Ashley Mahlberg - Creative Alcohol Inks: A Step-By-Step Guide to Achieving Amazing Effects--Explore Painting, Pouring, Blending, Textures, and More!

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO ACHIEVING AMAZING EFFECTS

Ashley Mahlberg

WELCOME TO CREATIVE ALCOHOL INKS! Im so thrilled to have been given the opportunity to share this magical fluid medium with you. I receive emails and comments every day from people wanting to learn about how to master alcohol ink. Because Im a one-woman show working out of my home studio, I dont have the time to be able to respond to every inquiry, as much as Id love to, so Ive written this book to respond to the most frequently asked questions.

In this book, youll find a complete supply list, an in-depth chapter on basic techniques, and twelve step-by-step projects that will get you comfortable working with alcohol ink and give you the confidence to create your own works of art. Ive done my best to really share my process from start to finish, which is why I also included information on my go-to color palettes, sealing your work, creating fine art prints, how to frame your work, and more.

Because alcohol ink is a fluid medium, the low level of control you have can be intimidating to people who havent dabbled in fluid art. Ill teach you how to work with the fluid nature of this medium instead of against it to confidently create those stunning alcohol ink pieces you see all over social media. Learn the basic techniques Ive laid out for you and let the alcohol ink show you what it can do!

HAVING A NICE RANGE OF ART SUPPLIES on hand is helpful when experimenting with a new medium, but whats great about working with alcohol ink is that the basics are just thatbasic! The investment is minimal and the results are magical. All you need is alcohol ink, isopropyl alcohol, and a surface on which to start creating. That said, to become fluent in this exciting medium and experiment with the techniques and projects Ive laid out for you, I highly recommend purchasing all the extra supplies. Most of the extras are fairly basic, and you may already have them in your art supply stash.

Alcohol ink is a translucent, acid-free, highly pigmented fluid medium intended for applying to a nonporous surface. Alcohol ink is made of dye and alcohol; the alcohol is what gives the dye its fluid nature, and the alcohol evaporates as the dye dries. The textures, color palettes, and compositions you can easily achieve are absolutely second to none, resulting in an extremely addictive medium! Not only can you create stunning effects with it, but the versatility is an incredible quality as well. When working with alcohol ink, you have its ability to reactivate dry paintings and completely rework or fix mistakes without difficulty.

Alcohol ink is available in dropper bottles for easy application directly from the bottle onto your surface. With such a broad color offering, the palettes you can create are limitless. With alcohol ink quickly gaining popularity, more and more local art stores are beginning to carry larger selections; however, at the moment the big online art companies offer the largest alcohol ink options in one place. I use three alcohol ink brands: Brea Reese, Tim Holtz, and Copic Various Refills. I prefer these brands, but I encourage you to experiment with all varieties and discover your own favorites. Dont feel like you have to stick to one brand either; I often paint one project using all three brands.

One of the best qualities of alcohol ink is that most colors let you reactivate the medium to rework a piece. Knowing which colors are more likely to let you rework them is helpful to know and plan for before you start painting. As you experiment with different alcohol ink brands and colors, you will notice a difference in the ratio of alcohol to dye in each bottle. Some colors have a higher concentration of isopropyl alcohol or dye than others; youll notice this simply by how much your alcohol ink moves on its own straight out of the bottle as its applied to a surface. If the alcohol ink has a higher dye concentration, its easier to reactivate and rework because theres dye or color available to move around your surface. Alternatively, if theres a higher ratio of alcohol than dye, reactivating the color and reworking it is a little harder. Instead of trying to rework those colors, I recommend applying more alcohol ink directly from the bottle to the portion of your project where you want a greater concentration of color.