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Post by dewryce on Apr 23, 2024 21:59:15 GMT
I’m not a big stamper, just got into stenciling, and don’t do much mixed media. So I have a very small stash of inks and just chose inks for a layered stencil based on colors, being cognizant of some taking longer to dry. But I ran into 2 situations that have me wondering about mixing ink types. Layer 1 used a light green chalk ink and layer 2, which overlapped in some places, used a dark green pigment ink. Where the dark overlapped the light there seemed to be sort of a resist effect. Which is fine, a mix of the two colors, but even when I reapplied and reapplied, the dark ink never took over. It reminded me of painting over oil paint with a non-oil paint. In the second I was trying to stamp black lines of Gina K’s amalgam ink over many kinds of inks, dye, chalk, and pigment. It barely laid down any color, and that was not at all consistent over the various types of inks. So that has me wondering what you’ve found in your experiences…which inks don’t play well together? I know you need specific inks for using alcohol and watercolor inks, Gina K’s amalgam inks are supposed to work for that which is why I purchased a cube to try out. And while I’ve got you here, I was disappointed in the aqua-ish color palette that I used, I thought it would be much brighter but it was sort of muddy looking. They were Berry Cool and Easy Breezy from this set. Do you have any suggestions? Also, are Altenew and Pinkfresh made by the same manufacturer? A lot of their color palettes look very similar. I’m trying out various dye inks to see which I prefer. |
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Post by Shakti on Apr 23, 2024 22:33:29 GMT
I don't have any chalk inks, but I have heard that they are supposed to interact with paper differently, so I'm not surprised that they are not playing well with others. I believe that I have mixed pigment and dye inks when stenciling and not had issues.
There are rumored to be only so many ink manufacturers out there, used and branded by many different sellers. Altenew talks a lot about perfecting various formulas, but also about working with manufacturers for products, so it wouldn't surprise me if they share a supplier with others also.
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Post by Ryann on Apr 24, 2024 0:25:43 GMT
Back in 2010(ish) I think there was only one US-based ink manufacturer (Stewart Superior). I don't know if that's still the case.
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pinklady
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,520 
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Post by pinklady on Apr 24, 2024 14:36:31 GMT
dewryce This is a great question. I've never mixed pigment and dye inks but I have seen Jennifer McGuire do it with white pigment ink. She will stamp white pigment ink on dark colored cardstock, heat set it then stamp dye ink on top. You do see the dye ink color but it's not super vibrant. But it's a the only way to get dye ink to show up on dark cardstock. She has also stamped/ink blended dye ink first (on white cardstock), heat set it then stamped/ink blended white pigment ink on top to soften the color. They key to each of these techniques is to heat set the ink before applying the other on top. Do you have a stamp positioning tool? To get a crisp black line of ink stamped most of the time you have to double and triple stamp the image. I'm not sure which Gina K black amalgam ink you were using but I can tell you I trashed my full size obsidian black ink pad because I just could not get a clear image. I have an old discontinued GK jet black amalgam ink pad that I love. Black inks vary so much, it's really trying them all out and finding out what you like best. I'm in the market for a new one since mine needs to be re-inked and re-inkers are discontinued too. On the topic of your aqua pallet being muddy. It makes a huge difference, even with dye ink, when the ink is not completely dry and you overlap another color. Those two colors look like they would work well together so I'm perplexed by them being muddy. Were you ink blending on a stencil? If so, what were you use to ink blend with? I will say, all dye inks dry lighter. If you stamp or ink blend today they will look a lot different tomorrow. I'm almost positive all the ink pads that are made in the USA (which is posted on each stamp companies website) are manufactured by Stewart Superior. Some companies use the same color but brand it with their own label and some have customers colors made. As for brand of inks to purchase, are you looking for a good core color selection or are you looking for a light/medium/dark color family for ink blending. If you are looking for just a set of core colors I'd look into Concord & 9th, Gina K or Taylored Expressions. If you are looking for light/medium/dark color family for ink blending I'd highly recommend Pink Fresh.
