Mixed Media Artist

I made a tee shirt quilt a few weeks ago with the stockpile of tees that neither the Mister nor I were ever going to wear again.  I love how it turned out, and I'll show it to you someday soon, but in the meantime I'm even more excited about the tee shirt scraps!  I used a bunch of them to fix up some shirts that I actually would wear... Above you'll see the top of a knit shirt that I loved, but it was too short.  So, I wacked off the bottom of it and cobbled together some tee shirt scraps to lengthen it.  I like a rather long tunic shirt so that I can comfortably wear it with either jeans or leggings, or even over a skirt.  But when I was finished, it seemed a little boring.  Stencil Revolution came to my rescue!  I received a handful of really nice reusable stencils, and the two that were moons were the perfect size and shape for my new shirt.  I love the material the stencils are made from.  It's translucent, so you can see cl...

Water Sprite Cyndi Lavin, 2018 Following in the tradition of En Pointe ,  Fire on High  and  Tempest , this piece was done using the wet into dry technique with  alcohol ink .  I used some discreet dots of ink near the top, and swirled them around a bit near the bottom before allowing them to dry completely.  Then, using 91% rubbing alcohol in a  squeeze bottle , I dripped the solvent onto one small area at a time, manipulating the running inks by blowing through a straw.  You can use a hair dryer (set on cool), canned air, or a  heat gun  (at a distance) instead, but the straw will give you those really interesting spots.  This is because of spittle!  It takes longer to dry than the alcohol, so the little dots end up having concentrated color.  If you don't like the dots, choose a different air source, because it's pretty much impossible not to spit on your piece!  :-D Originals and prints of Cyndi's wor...

When you work with  alcohol inks  using a wet-in-wet technique, you've got less control than with any other method.  At least it seems that way to me!  Put 91% rubbing alcohol or a  blending solution   into a   squeeze bottle , and wet your paper thoroughly.  Drip inks onto the page, and allow them to spread for a bit.  Tilt and tip the page to allow the inks to run and blend.  Add more alcohol or solution, and more inks as needed.  Keep it wet and loose until it's blended to your satisfaction.  You could also use either a hair dryer, canned air, a straw, or a  heat gun  to move the inks around.  Be careful to use colors that mix well when using this method, or you could end up with a muddy mess. Once the piece is dry, you can reactivate areas that need more work, or you can add small details like the dots that you see near the center.  All that takes is a small brush or cotton swab, dampene...

Lazarus Rising Cyndi Lavin, 2018 This piece was painted using the same method as Fire on High , dripping  alcohol inks  onto a dry background and working on a small section at a time.  Visit the link to Fire on High for more precise instructions! Originals and prints of Cyndi's work for sale This post contains affiliate links: Dick Blick Copyright 2018 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. The tutorial only may be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.

Tempest Cyndi Lavin, 2018 Prints for sale A piece like this uses a combination of wet and "dry" techniques.  Of course,  alcohol inks   are wet by nature, but it's possible to add smaller details with a damp brush and the most concentrated inks late in the process. For Tempest , I started with a fairly heavy application of inks with a brush. After allowing them to dry, I used a  squeeze bottle  with rubbing alcohol to drip a small section at a time, blowing it with a  heat gun .  You can use a hair drying instead.  You can also experiment with using either 91% rubbing alcohol or a  blending solution  in your bottle.  In some sections, I let the inks spread a bit before blowing; in others, I began blowing right away.  Variety! The final steps after if was dry was to adjust the color with a barely damp brush.  If you drip out a drop or two of ink onto a plastic palette and let it evaporate, you can reactivate th...

Morning Mist Cyndi Lavin, 2018 Here is another watercolor-look technique you can try with alcohol inks .    First, choose the colors you want to use, and mix up a small batch of each in a  squeeze bottle .  You can use either 91% rubbing alcohol or a  blending solution   to make a very dilute mixture of each color you plan to use.  Apply the inks, one color at a time to your paper, and use either a hair dryer, or a  heat gun  to move them around.  Adding the next color will reactivate the dried inks, so be careful about your placement and direction of blowing.  The little dots were adding later with a cotton swab. Originals and prints of Cyndi's work for sale This post contains affiliate links: Dick Blick Copyright 2018 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. The tutorial only may be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that enti...

Alcohol inks  can be used in a similar way to watercolors, where they are dripped and manipulated on a wet substrate.  In this case, it would be wet with either 91% rubbing alcohol or a blending solution .  But there is a variation on this method that I want to show you, because you can get just a bit more control over what happens with just a slight change in technique! Put your rubbing alcohol into a  squeeze bottle  and use it to make a design line on your page.  Right next to this line, but not quite touching, add lines and/or drops of alcohol inks.  Then use a straw, a hair dryer, or a  heat gun  to sharply blow the inks up into the rubbing alcohol line.  Manipulate them as desired and let them dry slightly.  Add more lines and more ink as desired, working either in from the other edge of the paper, or continuing along the edge of the inks already added. Originals and prints of Cyndi's work for sale This post contai...

