Let's Talk Acrylic Inks and How-to Use them in our Projects

Have you ever used acrylic Inks?   They are a wonderful treasure to put in your Art Box.

In this blog post I will share a few of the important points that you will want to know before using this product.  I have also shared a short time-lapsed video where you see my applying the ink to a project in my art journal.

Important facts about Acrylic Inks:

• Acrylic inks are a highly fluid acrylic paint the drys permanently.
• Like most paints they will separate when left unused for a while.  This means that you should always shake the bottle well before use.
• Acrylic inks are water based.   Think of what happens when you drop watercolor onto a wet surface.  The paint begins to spread out where ever the water is on the paper.  The same thing happens when you drop a little bit of ink onto an already wet surface, it immediately wants to disperse and spread out into the water.  

An important aspect to find out when purchasing different brands of Acrylic inks... is that brand "light-fast".  If not, the color will fade over time.   I believe that most of the popular brands are light-fast.   But, it is always important to check first.   I use Amsterdam Inks and Liquitex inks.  A quick google research helped me to find out:

"Amsterdam is highly pigmented ink that is extremely light-fast and waterproof when dry. Each bottle comes with an attached eyedropper and should be stirred before using for best results. Amsterdam ink is compatible with dip pens, brushes, and is even so well constituted it can be used in a technical pen".

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I personally use Acrylic Inks when I want to achieve contrast in my art work, or even a staining effect like what you see in the video as I apply it on the tree trunk.  I love the intensity of color and transparency that I can achieve when I put them into my projects, thus allowing the viewer to see other elements underneath. 

Another one of my favorite techniques is to drop a few drops in a certain area on the paper and spread it out with gesso.  The gesso softens the harshness of the color, but still gives me the contrast that I want to add interest into my piece.