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Post by dewryce on Apr 24, 2024 20:37:57 GMT
Thanks for taking that time pinklady ! And I just watched a video where she stamped an amalgam ink over dye inks. The only difference I could think of is that they were both Gina K inks, but I’m not sure why that would react differently than other dye inks. Yes, and I tried at least half a dozen times. I was using Obsidian! It was new and I haven’t tried it for anything else, I will test it with a sentiment and outline because that’s the only thing I can see myself using black ink for. I didn’t realize they needed to be dry, how long do you usually wait? I’m a really slow crafter and I was using tape rather than a sticky mat, and stenciling in other colors before I tried adding the second layer. I’m going to play around and see the difference between time to dry and not so I learn how that works. Yes, I was using a stencil, I’m pretty much lifting her “Yay” card here. and I was using new foamy ink blending brushes that I’m pretty sure were pea recommended. I just checked it against the sample card I stamped, and the other 3 cards I did and I realized what probably happened. I think I probably got a little bit of orange from the top of the stencil on it. So, it’s not muddy, just not as vibrant as I was hoping. I noticed that, I did one panel the night before and the next morning when I went in there to look at it and admire my work I was shocked! At first I attributed it to using cheaper cardstock, Neenah Exact Index 100# so then I tried it on Neenah Classic 100# and it seemed to hold on to the depth of color a little better, but it still faded some. Mostly for ink blending, sentiments, and very few outlines to use with copics. I just fell down the layered stencil rabbit hole, and I’ve enjoyed the blended backgrounds JM makes, so that’s my focus. I resisted that technique because I didn’t have many inks but layered stencils made me jump! My last couple of purchases I grabbed dye ink minis from different brands to test like Altenew, Pinkfresh, Gina K, Concord and 9th, and threw in some Archival Distressed ink because out of all my old inks they held up the best next to some pigment inks. The next time I get an order from ACOT I have a Catherine Pooler mini coming with it. I think I’m ruling Taylored Expressions out simply because they’re harder to come by. There is a quad stencil I want to try and if I do I’ll add an ink at that time just so I can compare. While making my swatches I thought Gina K went down smoother and more completely with the first stamp…by a LOT. And I think Concord & 9th did fairly well on the first stamp too but IIRC it’s a foam pad and I don’t want to have to do a lot of re-inking. But I do want the lighter/darker combos. I tried doing that with one ink, and on my first sample panel it went well, but by the time I got to my 4th the dark ink showed through even after wiping the brush off on cardstock. I only had 5 brushes (trying before I invest too much) so I didn’t have one for light/dark. That’s going to have to change. I just ordered a bundle of Altenew’s different blending brushes so I can see which type of brush I like best. Then if there are comparable cheaper versions of my favorite available I’ll get those so each color family can have 2 brushes. When they come in I will try making lighter/dark samples to see if that’s enough for me or if I really want the quad color sets by Pinkfresh. I keep seeing JM mention how nicely the distress inks blend, is there a reason to get those instead of a regular dye ink? I don’t do the mixed media, water spritzing thing. But they are readily available and have tons of colors. |
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pinklady
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,520
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Post by pinklady on Apr 25, 2024 14:09:16 GMT
I didn’t realize they needed to be dry, how long do you usually wait? I’m a really slow crafter and I was using tape rather than a sticky mat, and stenciling in other colors before I tried adding the second layer. I’m going to play around and see the difference between time to dry and not so I learn how that works. Yes, I was using a stencil, I’m pretty much lifting her “Yay” card here. and I was using new foamy ink blending brushes that I’m pretty sure were pea recommended. I just checked it against the sample card I stamped, and the other 3 cards I did and I realized what probably happened. I think I probably got a little bit of orange from the top of the stencil on it. So, it’s not muddy, just not as vibrant as I was hoping. I'm a pretty slow crafter as well, by the time I line up the next stencil, find my brush/ink and start blending my first layer is usually dry. One thing I will recommend is getting a small spray bottle and filling it with isopropyl alcohol to clean your stencils after each use. This will help not mixing colors. Cleaning with a dry cloth is ok but you really need the alcohol. I also go thru a lot of post it notes masking different pieces of the stencil. I was not good at blending with the the Tim Holtz foam applicators which is similar to your brushes. I would actually recommend blending brushes with bristles. You may get better results. These are what I use: Blending Brushes. I don't really wash my brushes but I rub them over a paper towel before using them to get the last color off. I mainly have 1 brush, in multiple sizes, per color family but I do separate blues (one for light & one for dark inks) and a separate brush for my aqua/teal colors since they are both blue and green. If you didn't get some of the detail blending brushes from Altenew, definitely check Amazon. I have these Detail Brushes and these Detail BrushesAs for Distress Inks, I have most of the regulars in mini cubes and a lot of the Oxides. I LOVE the Oxides for ink blending. They blend so smooth and easy. I could never get my regular distress inks to blend but that was back when I was using the TH blending tools. I may get better results with blending brushes now. I honestly haven't reached for my regular distress inks in over a year. The last time I used them was for a class where we used them for watercoloring. In my opinion, regular distress inks are not meant for stamping images. They are for techniques. I would not recommend getting regular distress inks instead of other dye inks. Definitely get other opinions on this because I may be a lone dissenter. I would highly recommend Oxides but in addition to all your other inks. |
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Post by dewryce on Apr 25, 2024 20:25:19 GMT
Thanks pinklady, I have the iso alcohol, and probably a spray bottle. I have been using the dry cloth only so I’ll do that next time I play. The set comes with brushes with bristles like you’re so I can see which I prefer. And I added the detail brushes to my cart regardless! |
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Post by Shakti on Apr 25, 2024 21:56:38 GMT
I bought a bunch of the foam blenders early on. I rarely use them now, though I can see some applications where I think they'd be as good or even better than a brush. I think when people use a brush to apply ink to a stamp or soften the edge of ink on part of a stamp, the foam would work. Maybe that's the only application, now that I think about it.
I have three handles and a boatload of foams and I think I need to fix that shortly.
But this is off topic for you point. Sorry.
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Post by dewryce on Apr 26, 2024 0:20:32 GMT
I bought a bunch of the foam blenders early on. I rarely use them now, though I can see some applications where I think they'd be as good or even better than a brush. I think when people use a brush to apply ink to a stamp or soften the edge of ink on part of a stamp, the foam would work. Maybe that's the only application, now that I think about it. I have three handles and a boatload of foams and I think I need to fix that shortly. But this is off topic for you point. Sorry. Nope, all opinions welcome! I’m trying to learn all I can early on before I spend money on something I later regret. I mean, I may still regret it but I won’t mind because I will know I did my due diligence. So far I like using them, but find it hard to lay down a light dusting of color. Really good at doing it with a heavy hand though. |
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