I had been wondering how people got multiple rings to form with  alcohol inks .  Simply plopping an additional drop of ink into an already formed ring was not doing the trick, and more often was resulting in the original ring dissolving!  YouTube to the rescue :-) It takes some practice, but it's really not difficult.  You'll want to work in one small area at a time, and when you begin, keep your starting puddles somewhere between the size of a quarter and a half dollar coin.  Follow these simple steps: 1. Put a drop or two of ink into a small puddle of 91% alcohol.  Use a  squeeze bottle  for your plain alcohol to control the amount. 2. Use a hair drier or a  heat gun  to blow around the outside of the puddle, pointing it towards the center. Move the air quickly so that the ink doesn't dry in one spot.  Try for multiple rings, and try not to let the moving alcohol lap over the edges of your puddle. 3. If you don't get as...

Last week, I showed you the first of several techniques that I've been using to experiment with alcohol inks.  Here are some of the other pieces that I made using this wet into dry method . To recap, you drip your  alcohol ink  colors onto a dry background.  They can sit there and dry, or you can begin working with them while they're still wet.  Using 91% rubbing alcohol in a  squeeze bottle , you add the solvent to one small area at a time, manipulating the running inks with a blower.  You can use a hair dryer (set on cool), canned air, a  heat gun  (at a distance), or even just a straw. One of the things I most like about this method is the airy, wispy, ethereal look that you can get. Originals and prints of Cyndi's work for sale This post contains affiliate links: Dick Blick Copyright 2018 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. The tutorial only may be printed ou...

Fire on High Cyndi Lavin, 2018 Since I am pathologically organized, I just had to set aside time to systematically try out all of the different methods of painting the alcohol ink that I'd seen.  My favorite video tutorials are all linked up in my Alcohol ink Pinterest board, so take a look if you want even more.  Also, don't forget Cathy Taylor's excellent book , which I've reviewed here.   I'll be showing you my results over the next few weeks. For the first go, I decided to try the technique where you drip your alcohol ink colors onto a dry background.  Using 91% rubbing alcohol in a squeeze bottle , I added the solvent to one small area at a time, manipulating the running inks with a blower.  You can use a hair dryer (set on cool), canned air, a heat gun (at a distance), or even just a straw. Even now that I've worked through about a dozen different techniques, this continues to be one of my favorites.  You can control about 30% of t...

Hunter's Moon Cyndi Lavin, 2018 Alcohol ink and India ink In the process of fooling around with alcohol inks , I started looking for other substrates that would work besides the ever-present Yupo paper, freezer paper, and glossy photo paper (I know there are many more!), and I came up with glossy book or magazine pages.  Since most glossy magazines have gone to thinner paper these days, books seemed like the best bet. Venice Cyndi Lavin, 2018 Sure enough, I tore out a few pages from a coffee table book that I'd been planning to use  forever  to do  something , anything!  The inks worked really well.  Obviously, the patterns and colors underneath show through to some extent, so you never quite know what you're gonna get.  But isn't that the case with alcohol inks anyway? :-) Originals and prints of Cyndi's work for sale This post contains affiliate links: Dick Blick Copyright 2018 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be re...

Spring Synapses Cyndi Lavin, 2018 This alcohol ink piece gave me a chance to experiment with several methods of adding details to a background. The background was first created by starting with 91% rubbing alcohol all over the page.  I dropped small puddles of analogous alcohol ink colors into the plain alcohol and allowed them to spread and mix and mingle.  In a few areas, I directed traffic, but mostly I just let them do what they wanted. When it was dry (which doesn't take that long!), I added several layers of embellishments.  I started with India ink , which does not reactivate the alcohol inks.  My favorite is the waterproof black India ink which I can apply using small pipettes .  Aiming directly at the center of the small puddle, I used a straw to forcefully blow the ink outwards in all directions. After my initial ink splots were dry, I added more smaller tendrils with a fine point black Pitt Pen .  Pitt Pens are India ink b...

Rain Cyndi Lavin, 2018 I'm not completely satisfied with this alcohol ink landscape, but it's my best so far!  I've clearly still got a lot to learn. I started at the top and let each layer almost dry before adding the next.  Some of the sections (like the middle right side blue), I worked on texture with plastic wrap.  I added small drops of additional ink to some sections to create the pebbled effect.  For the sky, I took an old credit card and dipped the edge in rubbing alcohol.  I think I like the sky and the muted sun the best of all the sections. The tree was the final addition, after everything was thoroughly dry and I had a chance to think about it for awhile.  I added the tree with a fine point Pitt Pen , my favorite pen to use for tiny details.  Pitt Pens are India ink based.  You could also use alcohol based markers like Permapaques .  I'm still mostly using the alcohol inks that I made myself ( tutorial link ), but...

