A complete guide: acrylic ink on canvas is our topic today. Acrylic inks are great, aren’t they? They are a versatile, fun, and easy way to create a painting or add a vibrant touch to an already created art project. Because of their high pigmentation, acrylic inks are the perfect choice to create highlights on all types of mix-media DIY crafts. Their dark and intense texture adds a vibrant look to your painting. Just like acrylic paints, acrylic inks are also waterproof. When mixed with water, acrylic inks get a thin, watercolor-like consistency. This makes them ideal for working with airbrush nozzles and pen tips. Read on to learn how to paint with acrylic ink and the top seven acrylic ink on canvas painting techniques.
Acrylic Ink on Canvas – How to Paint
Acrylic inks are a highly versatile, water-based painting medium. It is popular amongst amateurs and professionals alike. Due to their thin consistency, you can apply acrylic ink using different painting tools such as pens, and bristle brushes. Want to learn how to paint using acrylic ink? Here is a step-by-step acrylic ink-on-canvas painting guide to help you out.
- Step 1: Acrylic inks work well on canvas pads and paper. To prepare the base for your DIY craft, start by stretching and wetting the paper.
- Step 2: Due to their thin consistency, acrylic inks don’t mix well with one another. Therefore, to create a multi-color shade, add a water-thinned layer of the ink and let it dry before applying another coat of the ink.
- Step 3: One of the biggest advantages of using acrylic ink on canvas is that you can get as creative as possible. Experiment with different tools and techniques to add acrylic ink to your painting project. To make outlines, dip a ruling pen into the acrylic ink color and trace over the sketch on the canvas’s surface. You can also use old round metal tip pens.
- Step 4: Add accent and color with acrylic inks right after a layer of paint has dried underneath. You can also use different mediums such as pillowcases and dish towels to add texture.
This is a standard guide to creating all types of acrylic ink on canvas painting projects. However, we recommend getting familiar with the tools and techniques before you start painting!
Acrylic Ink on Canvas – 7 Ideas with Painting Techniques
Acrylic inks have a number of properties that make them an excellent DIY craft medium to work with. Even though the intense fluidity and color of the ink are very similar to watercolors. Acrylic inks have more versatile applications. If you are planning to give the inky medium ago, here is a list of seven acrylic ink on canvas painting techniques that you should try:
1. Paint with Acrylic Ink
One of the most basic acrylic ink on canvas applications is to use the medium to create beautiful paintings. The trick here is to add a small amount of paint into a watercolor palette or dip the paintbrush into the acrylic ink jar. Note that acrylic inks have a thin fluid-like consistency. Thus, a regular color palette won’t hold them in place. When painting acrylic ink on the canvas, we recommend using a small-sized brush as it will be easier to handle.
The colors of acrylic inks are vibrant, guaranteeing a smooth and fluid texture compared to standard paints. You can also use acrylic inks to paint in stamped images or even create breath-taking sceneries. The better your grip on the paintbrush, the better the outlook of the acrylic ink painting on the canvas would be.
2. Use Acrylic Ink to Make Sprays
Did you know that you can use acrylic inks to make homemade spray paints and that too without toxic gases? To make an acrylic ink spray, all you need to do is take a small spray bottle, add water to it and then add the acrylic ink. The darker the color you want, the more the concentration of the ink should be.
3. Write with Acrylic Ink
Back in ancient times, people used to dip a pen into ink to write messages or letters. So, if people could do it, why can we not use acrylic inks to create calligraphic artistic pieces. Considering that you have a full spectrum of color options, use dip pens and acrylic ink to experiment and enhance the lookout of your DIY craft.
4. Use Acrylic Ink like Watercolors
To use acrylic ink like watercolors, start by creating a rough sketch of your painting. Now spritz the watercolor paper (or canvas) with water. While the surface is still wet, drop the acrylic inks on the paper and watch them magically spread. You can use a paintbrush to guide their way and ensure that the paint doesn’t spread across the boundary line. This technique is also a great way to make a background using acrylic ink on canvas.
5. Add Acrylic Ink to a Pouring Medium
If you are familiar with acrylic paints, you might already know about the pouring medium. It is an additive used to make acrylic colors pour smoothly and freely. When mixed with acrylic ink, the pouring medium acts as the diluting agent and the binder.
Take two plastic cups and pour the pouring medium into them. Now drip two different colors of acrylic ink into each of the cups. For the first cup, we poured the acrylic ink onto the background of the canvas in a grass-like pattern. However, for the second cup, we poured circular patterns on the craft mat. Once the acrylic ink dried, peel off the circular pattern and break it into small pieces. Now randomly pasted it over the canvas sheet, creating a colorful piece of art.
6. Make Collage Pieces with Acrylic Ink
Take some paper towels and crumple them up to create an artistic collage. Now take different bowls and add equal parts of acrylic ink and water into them. Dip a few sides of the paper towel in the inky mixture. Now open them up and drip the acrylic ink color of your choice all over the blank areas. Last but not least, set up a blank canvas and paste the painted paper towels onto it, creating a kaleidoscopic patterned collage.
7. Abstract Piece of Art Worth with Acrylic Ink
Creating abstract art is one of the most fun and easy ways to master a painting technique. Start by placing the canvas on a flat surface and randomly start painting using two to three different colors of acrylic ink. Now drip alcohol in random places on the background and add acrylic ink drops into it. Allow the first base to dry, and then repeat the step using new colors. You can use a spray bottle of water, a paintbrush, and even a straw to move the ink to blow out a stroke. When creating an abstract using acrylic ink on canvas, remember the messier, the better!
Acrylic Ink on Canvas – Final Thoughts
In the world of DIY crafts, acrylic ink is an inexpensive and versatile medium that you can use in countless ways. Whether using acrylic inks to write, pour, or paint, adding them to your canvas paintings can give them a new vibrance and life. Yet, it is critical to remember that compared to acrylic paints, acrylic ink dries quickly. So if you want to preserve the texture, make sure that it isn’t mixed with other paints. Instead of sticking to one, we recommend experimenting with different techniques and brushes to know which one works best for you. Get your creative juices flowing by trying the above-mentioned acrylic ink-on-canvas painting ideas today!