Journey Art Supplies Blog
Tips, Tricks, Thoughts, and inspiration from across the art spectrum.
Marker Showdown: Copic vs Koda
Copic markers have long been considered the gold standard when it comes to alcohol-based markers – but will Cheap Joe’s brand Koda markers give them a run for their money?
Marker Showdown: Copic vs Koda
Copic markers have long been considered the gold standard when it comes to alcohol-based markers – but will Cheap Joe’s brand Koda markers give them a run for their money?
More Fun with Alcohol Inks!
Hi, everyone! More Fun with Alcohol Inks! This week's post goes out to all you alcohol ink artists out there! (OR folks considering getting into alcohol inks!) I'm sure you've used the felt stamps in your work before, but have you tried the PanPastel Sofft Tools? They're perfect for deliberately applying ink, making unique patterns, and even removing ink from paper! First, I jumped right in with making patterns! I began by masking off a leaf on a sheet of Mitz TerraSkin Multimedia Art Paper. Next, I squeezed a combination of Ranger Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Inks in Citrus, Clover, and Stream onto my rectangle-shaped Sofft Tool. Then I stamped a few sections of the leaf and dripped the same colors around it. When I pulled the masking fluid away, I was pleased with my result! Except there appeared to be a few places that I missed with masking fluid, and the inks got onto the paper...but no worries! The pointed Sofft Tool is the perfect shape for going back in with Claro Extender and cleaning up those stray marks! That's much better! I used a similar technique with a stencil I made: I cut this stencil out of a piece of polyester film and laid it onto another sheet of TerraSkin. Then I dropped some Wild Plum, Indigo,Watermelon, and Cool Peri onto my round Sofft Tool and Citrus, Clover, and Stream onto my rectangle again. I stamped my respective colors all over my stencil. And pulled the stencil away to reveal this! The greens are a bit dingy (I think because they got a little of the Indigo in them) and my flowers came out kind of sloppy, so I tried again--this time, with less ink on my Sofft Tools. Once again, stamped all over, making sure to keep my colors as contained as possible. And voila! A much nicer result this time! Though I do think both are nice, so I'll keep them for a future project, like putting an initial in the middle of some kind of quotes along the outside. The Sofft Tools give me so much control over these otherwise-wily inks, I love it! Next, I wanted to use my stencil as a relief while I used Claro Extender and a Sofft Tool to pull ink back up from the page. My first couple of attempts ended up looking something like this--too much extender! FINALLY, I found the perfect amount of extender to pull up the ink, without reactivating it and making it bleed. (It's about this much. And even then, I did some test stamps on a plain sheet of paper to get any excess off.) Next, I wanted to use the Sofft Tools as simply applicators for ink. I quickly threw together some light-ish colors (Wild Plum, Cool Peri, Shell Pink, and some Extender). Then I laid my stencil on the dried ink--dang, that looks pretty cool on its own! Inked all the way around with just a combo of Indigo and Cranberry. Tip: Indigo eats every other color you use, so apply it sparingly! Once again, my ink-to-sponge ratio was a bit off, so my flowers bled a little...BUT one portion was salvageable! Now I have a pretty little embellishment to add to a later work :) And if nothing else, you can use the tools to add dimension to the backgrounds of your works! Just squeezy-squeeze a bit onto your Sofft Tools... Apply in a random fashion... And then ink as normal! Since that layer dries before you apply your other inks, they still show through--even from under other inks! Tell me about your favorite alcohol ink techniques!
More Fun with Alcohol Inks!
Hi, everyone! More Fun with Alcohol Inks! This week's post goes out to all you alcohol ink artists out there! (OR folks considering getting into alcohol inks!) I'm sure you've...
Spring Art Swap!
