Happy Friday! Hopefully your week has been a good one. I know I’ve been enjoying playing with lots of products, and continuing my learning to use alcohol inks. So today, I have another alcohol ink work in progress to share with you.
FALL MAPLE LEAF
This is the second free short class offered by Sheryl Williams, of the Academy of Alcohol Ink. The first one is the Sunset Bird, which I shared in THIS POST. This second class is called Fall Maple Leaf. We’re working from this picture below, taken from a copyright free image on the Internet.
Isn’t that a gorgeous image? The bright colours in the foreground, with the shading & sun dappling in the background. My task – is to try and replicate it!
FIRST & SECOND STEPS
The first step is to print out the image, and trace it with graphite paper onto a 9″ x 12″ panel of Yupo paper. It’s a special ‘substrate’ – fancy word for surface – that is smooth, and non-porous. It’s perfect for using with alcohol inks.
The next step is to use masking fluid to mask off the leaves. The background is very large, and very dark in some areas, so the leaves need to be protected from getting that dark ink on them. This is what the Yupo panel looks like, with the drawn leaves covered in masking fluid.
The masking fluid is applied with a brush, for these large areas. Much less time consuming than using the tiny tip applicator on the bottle!
STEP THREE
The third step is to apply the background alcohol inks. Again, with such a large background area, the black ink is applied with a brush and blending solution. The greens are applied directly from their bottles. For the greens, I use Ranger Meadow and Citrus; the black is from Pinata, called Mantilla Black. I just received my Ranger Pitch Black today, after I had already done the background! Here’s what it looks like right now.
Kinda looks like a hot mess right now, doesn’t it?! It’s okay – I’m thinking that, too! I’m giving the background ink the afternoon to dry, before I removed the masking fluid from the leaves. That’s because I want to minimize the chance of transfer of the black ink onto the leaves – which are pure white beneath the masking.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
Well, after I remove the masking fluid, I’ll then follow the instructions in the online video class, adding colour to the leaves, and doing any touch up’s that may be necessary to the background. I’m hoping to have time this weekend to get it all done, so that I can share it with you next week!
If you’re interested in trying out the free online classes, just CLICK HERE, and follow the directions. It’s lots of fun, and I’m already taking another (paid) class called Fluid Abstractions, through this same Academy. You can see my ‘Nebula’ attempts in THIS POST, if you’re interested.
If you need any supplies for the class, or your own fun, I’ve included links below for online shopping. Have fun creating, and enjoy your weekend!
Affiliate links are provided, at no extra cost to you!
I can’t wait to see the finished product! Looks beautiful so far!
I’m hoping it looks good when I’m done, Susan! Thanks for the encouragement 🙂
Can’t wait to see your project! This looks like a lot of fun!
I’m hoping it turns out well, Buffy!! This is only the 2nd time I’ve done something this big, but this has much more detail in it.