Grid patterned artwork with Aero Color Inks

There are times when I really like working in details, but i also like working with the freedom that I don't know where the artwork will go and it will just evolve as it goes along. Sometimes I can also get a bit overwhelmed not know where to start or the idea for the whole thing, so i find that working in a bit of a grid system where I am just working on a box at a time can help AND sometimes despite it being a bit all over the place it can come together as a cute little artwork or just ideas for a another work. So if your a bit like me you might like to give this little grid work a try.

Step 1 First thing you want to do is that you want to chose 1 colour. I chose the Schmincke Aero Colour - Cyan. I could chosen to do this with watercolours but I love with these inks how you can use them like watercolours as watered down or vibrant as you like and I feel that they move better than watercolours.

Step 2: I have used a watercolour board, you could use any thick watercolour paper.

Next you want to draw up your grid. Each rectangle in my grid is about 40mm X 20mm simply because that is what fitted easily into the size board I had.(try not to overthink this bit).

Step 3: Masking off areas with the Masking fluid. One of the things I also love about this set is the masking pen. So i jumped straight in my chosing one section and masking some lines on it.

These lines will be white when the ink goes over the top, but it needs to dry completely before you put any ink there so thats why I start with this bit first to let it dry whilst i work on the other sections.



Step 4: Now its just a matter of going from grid to grid and adding in some patterns. Like i said earlier i find this less daunting as you can move around from section to section rather than trying to work on the whole artwork at the one time.

I also just love love love the pen that comes with this set. For someone like me that likes fine detail being able to do my fine lines with the same coloured ink in filled into the pen is just such a delight, it saves me messing about with the super fine brushes I can just fill the pen and away I go.  I can get a much better line (and dot ) with the pen that i would with the brush.

I am careful not to use the pen too much though as I want variation on the final piece as that will make it more interesting.

From here it really is a matter of just filling everything up. It actually is quite time consuming. I had to come back to this a few times as I was getting too caught up in the details.

Just remembering to use some really watered down brush strokes as well as intense, which the ink handles brilliantly.

Here is what I came to before i removed the masking fluid, and below is what i came to after.

I plan to continue to enhance this in places with coloured pencils and maybe introduce another colour.

I like to take my time with these so whilst its not finished yet its a process that will continue to evolve over time.

Hope you enjoyed this one, to get you started.