Alcohol Ink Tools and Supplies

Hi everyone!  I hope spring has you in a great mood like it does me!  Whew, what a long winter! Good riddance!  When we hit 70 I feel like I can do anything!

I impulsively said what the heck and decided to make a little video with my iPad on the tools I use in alcohol ink painting.  It's very rudimentary but I started!  That's half the battle right?

There will be a learning curve...

I am going to do this though!

I have lot's of ideas and thought well, maybe technique will be most helpful.  That's really what I want to see but no one does it, they just paint.  I like to have all my tools and options spread before me and then I like to go at it! So I am going to make videos like that.  Short bites of technique.

Here is the first one.  I hope this clears some things up and gives you ideas!  I am sure I'll come up with more tools!

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask!!

And sign up for my newsletter!  Each month I select someone from my list to win an alcohol ink original painting!  May is coming!

Sign up HERE!

Copying Art Work. When You Can, When You Can't

I ran across this video today and it fits right in with what I actually wanted to discuss! COOLNESS!

Many people just do not know about this, so I am informing you!  I just released my inks into the Creative Commons Attribution4.0 International.

Click Here to see what you CAN do with the inks.

It's a lot, click on the link for the whole thing, here is a portion

• Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
• Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
• for any purpose, even commercially.

• The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.

Please take a little bit of time to listen.  He says it so well!  Not everything is under Creative Commons OR Public Domain.  Public Domain is the easiest to use and deal with.  But another artist?  Well, take a listen.

Sean Wes How to Be Inspired Without Copying

What Sean describes is what I usually do.  I immerse myself in art or a style of art by many different artists and then I put my spin on it.  Now I can't even help it, I put my spin on it even if I am supposed to be copying something in a class LOL! ;)  A little rebellious side of me showing up.

I have to do it myyyyyy waaayyyyyy!  Remember that song?

There Was A Field of Flowers 8" x 10"

The Last day of 30 in 30!

Well guys, it's the last day of the challenge and my back is not up to it so I'll have to just give you a collage of what I did do minus the nice pretty picture of my Irises painting of which I had wanted to paint a sister to!  I will still!

I did better than I thought!  I have not come this close to completing a challenge in 2 years!  I learned ways not to stress over getting work done this time!

1. Paint ahead!
2. Paint in a series!
3. Scan if you can! 
4. Schedule blog posts!
5. Rest when you have to!

To be honest, I hit the ground running with a bum back this month but I am so proud of myself.  I went to work on this full time and set aside time to "go to work"!  It's working just swell.  I have lots of things in store!

I have been bumbling and stumbling forward this month to have any kind of forward movement trying to abolish my perfectionist tendencies and I am proud to announce I am getting used to it!

Irises!

Day 28 of Leslie Saeta's January Challenge.

I've been a bit sidelined by an old back injury.  The things we do when we think we are invincible as young people! :D

So I went to the Dr. after a month and a half of major owwies!  And got some great muscle relaxers and it sure did relax me!  Enough to paint these irises!

It's been one of my goals to paint abstract flowers.  Just a hint of flowerness!  These are a little too obvious.

AND no brushes were used!  Just my hands!

The Iris painting will be up on my website store when I feel like I can move things around to photograph it :)

20" x 20" acrylic on deep canvas

Also my experiments to mount ink prints has worked!  I just have a couple more and a run through for a final and I will put them up for sale!  Oh my they look so good!  They look as good as any original!

Drippity Do Da!

Day 27 of Leslie Saeta's January Challenge.

Whew!  I needed a day off! My back has been giving me fits.  We do things in our youth that make us go "What were you thinking young Kelly!?" now lol. And I am paying for it :)

Well THIS is acrylic on Yupo!  Mega paint since most slides off and it really does not stay saturated when it slides off.  I definitely am experimenting more with this!  I got all kinds of little interesting things going on in there!

8 1/2 x 11"

Acrylic on Yupo

By Kelly Dombrowski

Just Let Me Be Done!

Day 25 of Leslie Saeta's January Challenge.

I am ready to be done with the challenge now :)  I have one more piece of art that I am making and I wonder... Oh dang, I only have 4 more after this and then I can say I did it.  Does it matter that much?  I don't know.  I mean I tried last year and flopped, I guess I am proving to myself I can stick with it LOL!

I have so many plans I need to accomplish!  I'm off to an exciting year!

8 1/2 x 11"

Alcohol Ink on Yupo

By Kelly Dombrowski

There's Gotta Be PURPLE!

Day 24 of Leslie Saeta's January Challenge.

I love unexpected color ways.  Can you tell?  I love delightful surprises and experimentation.  I have to admit I do love purple and green!  An interesting mix in colors determined this outcome!

I've been forging my business plan for this year.  I have had many requests for the inks on fabric.  I am looking into it and possible places for some silks to be made :)  Some of you know I used to be a silk artist but the work was hard and the pay was terrible but the colors, OH MY!  The colors were incredible!  These inks are the closest thing I have seen in similar pigmentation!

I have cried over these inks!

Sounds so silly to write it down.  I so wanted to have them work as originals.  I basically spent an entire year running toward every solution to be stopped right at the last moment. I pray this last bunch of ideas will utilize them and not make them just a pretty picture on the internet!

Any way, if you ever get a chance and you love color and the unexpected uncontrollable properties of this medium, try it.  It's nothing like you've ever done.

Each and every one is a surprise!

There's Gotta Be PURPLE!

8 1/2 x 11"

Alcohol Ink on Yupo

By Kelly Dombrowski