Painting Plates with Alcohol Inks

Today is my plate painting class at 
317 Studio & Gallery.

In preparation, I've painted Christmas themed plates.

Starting with a clean plate, draw the outline of the image you want.
I use a Faber-Castell black artist pen but you can use any marker you want.





The good news/ bad news is that the pens are alcohol based so they easily rub off when you want to change your drawing. This can be frustrating as you paint and watch lines disappear. But it's not really a problem if you limit the amount of alcohol you use.

Then paint the plates with alcohol inks and rubber alcohol. You'll want to use less rubbing alcohol and more saturated inks so they don't run as much as maybe you'd want them to on Yupo paper. They still blend very nicely on the plates and dry quickly.

The colors are wonderfully vivid. When adding layers of color I stipple the brush more than using long brush strokes. This allows the colors to blend more. When your done painting go back with your marker to outline and redefine the picture.

When your plate is completely dry you may seal it.






 I use Liquitex Gloss Varnish. This is tricky because all sealers dissolve the inks and pen marks. So start with a very soft brush and apply a first coat very lightly, passing over the image only one time. After it has dried for three hours you may apply another layer. This time it may be thicker. Repeat for a third time.

When you compare my unvarnished plate to the picture with varnish above, you will notice some of the lines holding the ornaments has vanished. (See the yellow bulbs.) I will go back and reapply these lines after the varnish has dried.

It is important to note that these plates are NOT food safe. There currently is not a brushed on sealer on the market that is.