Techniques for Inking

Do you use ink on your layouts? How do you apply your inks? Most of us would ask these questions before we develop our own inking style that suits best for ourselves. One of my forum friend actually asked me this question and I think it's best to include it here for all to read. Traditionally, inks are used for stamping only but nowadays, you could see more and more layouts has ink on them directly. Inks are applied directly to layouts to create different looks. In this discussion, I will divide it into to categories. What do we use to ink? How do we apply the ink?

What do we use to ink?
There are various mediums that we could use to apply inks on our layouts.

~ink pads: This is the most direct way to apply your ink. Rub your ink pads directly onto your surfaces. This would give a distressed drag over look. However, we have very little control over the amount of ink on the surfaces. Despite the catch, this is a great way to ink on a large surface.

~balls or pieces of cotton wools: This is great for applying ink to small areas, however it soaks up too much ink and dries up too fast before you could apply your ink onto your surfaces. You will be running out of ink before you know it.

~face or toilet tissues: These mediums shared the same problems with the cotton wools. It dries up too fast and it does not apply the ink smoothly. I would not recommend this to anyone.

~soft sponges: This is also a great medium to use but its' softness reduces our controls in the process of inking. It also soaks up quite an amount of ink and wear out fast.

~triangular rubberish cosmetic sponges: This is the medium that I've used most. The triangular shape actually have a few different sides where we could use it to apply different colours of inks and it has sharp edges for easy inking on smaller or intricate surfaces. The rubberish sponge actually does not soak up very much ink and do not wear out very fast.

How do we apply the ink?

~Dabbing: This is the most common technique that most of us use. There won't be too much ink on our surface and it's easier to control over the darkness of the shades on our layouts.

~Rubbing in circles or strokes: This technique would give a more darker shade on your layout. Use it on areas or edges where you want it to look more defined. Rubbing in circles is also a great way to blend different shades of inks together and leaving you a smooth look.

~Soft strokes: This is a great technique if you are using the triangular rubberish cosmetic sponge to ink. Use the sharp edge of the sponge to start (this will be areas that you want it to be of a darker shade) and then slowly swipe your sponge towards surfaces that you would want it to be of a lighter shade. This will give a saturation of colours look to your surfaces.

I hope with this post, it would help any of my readers who needs some advice on inking.