The Curious World of Alcohol Inks
What makes these little bottles of colour so special
I think one of the nicest things about alcohol inks is that you don’t need very much to begin. No drawing, no careful sketching first, no worrying about getting something exactly right.
You choose a few colours, add a little ink and alcohol, and almost immediately something starts happening on the page. The colour moves across the surface, two shades meet and make another. A darker edge appears, a transparent layer sits over the one underneath. You add a little air and everything shifts again. It’s very satisfying to watch, you can easily lose yourself in the process. That’s probably one of the reasons I enjoy introducing people to alcohol inks so much.
You choose a few colours, add a little ink and alcohol, and almost immediately something starts happening on the page. The colour moves across the surface, two shades meet and make another. A darker edge appears, a transparent layer sits over the one underneath. You add a little air and everything shifts again. It’s very satisfying to watch, you can easily lose yourself in the process. That’s probably one of the reasons I enjoy introducing people to alcohol inks so much.
It’s not really like ordinary paint
Alcohol ink is exactly what the name suggests: highly concentrated colour in an alcohol base. But what makes it interesting is the way it behaves.
We work on a smooth non-porous surface, so instead of soaking straight into paper the ink stays on top and moves around. You can spread it with air, add alcohol to open the colour up, bring another shade into it or simply leave it alone and let it create its own shapes.The alcohol then evaporates leaving the pigment behind.
It means you can create very soft transparent effects as well as strong rich areas of colour, often in the same piece. And because the ink does some of the work with you, beginners can get lovely results surprisingly quickly.
The ‘paper’ is quite special too
One of the things people often ask in class is what kind of paper we are using. It looks fairly ordinary, but it doesn’t behave like ordinary paper at all.
Alcohol inks need a non-porous surface, so we use specialist synthetic papers and other surfaces made for this type of work. The ink stays on top rather than disappearing into the fibres. That’s what gives us time to play with it.
You can move a colour, add another one, soften an area, lift some ink away and sometimes go back into a section that has already dried.The surface is actually a big part of what makes alcohol ink look the way it does and one of those materials most people probably wouldn’t have at home unless they already work with inks.
Alcohol ink is exactly what the name suggests: highly concentrated colour in an alcohol base. But what makes it interesting is the way it behaves.
We work on a smooth non-porous surface, so instead of soaking straight into paper the ink stays on top and moves around. You can spread it with air, add alcohol to open the colour up, bring another shade into it or simply leave it alone and let it create its own shapes.The alcohol then evaporates leaving the pigment behind.
It means you can create very soft transparent effects as well as strong rich areas of colour, often in the same piece. And because the ink does some of the work with you, beginners can get lovely results surprisingly quickly.
The ‘paper’ is quite special too
One of the things people often ask in class is what kind of paper we are using. It looks fairly ordinary, but it doesn’t behave like ordinary paper at all.
Alcohol inks need a non-porous surface, so we use specialist synthetic papers and other surfaces made for this type of work. The ink stays on top rather than disappearing into the fibres. That’s what gives us time to play with it.
You can move a colour, add another one, soften an area, lift some ink away and sometimes go back into a section that has already dried.The surface is actually a big part of what makes alcohol ink look the way it does and one of those materials most people probably wouldn’t have at home unless they already work with inks.
And then there are the colours…
This is where alcohol inks become a little dangerous. Not because there is anything particularly difficult about using them, but because it’s very easy to want more.
A few blues suddenly don’t seem quite enough when you discover all the greens. Then you find a beautiful deep red. Then a metallic gold. Then silver and bronze.The bottles themselves are tiny, and a collection has a funny way of growing. Then come the specialist papers, high-quality alcohol, metallics and all the different surfaces you can experiment on. It’s one of those art materials where you can start with just a few things, but there is a whole world to discover once you get into it.
Perhaps that’s part of the treat. I think there’s something lovely about occasionally making art with materials you wouldn’t necessarily have sitting at home. A table full of little bottles of colour, specialist surfaces ready to use, metallic inks catching the light. Plenty of materials to experiment with without having to think too much about how much you’re using. It feels a little bit indulgent and I actually think art should feel like that sometimes.
Not everything we make has to be practical, useful or even planned. Sometimes it’s enough to spend a couple of hours playing with beautiful materials and seeing what happens.
This is where alcohol inks become a little dangerous. Not because there is anything particularly difficult about using them, but because it’s very easy to want more.
A few blues suddenly don’t seem quite enough when you discover all the greens. Then you find a beautiful deep red. Then a metallic gold. Then silver and bronze.The bottles themselves are tiny, and a collection has a funny way of growing. Then come the specialist papers, high-quality alcohol, metallics and all the different surfaces you can experiment on. It’s one of those art materials where you can start with just a few things, but there is a whole world to discover once you get into it.
Perhaps that’s part of the treat. I think there’s something lovely about occasionally making art with materials you wouldn’t necessarily have sitting at home. A table full of little bottles of colour, specialist surfaces ready to use, metallic inks catching the light. Plenty of materials to experiment with without having to think too much about how much you’re using. It feels a little bit indulgent and I actually think art should feel like that sometimes.
Not everything we make has to be practical, useful or even planned. Sometimes it’s enough to spend a couple of hours playing with beautiful materials and seeing what happens.
It’s wonderfully beginner-friendly
This is probably the thing I would want anyone considering alcohol inks for the first time to know. You really can come to it with no art experience.
There are techniques to learn of course, and if you continue with alcohol inks you can take them much further. You can learn more control, create florals and other compositions, work on larger surfaces and develop your own style.
But you don’t need any of that to enjoy your first experience. You can start simply with colour, movement and a few basic techniques.
In fact, sometimes people who say “I’m not artistic at all” enjoy alcohol inks the most, because there isn’t that pressure to draw something perfectly. The ink gives you something to respond to.
No two pieces will be exactly the same
This is still my favourite thing about the medium. You can put the same colours in front of two people, give them the same materials and show them the same technique and they will make completely different pieces.
Neither is right or wrong.
That little bit of unpredictability is what keeps alcohol ink interesting. You can guide it, but you don’t have to control every centimetre of the page. Sometimes a colour goes somewhere you hadn’t planned and that becomes the best part. And perhaps that’s why alcohol inks are so enjoyable to try for the first time. There’s very little pressure to know what you’re doing before you begin. You just choose the colours you like, put down the first drop and start from there.
Valeriia Kostina
Kostina Art Studio
Kostina Art Studio
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