Hi, everyone! It was a great week over here at Cheap Joe's headquarters! For a little over a month now, our employees have been working diligently to create a one-of-a-kind work of art to be swapped for another unique piece made by a fellow employee! Well, today was the day of the swap, and I am extremely excited to show you the products of some of the amazing artists we have here! The theme, of course, was "spring"--but we encouraged the participants to interpret that however they pleased OR go in a different direction entirely. After all, art knows no bounds! In alphabetical order: Artwork by Alex Skala, retail associate at our Charlotte location. Artwork by Alicia Orlando, a member of our Distribution Center team. Artwork by Aly Perez, manager of our Asheville Retail Store. Artwork by Amanda Chapman, manager of our Boone Outlet Store. Artwork by Annabelle Prince, manager of our Charlotte Retail Store. Artwork by Becky Stines, part of our receiving gang. (This is the panel I got!) Artwork by Bri Stoehr, one of the retail associates in our Asheville location. Artwork by Brian Dubberly, our Marketing Manager. Alicia Orlando also created this piece, on behalf of a new employee in the Distribution Center named Bryan Elrod. Artwork by Byron Cook, our Web Developer is in charge of the entire Cheap Joe's website! Artwork by Carlee Hudson (that's me!), marketing assistant/copywriter/blogger extraordinaire. Artwork by Christy Firk, one of the retail associates in our Asheville location. Artwork by Danie Firth, one of the retail associates at our Charlotte location. Artwork by Dawn Hill, roommate to one of our Call Center gurus, Tammy Guilford. Artwork by Derrick Fowler, one of our Call Center gurus. Artwork by Edwina May, our Workshop Coordinator. Artwork by Erin Guffey, one of our graphic designers, who works on our seasonal sale flyers and orchestrates these art swaps! Artwork by Jacob Woehler, one of the retail associates at our Asheville Location. And here's the back of Jacob's--we're a silly bunch :) Artwork by Jana Smith, another member of our receiving gang. Artwork by Janalee Burke, part of our Distribution Center team. Artwork by Jane Laferla, one of the retail associates at our Asheville location. Artwork by Kevin Brown, one of the retail associates at our Charlotte Location. Artwork by Kevin Bryan, part of our Distribution Center team. Artwork by Lauren Murrell, another retail associate at our Charlotte location. Artwork by Linda Greenup, a retail associate at our Asheville location. Artwork by Lori Inman, the other marketing assistant, in charge of finding awesome new products. Artwork by Luke Russell, one of the retail associates at our Charlotte location. Artwork by Megan Hart, Content/SEO Management Artwork by Meghann Miller Williams, in charge of promotional donations. Artwork by Michael White, part of the Distribution Center team. Artwork by Michelle Dineen, one of our Call Center gurus. Artwork by Phillip Church, part of our Distribution Center team. Artwork by Sally Garner, one of the retail associates in our Asheville location. Artwork by Tammy Guilford, one of our Call Center gurus. Artwork by Taylor Bowers, marketing. Artwork by Terry Henry, part of the graphics team. Artwork by Tippy Kleinman, one of the retail associates in our Boone Outlet Store. And last but certainly not least, Web Alexander, manager/guru supreme of the Call Center.
Spring Art Swap!
Hi, everyone! It was a great week over here at Cheap Joe's headquarters! For a little over a month now, our employees have been working diligently to create a one-of-a-kind...
A New Jewel in the Cheap Joe's Crown!
Hey, everybody! Crazy things have been happening in the Cheap Joe's world: namely, we opened a brand new store in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina I was part of the team who worked diligently to get everything up and running ASAP for the townsfolk, who have badly wanted an art supplies store--so much so that they even started a Bring Cheap Joe's Art Stuff to Asheville page on Facebook! Well, we heard those pleas and made it happen! And I wanted to share some photos of the journey with you guys: Very early stages, just getting basic fixtures put in. And there's Aly and David, the managers of the Boone Outlet and the Asheville stores! Reduce, reuse, recycle: these planks of wood are actually pieces of pallets that we receive deliveries on, but we knew we could use them for something creative, like an accent wall! Soon, these will be covered in stacks of canvas and watercolor paper! Here's Brian, our Marketing Manager, building a big front desk for our new employees! Then he added a big, sturdy, concrete top and continued the pallets motif! Finally! We can start loading in merchandise! The very first product placed! Bunches and bunches of sketchbooks! Sorting and finding a place for everything! (Natasha, who works in inventory, doesn't like having her picture taken...) Look at all those easels! And the finished pallet wall! So...much...canvas! Coming along nicely! Our brush section! A few finishing touches...and we were ready to open! Come down and visit us! The address is: 829 Riverside Dr Ste 120 Asheville, NC 28804 And the local number is 828-232-8391 We can't wait to see you!