Falling Further In Cyndi Lavin, 2018 Prints for sale I have been trying some different swipe methods with my acrylic pours, and I recently stumbled onto a technique that I REALLY like.  A lot!  Here's what I did: 1. Since I was just experimenting, I used an old masonite board that already had some dried puddles on it.  You can see the rough surface in the middle.  After painting the background with Black gesso , I added my paints on the diagonal as you can see.  The basic formula for all of the paints is as follows: 1 part heavy bodied acrylic paint 2 parts GAC100 9 to 12 parts Floetrol or GAC800 Dash of 91% rubbing alcohol Spray of silicone (except in the base color, white) 2. Here are the colors I used: Titanium white , Medium magenta , Hansa yellow light , Cobalt teal , Dioxazine purple 3. I used an old plastic card to drag the paint from the center towards one corner. 4. I added more paint and swiped it towards the oppos...

Moonrise in December Cyndi Lavin, 2017 Prints for sale I showed you late last year how to do one of these deeper-toned paintings by using an  underpainting   (tutorial link).  For the painting at the link, I used India ink, but for this one I used a mix of a mix of  black gesso  and  white gesso , as you can see below.  If you need additional details about how I did this painting, check the other tutorial for more step-by-steps.       I used a mixed medium dark gray gesso to pull the top half with  Phthalo blue  and  Dioxazine purple .  On the bottom, I used a lighter gray to pull  Dioxazine purple , Quinacridone magenta , and Pyrrole orange .  Let it dry.     On the bottom half, I added glazes of Hansa yellow light and  Pyrrole orange .  After that dried, I touched up with the original colors mixed with White gesso .  When dry again, use a  pipette ...

Ribbon of Blood + Broken Hearts Cyndi Lavin, 2018 Like everyone else, I cried the day that seventeen lovely people were murdered at the Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.  That is was Valentine's Day only made it worse.  Instead of celebrating young love, we mourned the loss. I don't tend to make a lot of political statements, and I'm not usually one to attend protests or rallies.  I have nothing against these things, they are just not my mode of being.  Instead, I vote.  I pray.  I make art.  I donate money where I think it will help.  The piece above, Ribbon of Blood + Broken Hearts , came from my sorrow following that ugly day. It's taken me two months to post it here, because I wanted to be able to share the materials and the process with you, but at the time it was just too raw. 1. I decided to use the pour and tilt method of liquid acrylic pouring.   Gesso  your masonite boards ...

I've been playing around with alcohol inks lately.  I love the bright, over-the-top saturated colors, but I don't love the price.  Looking around online, I found several suggestions for making your own, but some of them neglected to take into account the differences in pigment vs dye in the markers, and the difference in the effectiveness of 91% rubbing alcohol vs regular 70%. Sun Drenched Icicles Cyndi Lavin, 2018 I have gotten much much better results with dye-based markers.  Most (not all) permanent markers are dye-based.  Here's an article you can read if you want to know about the chemical difference, and which markers are which. So what do you do?  Just pull off the point of the pen and put it in a small glass jar.  I used those tiny little jars that you get jelly in at Christmas time!  Pry apart of cut off the end of the pen and slide out the plastic covered reservoir from the center.  I recommend gloves!  It doesn'...

My Dr Who Scarf Cyndi Lavin, 2018 My deepest appreciation to Cori Dodds , who designed the scarf that I first saw using the wave stitch.  She got the wave stitch  from MyPicot.com, home of gazillions of stitches that I now want to try!  Scroll down to the bottom of this post for easy instructions for my version of the wave stitch. If you are a beginner crocheter, I would suggestion that you go to MyPicot and follow the instructions there for doing the stitch.  I am abbreviating everything here, because teaching crochet is just not my strong suit.  I also changed the stitch slightly from the original, to better suit the way I work.  This one only looks complicated though, I promise you! Wave Stitch - lengthwise Wave Stitch Instructions The basic pattern is 16 stitches in each repeat, plus 3 at the end to finish.  So if you want to make my Dr Who scarf with the pattern running crosswise, you'll start with a chain of 35 (+ 1 stitch...

I love looking at art quilt books, magazines, and gazing at online examples!  It didn't take long before I decided I had to have an  Art quilts board on Pinterest to collect up all the beautiful and inspirational images I was finding.  But before too long, some tutorials started creeping in, and in the interest of being able to find them again, I started a separate board... ...which I cleverly named simply  Quilting tutorials !  Please visit them both :-)

Anti-Doesn't Matter Cyndi Lavin, 2017 Original and prints for sale There's a special way that I mount acrylic paintings when they're painted on paper and have interesting raw edges I want to show off rather than hide.  Framing is time-consuming because of the number of times you have to let things dry, so I like to frame many pieces at the same time.  I bought Dick Blick's super-value cradled wood panels .  I can get packages of 5 panels, 9x12", 3/4" thick for around $25 each pack.  The additional materials I needed are as follows: Flat surface with a drop cloth or paper Ruler and pencil Small paper cups Waxed or parchment paper  Foam roller or brush Brayer 1" paint brush Carbon black acrylic paint Krylon acrylic spray Gloss medium Gloss varnish Matte varnish (or Satin, if you prefer) 1. Paint the sides and the edges of the clean wood panel with black acrylic paint.  Allow to dry completely.  Use your ruler and pencil to ma...