September 23, 2016 was the day I fell in love with alcohol inks. I was itching to try out a new art medium and heard about these inks from other artists who loved them. I was perusing my local art supply shop and they had just received a new shipment of alcohol ink products! I picked up a few basic colours and took them home to try that night.

My first experiments were on wood using pouring medium over and under the inks. I learned that the pouring medium provided a nice surface for the alcohol ink to flow on when using wood boards. I was amazed by the gorgeous way that the inks blended together to make new colours. I tried using resists with the ink such as masking fluid and salt to create new textures. Another fun technique I used was blowing the ink around with a straw. I used a combination of pouring rubbing alcohol and using it from a spray bottle.

After this evening of play with the alcohol inks I was hooked! I went straight back to the art supply store the next day and purchased more colours and boards to start making my art! I had just found the perfect medium for my "sound circle" creations. As I continued to use the ink I have added more techniques to my process. I will continue to share these in future blog posts so keep checking back!