Media: Alcohol Ink?

[Lyrak]

[blockquote]In any case, other than acrylic paint, other’s on the forum have used various items. Watercolor, colored pencil, etc. I personally like to use pastels.[/blockquote]

Watercolors you say? I’ve been hesitant to get a PYO because I am a nightmare with acrylics (I probably need to get a better grade), but I have heavily pigmented gansai tambi watercolors that so far seem to be quite lightfast (as well as watercolor pencils that are also supposed to be lightfast) so now I’ll have to take that into consideration. (Only snafu is going to be finding a top coat I can apply indoors with no designated crafting space. Too humid for most of the year to have a spray set right.) It may simply be time to make the leap and play.

(And you are correct – alcohol inks by their nature are not lightfast, though I would assume given the right top coat applied quickly enough that MIGHT help? Never talked to anyone who tried that however.)

As for the brushed-on pastels method, you can do this on top of paint to get more subtle shading too. I’ve done it on sculptures in the past and it definitely improved the look versus flat acrylic if you, like me, are not especially skilled at getting nice blends with acrylic paints.

[Prezaurian]

Lyrak wrote:

[blockquote]In any case, other than acrylic paint, other’s on the forum have used various items. Watercolor, colored pencil, etc. I personally like to use pastels.[/blockquote]

Watercolors you say? I’ve been hesitant to get a PYO because I am a nightmare with acrylics (I probably need to get a better grade), but I have heavily pigmented gansai tambi watercolors that so far seem to be quite lightfast (as well as watercolor pencils that are also supposed to be lightfast) so now I’ll have to take that into consideration. (Only snafu is going to be finding a top coat I can apply indoors with no designated crafting space. Too humid for most of the year to have a spray set right.) It may simply be time to make the leap and play.

(And you are correct – alcohol inks by their nature are not lightfast, though I would assume given the right top coat applied quickly enough that MIGHT help? Never talked to anyone who tried that however.)

As for the brushed-on pastels method, you can do this on top of paint to get more subtle shading too. I’ve done it on sculptures in the past and it definitely improved the look versus flat acrylic if you, like me, are not especially skilled at getting nice blends with acrylic paints.

I have the same humidity problem and also don’t have a dedicated craft space. So I use brush on top coats. However, I use acrylic almost exclusively…so I’m not sure if my top coats would be ideal for water colors.

I’m certain you could get an amazing look with water color! Just have to be careful about not over saturating the gypsum with moisture. Could handle that by letting the figure rest in between layers though.

I sometimes thin my acrylics down to watercolor consistency for washes. Depending on the color I’m using. Like the pthalo blues or greens…they just do NOT lose their saturation! Very handy for some effects.

You can check out my work on dA & Redbubble!
https://prezaurian.deviantart.com/
https://www.redbubble.com/people/prezaurian?ref=artist_title_name

[Lauren]

I have to commiserate with you guys about heat/humidity problems impeding art. My sister has an airbrush that I want to try using, maybe with colors mixed from mica pigments, but we live in Houston. You’re lucky if it hits 80 overnight, the day is FAR too blazing hot, and even a rain storm just makes it *more* humid and *might* get you down to 85. It won’t be until late October before it’s cool enough and maybe the humidity will drop enough to consider working out there. I really wish there were spaces like studios you could go to that are built for artists to go to (I have lamented similarly about not being able to comfortably do pottery) but I don’t know of any.

[Author]

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