Vortex: Experimentations in Ink Manipulation

For me, art can be like a vortex in a loose interpretation.  I find myself being drawn into a process and keep wanting to know more about it, what works, what doesn't, and my mind whirls until I am satisfied that I have exhausted everything I can think of that day.  Then the next day comes and the next.  I am on my second week of exploring Citrasolv ink manipulation.  No two pieces are alike so it is fascinating and fresh every time you do it.  There are many tutorials online as well as you tube videos that will bring you up to speed with the process.  Key is buying the correct Citrasolv.....a concentrate version and a National Geographic magazine ( 1970 +  is recommended due to the clay coating of the article pages. )  Good ventilation is advised as well even though the product's toxicity is lower than some.  I also use disposable gloves because prolonged skin exposure is not advised.

I prefer to use a small spray bottle to add the Citrasolv on a table outside.  I spray ampily on the pages with pictures once the articles start (no ads)  and wait about 15-30 minutes before checking the magazine.  Every time you open a page up it will stir up the ink so I try not to open it often.  If the pages are done, I begin tearing them out and lay them out to dry.  If parts didn't "melt", I add more Citrasolv and wait.  They dry in a few hours inside, but even quicker outside if it's possible. Below is a part of the page I used before I began phase two of the manipulation.

 

For this piece, I decided to further manipulate the page manually.  The beauty of this process is that you can begin again after a page is dry.  The ink easily becomes moveable with minimal effort. I used the Citrasolv in the lid and a liner paintbrush and set out to draw some spirals.  I varied their size and their orientation, blotting along the way to remove the rest of the ink.  After that was complete, I used the paintbrush into the unused are of the page to wet the dark background and use that ink to make shadows in the spirals.

Not too bad of a start, but it needed some contrast.  To add that, I used a dip pen and India ink.  I varied the nib size and varied the treatment of each spiral to add interest.  I was pleased with the change.  The composition began to come together with this step.

I felt the edges needed to be finished to complete the composition before mounting.  A black Copic was used in a very haphazard way that complimented the mood of the piece.I then chose a  mounting color attached with two sided tape.  (Note:  I promise it's a little straighter than this picture suggests.)

It was at this time I moved the piece around and decided how I wanted it positioned on the canvas.  I then added one of my new stamps to finish it off and mounted it onto a pre-painted black 8" x *" canvas panel.  The piece was complete once it was named and signed.

Stay tuned for the more experiments.  I have a lot to show.  You'll see it first on my Facebook art page.   LIKE the page to stay current.