Lunch Rush at Chez Dumpsta ~ complete

Almost nine months in the making, it's finally done. Like giving birth, huh? Well, not even close but I'm certainly glad it's done and I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Again, it doesn't photograph well but I did my best with my photo editor. I gave it a final coat of gel gloss medium last night, then today I added some of the cat's whiskers with white gelly roll pen. One coat of Krylon gloss varnish spray this afternoon and it was ready for it's close up.

Reference photo courtesy of Margaret Wiles on PMP

Revisiting Alcohol Ink on Copper Leaf

I tried the same method on copper Simple Leaf (see prior post)and was very happy with my results. The gel gloss medium works perfectly as a buffer between the leafing and the alcohol ink. I can also chose to add some texture if I wish while applying the gel medium. Various brush strokes, the edge of a credit card...anything that will create some added interest. I still have to take care not to get too rough but things are much more workable now. Waiting for the gel medium to dry before applying the inks...well, with the humidity we have right now, it's a wait but well worth it. 

Alcohol Ink on Silver Leaf

With gel medium, 2014. I wish I could capture the colors in the sky better. It looks like sheet metal that has been treated with a torch. 

Without gel medium, 2013. The shooting star was added to conceal all the scratches.

I do believe I've solved the problem of working on silver leaf with alcohol ink. Last summer I created an ink painting on silver Simple Leaf applied to Yupo but it scratched so easily I was forced to toss it in the bin. I did get one scan of that painting I don't think I shared on my blog so I will today. Yesterday I gave it another go but this time I applied a coat of Liquitex gloss gel medium and allowed it to dry before adding any ink. I was thrilled the leaf now withstood quite a beating which included multiple layers of ink and blending solution plus some manipulation with a tool. The gel medium formed a protective buffer 'tween me and it with nary a scratch in sight. FYI, I don't recommend using Pearl mixative on silver leaf, though. It produced a rather flat, 'dirty' look I don't like at all.