution on your brush, your colors will get away from you! Start small and work your way up.
I’m going to be recording a video on this process so it will be easier to practice. Until then, practice, practice, practice! Sign up for my newsletter so you don’t miss any new videos or tips and tricks that I will be sharing in the future!
Alcohol Inks in Fine Art
Have you wondered what alcohol inks are? Have you wondered if they are accepted in the world of fine art? I am here to tell you that alcohol inks are ink that is suspended in alcohol and YES, they are accepted in the world of fine art!
I love the fluid motion that occurs when using these inks. They are the most similar to watercolors just instead of activating with water like you do in watercolors, you activate the inks with alcohol. I use a Kamar Varnish and UV Protective spray to increase the archival properties.
My latest series is called “Freedom” and these pieces are strictly alcohol ink on either Yupo paper or Mineral paper. Yupo paper is a synthetic plastic that is nonabsorbent in a paper form. Mineral paper is made from rocks instead of trees and has a nonabsorbent surface that is slightly different from Yupo. If you are interested in trying alcohol inks, I suggest you try these and as many other nonabsorbent surfaces that you can find. For a cheap alternative to get started, just use Freezer paper (glossy side) or a For Sale sign that you would buy in Walmart.
If you like the look, but don’t want to get your hands messy, then check out my latest alcohol ink paintings below. You can find more paintings in my shop or let me know if there are some specific color combinations you would like for your home!
Getting Started with Alcohol Inks
When you are just getting started with alcohol inks, don’t feel like you need every color in the rainbow. There are so many brands and colors out there, you could go nuts! My suggestion is to just start slowly with a few colors that you like and white and black. I prefer Ranger’s Snow Cap for my white but I do use Pinata’s Blanco Blanco also. Every brand has colors that move differently based on their alcohol content properties. That means that if you start experimenting and don’t like the results, add more alcohol/blending solution/claro extender and try again. My other suggestion is to limit your ink in the beginning. Some of the colors are so vibrant (which is a beautiful attribute) but when you have too much ink, it will turn murky. Of course, there are ways to use the murky areas to your benefit, but that is something we will talk about in the future.
The other thing I must discuss is safety. Alcohol can affect some people in a bad way. Please use a mask and only use in a well ventilated area. There are many videos on You Tube addressing this issue. The inks can stain the fingers for a couple of days so I also recommend using latex gloves and covering your work surface with freezer paper.
As for the substrates, you can use any non-porous surface. That includes glass, metal, yupo paper, Duralar, Mineral Paper, ceramic tiles, and canvas if you prep it with Kilz2 Latex Primer. Obviously each surface will provide different and unique effects.
Alcohol inks are all about experimenting! If you want to let your creative mojo loose, then this is for you! Let me know if you try it!