EGGSHELL MOSAIC #2

Eggshell mosaic is another of those techniques that have been around it seems like forever, it is such a great technique with the addition of alcohol inks and a glossy top coat.  As white eggshells are notoriously difficult to get hold of, your normal run-of-the-mill brown eggs will do but they will just need a quick coat of gesso to allow the alcohol inks to stand out in their true colours.  Just remember to keep wiping off your hands as it can get a bit messy sticking the little bits of shell down into the glue.

"#44"
(This is a simple rectangular frame
that is covered with the eggshell)

"Without Limits"
(Just the bottom part of this background
is covered with eggshell.  The top part
is gesso with alcohol inks)

"Appreciate everything"
(Another framed piece with eggshell)

"De-coffin-ated"
(Ghost die-cut covered with eggshell)

"Strangeness"

"Find your wings"
(This entire background is egg-shell and
has metallic waxes rubbed over the top
of the glossy top-coat)

PEARL ALCOHOL INKS

Alcohol Inks are one of my favourite mediums.  There are so many different surfaces they can be used on  -  Yupo, Gloss Card, Black Gloss Card, Silver Mirror Card, certain Photo Papers, Acetate, Glass, virtually any non-porous surface.  For this class, I wanted to test the Pearl Alcohol Inks with the same substrates.  The Pearls don't play nicely with alcohol (91%) which is what I use with my normal Alcohol Inks, they require the Blending Solution to get them to spread and not go granular and clumpy.  But, I have found that the Pearls do work on Neenah card stock, which is a porous surface!  You don't get the flowy blended look that you do on non-porous surfaces, but because the Pearls have the sheen in them, that actually shows up on the white Neenah card stock.  My sample below, "Results", is on Neenah.  Unfortunately, once again the computer doesn't show the shimmer of the alcohol ink but if you have some, give it a try on plain white card stock.  The shimmer is beautiful!

"Become"...

(Kirkland Photo Paper, a combo of normal

alcohol ink & Pearl, a piece of

Mica has been added over the picture)

"Hug a tree"...

(Black gloss card, Pearl alcohol inks only, with 

Posca white & black markers for the

trunks on the trees)

"If lost"...

(Yupo, Pearl alcohol inks only)

"Live in colour"...

(Kirkland Photo Paper, Pearl

alcohol inks only)

"Results"...

(Neenah, Pearl alcohol inks only)

MINERAL PAPER & ALCOHOL INKS

Yupo paper has been the usual substrate for using alcohol inks for a few years now as it has more flow and movement than just using gloss card stock.  Yupo is a synthetic paper made from polypropylene (plastic) so withstands the alcohol ink and subsequent application of 91% or 99% alcohol to make the inks spread further and dilute them (or you can use blending solution).  Mineral paper is made from rocks so it is different in that it gives a more matte finish than Yupo, but the inks do react differently on it.  They don't tend to spread as easily without the application of the alcohol and if you apply Snow Cap (white alcohol ink) mixed with some 91% or 99% alcohol, this will make the surface shinier.  It is still a wonderful substrate to try out if you can get hold of some.

"Life update"...

"New beginning"...

"Owl sings"...

"Keep friends close"...

"Ugly"...

ALCOHOL INKS ON MIRROR CARD

I can't seem to get enough of alcohol inks at the moment.  This fortnight's technique is once again an alcohol ink one but using silver mirror card as the substrate.  This is definitely something you need to try at home to fully appreciate how awesome the alcohol inks look on the mirror card as the shine comes through the ink colours and gives it a totally amazing look.  Also, you can leave sections of the card with no ink on them so you can see the silver mirror effect of the card, as shown in the final atc below, "Throw Glitter".  The little spots you can see on the first one below (love the caramel and sepia colours in this one) is from the fixative that I've sprayed on.  Fixative can cause the inks to reactivate again so you need to be careful how you use it.  Certain colours of alcohol ink are also prone to staying wet longer so in this instance, less alcohol ink is better and if you find it doesn't move around much, use a little pure alcohol (91% or 99%) and you'll find

 it moves and dilutes more.

"Avant-garde"...

(the black detail in the top half is actually part

of a spider web die that I cut in black card, then

rubbed a little metallic gold paint over it, then attached

it with black staples)

"Comfort Zone"...

"What you allow"...

"Wicked Intention"...

(this background went crazy when I added the

fixative so I just dropped on some more pure alcohol,

then moved it around a little and it worked

just fine.  You can see the little dotty sections where

the fixative reacted with the inks in the top right corner)

"Throw Glitter"...

(this one has more of the mirror card showing

through,  I only used pool and sepia for this

background)