Using Gouache white with watercolor inks

I know, I know - using white with watercolors usually is a no-go. But I am a person who likes to experiment with no-go's . So I took a bit of gouache white and added some watercolor ink to it. You can see the results on the right side of the image: There is original hue (night blue), and if you go down on the right side, you see how it is changed by adding white. You can also see how you can get a lighter hue by adding water to the paint. 

All in all I am still fascinated by those vivid colors you get when you use liquid watercolors. I keep my originals safely packed away in a binder. I scan them and use the scan for prints or cards or whatever.
 

Layering watercolor inks

I've got a set of pan watercolors from Schmincke, but I never really liked them. I love bright and vivid colors, and I never got into painting with pan watercolors because the colors were far too weak for me. 

So I looked for alternatives and found watercolor inks. They are beautifully bright, and you can thin them down to a very light color. I use Ecoline from Royal Talens and Colorex from Pebeo. You can layer them quite nicely - but you have to wait till they are dry. I must admit that waiting is not one of my strong characteristics. But I noticed that my paintings get better when I am more patient...
I used Forest Green and Pine Green from Ecoline, and Siena from Colorex.

The only disadvantage you have with those watercolor inks is that they are not lightfast. However I do not sell originals - I use my paintings for Greeting Cards or for Art prints. The originals are safely put away in a binder.
 

Paintmarkers and oil pastels

I love to experiment, and I love to use my art stuff in unusual ways. 

I used stone paper for this painting, and I used oil pastels for the background. I dipped a q-tip in a drop of baby oil and blended the colors with it. Then I let it dry for one day. 

Step #2 was to grab my acrylic paintmarkers and to apply them to the paper. Acrylic paintmarkers do not go well with watercolor paper, but with this kind of paper they did. 

Watercolor inks

Some people call them "inks", some people speak of "liquid watercolors" . The most common brands are "Ecoline" made by Royal Talens and "Colorex" made by Pebeo. Both brands are made with dyes and therefore not lightfast. 

Both brands come in small bottles of either 30 or 48 ml. The bottles now have droppers, which makes application easy. I had bought a small selection of Colorex colors more than five years ago and added two bottles in the meantime. I also have a few ecoline colors - fir green, forest green, siena, warm grey and indigo.

Last week I felt like switching to this medium again. As with all liquid mediums color mixing is not that easy. The Ecoline forest green is a real green green - which in my opinion is a bit too much. But add a drop of warm grey, or siena, or chartreuse and it changes to wonderful quite natural greens!