Alcohol Ink On Acetate

Creating a watercolor effect using Alcohol Ink and blending solution on Acetate is a technique that I've been looking forward to trying out for the longest time. My friend JAN and I decided to begin a monthly technique challenge between ourselves and post our results on our blogs. I was excited when Jan suggested that our first challenge be to use alcohol ink and blending solution as a watercoloring medium and to use acetate as our painting surface. You can view Jan's beautiful card that she created, titled "Pocket full of Posies" HERE.

For my card I began with a clear sheet of acetate and stamped the vase of flowers image using Stazon black ink. One immediately discovers that you have to have a steady hand when stamping and to lift the stamp directly. Even though the stamp does "stick" a bit to the acetate with the stazon ink, the risk of smears is high since the acetate is like an ice skating surface.

After I inked the surface with my stamped image and used a small plastic paint palette and put a drop of each of the colors of alcohol ink I wanted to use on the image in the little "bowls" in the palette. I don't have too many alcohol ink colors (YET!) so I blended some of the colors for various shades.

Next I filled a water brush with alcohol ink blending solution and used the blending solution to regulate the intensity of the colors as I painted it on the acetate. The colors just flow so smoothly. I thoroughly enjoyed this painting technique and can see myself using this frequently in the future.

If you'd like to see a tutorial using Alcohol Ink and Acetate, click on Michelle Zindorf's blog, Freedom in Creating, HERE.


I think this technique will be great for coloring highly detailed images when you want the stamped lines to be predominent in defining the image.

Thanks Jan for the challenge! I loved using this technique.