Create Stunning Melty Ink Art Pages. There is an ink “blending” technique in National Geographic magazines with Citrasolv that has been important in the art journal community for a while, so I wanted to give it a try. I knew it would get fantastic effects, but I didn’t realize how obsessed it would become. The original technique is to spray Citrasolv concentrate (a natural cleaner with an orange scent) on all the sides of a National Geographic review and tear off the pages after the ink has “melted” a little. Here are how to do it and lots of tips at the end on making sure you get thriving Citrasolv / Nat Geo sheets because I was hoping you could try landscape drawing easy.
Supplies
National Geographic magazines (I heard you get different results using several decades of magazines. Mine was from 2011).
Citrasolv Concentrate: Make sure you buy the concentrate, or it won’t work! Also, I’ve used almost a whole 8-ounce bottle in a magazine, so choose a larger size. Large saucepan or tray to keep clutter while/after you spray the charger
Aerosol can
Large rolls of paper or even flattened cardboard, or clips and drying racks to dry your pages.
Optional:
- Spray fixative
- Gloves
- Denatured alcohol, textures, stencils, inks, chalk
Bonus: By the way, I also started using Citrasolv as a household cleaner. It has a lovely orange scent and works wonderfully for many cleaning purposes. It is also natural, so pets and children are safe. When does that happen with art supplies?
Indications
Spray your sheets with Citrasolv in the shower glass on all the magazine pages while they are still intact. Close the review and let it sit for about 15-20 minutes before looking. Check every few minutes until the ink looks runny and cool. Tear off each page of the magazine and spread it out to dry. They break very easily.
Spray the pages with a fixer to set the ink
Could you do what you want with them? (Hint: see the following 3 paragraphs). Okay, this is my story of giving you family holiday photos for times. I can’t do it without. Many of these turned out to be BEAUTIFUL. Interestingly, some pages did nothing, and some changed at different speeds, so you can see some recognizable images on some pages, while others are pure abstract beauty.
Where to find the old National Geographic
Thrift stores, yard sales, eBay, or neighborhood bulletin boards. I got mine from the neighborhood ad post I was looking for. A woman responded and said that she had some that she no longer wanted. She forgot them in a cute bag on her porch, and I never had to make human contact. Otherwise, its $ 13 per magazine.
Where to buy Citrasolv
It is a great puzzle to discover in stores, so I buy mine on Amazon. The price is better if you buy a giant bottle and remember that you can use it to clean your house if you don’t use the whole bottle. What other art offering can do that?
What to do with the pages of the magazine Citrasolv
It is my favorite activity: brainstorming. Of course, you can keep your pages as is and hang them all over the walls. Or here are other ideas:
- Collage with them
- Cut and weave them together
- Draw on them
- Paint over them, using the melty page as the background.
- Use chalk to paint over a stencil to get an excellent dull-white design in contrast to the ink.
- Create a handmade artist book and use them as covers.
- Fold them into boxes or things similar to origami.
- Do some cooking with embroidery floss to create some fantastic sculptural design.
- Frame some with photos installed on them to use as much education
Consider your preferences to use in digital art designs
As with any artistic technique, I suggest creating a series of simple pages to familiarize yourself with the method before going crazy experimenting. But if you are a total maverick, dive into the pages and experiment whenever you want. While the smell is lovely as it is a concentrate, it is strong, so I suggest working in a vented space sensitive to odors. (Also, think about pets and children). I’ve also heard Vogue magazine and New York Times magazine work. They use the right clay-based paint that Nat Geos uses. I used Vogue for medium acrylic gel transfers, so I want to try it with Nat Geo.
You will have fun with this medium acrylic gel transfer project or even acrylic paint skins if you like this technique. Spray the dried pages with a fixer if you use them in collages or other artwork so that the ink does not smear. Layout more drying paper than you think you will need. If you do many pages (and want to), you need a lot of room to dry. I did large cardboard cartons cut level.
Sprinkle many pages! Since this is a highly luck-dependent process, some pages will turn out great, and others will suck. You want many options to choose from. That said, you don’t have to spray the entire magazine at once; try a few pages upfront if you don’t have much space. I spread the magazine’s front half, and the rear half started to absorb the Citrasolv while it was in the pan. I went through and sprayed the last few pages for about 20 minutes, so I got some mixed effects on some of these pages.
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