August 2nd, 2010
Testing, Testing… 1.. 2… 3….
One of the best things about this endeavor has been the freedom of experimentation. I learned so much by playing with food colorings, including the fact that blue food coloring hates sunlight and would rather not exist than hang around with it. So I’ve started my search, grand and wide, to find a lightfast way to color the glue.
I started with ink. I thought of how beautiful it looks on rough paper, like milk on a tongue. I thought it would be transparent. Turns out not so much…
Stretched Out, Ink test one
Here you can see one of the suncatcher designs, Stretched Out, with a nice purple ink tinted glue. You can also see how much i care if my nail polish has chipped. Anyway… You can see that there is some amount of light getting through but nothing like what I was getting before with the food coloring. I wanted this shade, which is good, it means I understand how the ink mixes, but the solid particles of the pigment block out the light.
Stretched Out, backside
Here i was looking to get some of the splatter and bleed effect i got previously from flicking droplets of food coloring onto the glue’s surface. As you can see here, the pigments don’t bleed. I’m guessing it’s from the solidity. It just rests on top, flecks here and there, without spreading at all.
Angel's Morning, Ink test one
Here it is even more evident. I used straight white glue for the wings then dragged a little of the blue tinted glue through it to attempt a shading technique. As you can see, the blue pigment reveals itself as specks.
Angel's Morning, wing test
Fortunately, for me, it works quite well on this piece. Both of these techniques will not be thrown out completely. I think it’s wonderful that now i know how to create these effects should I need to!
Chani, Ink test one
Here on Chani you can see where gravity has decided to instruct me as well. I can see that if I would like thin layers of pale colors then i can utilize the inks just fine. Too bad I love the intensity that color brings.
I have also tested two different types of watercolors, to be expounded upon soon. After that I’d like to see what black ink does…