Wednesday 31 August 2016

Letraset Inks


Chose a mermaid doodle to redo using Letraset Inks in blues and greens. The bottles of ink were in the sale bin of my local art shop, Bradbury Art, and I'd seen TheMonsterPaws on YT use marker ink refills to add interest in the background of an artwork (link below).


An assistant in the shop said she'd tried them and found them very difficult to work with for as soon as they touched the paper they dried and couldn't be manipulated. I reckoned there might be a way to use that quality to my advantage and looked forward to experimenting. 


Used Crayola Pro to draw the updated version of the mermaid adding more detail to her face and neck than before. I scanned the image to be able to print out more copies if needed. I was aware that it might all go horribly wrong!

I found the bottles difficult to use as they dripped very easily, but they were only designed to refill alcohol markers, probably as a one time use. I tried at first to copy how TheMonsterPaws poured her inks and found the paper became saturated quite quickly. Plus, as there was little or no control over how the inks ran the result was very hit and miss. This technique might be better suited to a sheet of paper larger than A4 and with more space around the central image - the inks 'went over the lines' on my drawing. 


Using a fine paintbrush I then tried dropping ink onto the bristles but the ink went everywhere! Blue and green fingers - it all came off with brush cleaner and soap. I ended up using an empty blister pack from calcium tablets that I take and the small blisters were the perfect size to half fill with ink so that I could dip the paintbrush into. However, these inks are alcohol based and evaporate very quickly so speed is needed. I did find that by adding a few drops of fresh ink the dried ink reanimated and I could use it again.

Bristol Board absorbed the ink well and the inks dried fast - the liquid version of working with alcohol markers. I'd like to try using masking fluid to protect areas of the drawing before using the Letraset Inks in the background. The effect of this background suited the underwater image but I'll need more practice to use them successfully in other drawings. I do like the inks and I'm itching to use them again.



Links:
TheMonsterPaws YT video - checkout 2.40 into video


Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit
All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.



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