Where do I start with alcohol ink art?

You may have noticed that alcohol inks have surged in popularity as a choice of medium for their expressive colours and beautiful fluidity. This medium is very expressionistic and extremely flexible. However, if you have just begun your journey of alcohol inks, you might notice that they're a little difficult to control. You’re not alone …

The best advice I can give is - keep at it. It truly is something to practice over and over so that you become aware of how colours work and what you can and cannot control.

Starting on Yupo paper (a synthetic non-absorbent paper) is the best entry point. Once you begin to grow your collection of colours, doing swatches varying in intensity of ink, will help you keep a record of how the inks work in varying degrees of depth.

With doing this you will also come to learn which colours you can ‘split’ and manipulate. You’ll also learn which colours blend well and those also that don’t.

Alcohol inks, whilst extremely flexible, are also very weather dependant especially if you are using an air-compressor and or heat gun. Humidity naturally affects the way inks dry as well as how they blend. They can become chalky or muddy in mixing with changes in weather.

Learn all this and more in my Original Alcohol Ink Workshops at The Studio in Dunsborough, Western Australia. Visit the Workshop page on this website for more information.

Happy experimenting!

-Bex