What are Alcohol Inks?

Alcohol Inks… What are they and What’s the difference between them all? In this blog post, we are going to dive into the world of Alcohol Inks.

Alcohol Inks are highly pigmented, fast-drying liquids that are formulated with alcohol-based solvents. These inks are known for their vibrant colours, fluidity, and ability to blend and spread easily on non-porous surfaces. Because of their unique properties, alcohol inks are popular among artists and crafters for creating striking, dynamic artwork. Alcohol Ink art is an amazing abstract art medium that works with inks to blend, layer and create a unique artwork! You can also easily blend your own colours together to create the unique tones you’re after, plus they are fast drying, Alcohol based and are a really fun medium to work with. Anyone can give it a go and you don’t need much to get you started.

At U RESIN, we have one of the biggest ranges of Alcohol Inks in Australia with 4 different brands, over 200 inks to choose from with a large variety of lighter, darker, bolder & softer colours to choose from! So lets get a little more into the brands we stock and how they work.

Pinata Alcohol Inks –
Pinata Alcohol Inks are beautiful, highly saturated pigmented inks! They are acid-free and are more heavily pigmented than Copic, Ranger & the other Alcohol Inks so they have more intense bold colours. This ink brand has less choice of colour tones to pick from compared to the others but still enough to start you off and for some beautiful different ink tones. With Isopropyl Alcohol you can then blend them down to get a softer colour if that’s what you’re after. Pinata not only offer a selection of standard ink colours but also make a metallic range which is some of the best metallics we have tried to date!

Couture Alcohol Inks – 
Couture Creations Inks are fast appearing and becoming a very popular brand within Australia and have an excellent range to choose from! They have a Fluoro, Glitter, Pearl, Metallic, Accents, Standard and more range for you to pick from with 80 inks collectively in their range. Couture Inks are perfect if you’re after lighter, softer inks! They aren’t as pigmented as other brands and come in smaller bottles, but are super easy to use and more cost effective. Couture Ink are great for if you want softer effects in your Alcohol Ink artworks. Beautiful for pastel and the lighter tones you might want in your Alcohol Ink collection!

Copic Alcohol Inks – 
Copic Inks are actually refill bottles for their range of pens and markers. Because of their unique “Refill” bottle design, most artists use them as inks itself and were the most popular brand for many many years! These Japanese Inks offer a coloured lid to see exactly what type of colour you are using and a nozzle tip for easy dispersement. Copic had the largest range of colours with over 300 beautiful hues to pick from. You can of course blend down these inks to get different tones as well. The bottles have a dripper tip and are very easy to use and control how much ink comes out. Unfortunately being such a high quality and imported brand, these pigments changed sized and became more expensive, making them no longer worth stocking. HOWEVER! We are so lucky to have the final remaining stock around the world, of the original Copic Inks. (Personally, these are my favourite brand ever!)

Ranger Alcohol Inks –
Ranger Alcohol Inks has quickly become the most popular brand of inks – globally! Made by Tim Holtz, there are now over 100 assorted beautiful colours. They have a large colour range stocking Pearls, Mixatives (metallics), Alloys & their standard range which allows for a lot of artists to get the ones they’re after. They are low viscosity, pigmented and perfect for use on non porous surfaces (like Yupo paper and Aluminium art boards). Due to being such a popular brand, the ranges are ever growing and expanding.

Now that you know a bit about Alcohol Inks, what can you actually do with them?

1. Abstract Art: Alcohol inks are often used to create abstract pieces with swirling colours and unique patterns. Artists can manipulate the inks using various techniques to achieve different effects.

2. Card Making: The vibrant colours and fluidity of alcohol inks make them ideal for creating custom greeting cards. They can be used to create backgrounds, focal points, and accents.

3. Jewellery Making: Alcohol inks can be used to colour metal, glass, and resin components in jewellery. The inks can be sealed with resin to create durable and colourful jewellery pieces.

4. Home Decor: Artists use alcohol inks to create decorative items such as coasters, tiles, vases, pots and coat candle vessels. The inks’ ability to adhere to various surfaces makes them versatile for home decor projects.

5. Mixed Media: Alcohol inks can be combined with other mediums such as acrylic paints, markers, Jesmonite and pastels to create mixed media artwork. Their vibrant colours and unique effects add depth and interest to mixed media pieces.

Alcohol Inks are a super fun and versatile medium that doesn’t require the curing/ drying time like Resin or Jesmonite does. Their vibrancy, fluidity and unique pouring effects make them perfect for creating art. If you would like to learn more about the brands we stock, visit our shop and browse each brand for more. Happy Creating!