One of my Alcohol Ink friends noticed an album I have on Facebook called “Flowers”. I did these in November of 2013 trying to discover the secrets of Stacie Raglione’s gorgous flowers. Click here to see her wonderful work at Fine Art America. *
I used a small compressor as a substitute for canned air. I found that the cans were getting pretty expensive and a small compressor is a one time purchase.
Here’s a video showing the technique. It’s certainly not a finished painting but will give you some ideas to try. Take this technique and see what you can do with it. Perhaps for underwater images, hair, just texture in an abstract. What ideas do you have?
Here’s some pointers:
- Use inks with a lot of alcohol if you want them to really move.
- Hold the compressor nozzle low.
- Move your hand/arm in the direction you want ink to flow.
- Pulse the compressor to get little “fingers”
- The compressor dries as it blows
- Look for places where the ink is not dry and blow some more.
Here’s my compressor. It’s a Master Airbrush and is very light and reliable. Cost is around $80.
Let me know if you try this technique
* Please note: It’s okay to study another artist’s work to learn techniques but it is not okay to copy their work and present it as your own. That is a copyright violation. Share your new ideas!
Just a reminder. The purpose of these tutorials is to teach new techniques that you can make your own.
can you use watered down acrylic paint with this compressor…….and do you know if you can take this on a flight either in checked baggage or carryon
Hi Diane, I don’t know about watered down acrylic and don’t know if you could take it on a plane. Sorry
Thank you so much. I have a question, does your compressor have a lot of water build up? I have to keep emptying my little reservor.
I’m sorry, mine doesn’t have water build up. Perhaps it’s because I live in a really dry part of the states. I read a little bit and it said “Why is there so much water in my air compressor?
Eric, anytime when you compress air, the pressure increases. If the dew point of the incoming air is high enough, this will cause the water vapor to condense upon compression. This is what is causing water to form as droplets. … Compressors have a water drain to get rid of the water, drain it daily or after use.” I hope this helps.
I’m trying to get a really fine line that I can get with a can of air for my type of flowers. Can you adjust your gun so you get that fine burst of air?
You can adjust the pressure on the compressor to control the flow of air.
Thank you so much! I have wondered about that technique myself. I have purchased a small compressor and appreciate the tutorial on how to use it to create those beautiful flowers.
Great instruction Sheryl. Here’s some I did w compressor last year on black 4X4 tiles. Resined and felt backs. I also had them enlarged on metallic for a great framed wall collage.
Sent from my iPhone
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