A New Jewel in the Cheap Joe's Crown!
Hey, everybody! Crazy things have been happening in the Cheap Joe's world: namely, we opened a brand new store in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina I was part of the team...
Painting with Fire!
Hi, everyone! One of the draws of alcohol ink is its looseness and unpredictability--so what if we amplified that and added a little danger? This week's project was inspired by a video I saw on YouTube where an artist applied alcohol inks to a ceramic tile and then lit it on FIRE! The movement of the flame allows for truly unique designs as well as an extremely fast evaporation time. In the video, she mentioned using this technique to create backgrounds for future works, but I think the result looks great enough on its own, so I used it to make some tile coasters! For this project, I picked up some plain white ceramic tiles (4" x 4") and a slightly larger tile (9" x 12") from a hardware store--super cheap, and you can sometimes even find them in thrift stores. I already had my stash of Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Inks and Blending Solution and a lighter stick, so I was good to go! I started as I would with any other abstract alcohol ink piece by just tossing color all over my surface (the colors I used here are Clover, Stream, Aqua, and Shell Pink). To get the colors to start moving around, I added a few splashes of Blending Solution. Then I lit it with my lighter stick and let the flame burn down on its own (about 20 seconds)... And here's what I got! I wasn't entirely happy with the amount of white that was still showing through, so I tried again! One of the best things about alcohol inks is their ability to be reworked when you're not happy with the result. Even though the alcohol was burned off from the flame, I was still able to add MORE inks and blending solution to the tile and it reactivated it! Here's what I got the second time around and I was much happier with this result! For my next tile, I used Shell Pink again, Cool Peri, Wild Plum, and Watermelon. Added my blending solution... And lit it up! A lot of my color got burned off the first go around, so I threw on more Watermelon and Wild Plum the second go 'round and got this! My third tile was a crazy mixture of Cool Peri, Wild Plum, Indigo, and Cranberry. I'll never get tired of taking pictures of art on fire. Oof. This one came out REALLY dark. But no worries! I only added light tones (Cool Peri and the blending solution) the second time. Let it do its thing... And it brought back my brighter colors! My last tile was...a learning experience. I'm not sure why I thought this color scheme would be a good idea, I guess I was riding a bit of a high from the pyromania. For whatever reason, I picked Cool Peri, Sunset Orange, Sunshine Yellow, and Citrus... Oh, what a mistake that was... Here's the unfortunate mess I got with those colors. I think it might have turned out okay, had I not included the green... Rather than chalk this up to a total waste, I used it as an opportunity to experiment. I had forgotten that metallic Silver was in my arsenal and didn't even consider using it on the three prior tiles, so I threw it and some blending solution on top of this wreck just to see what it would do... So, essentially, the silver just danced around on top and didn't meld in with the other colors. I like the look of it, though! I'd like it more if it wasn't on THIS tile... I made another attempt by JUST adding blending solution, to see if it would burn anything off, and it mostly just got kind of burnt... No worries, though! After a little rubbing alcohol and some light scrubbing, I had a clean tile again! This time, I stuck with a combination of colors I knew would look good together: Cool Peri, Aqua, Stream, and Indigo. Some blending solution, of course. And presto! This one was pretty okay with me, but I still wanted more coverage on those white areas. I added some more Cool Peri and blending solution... And ended up with this! Much better than that orange-green train wreck... Once they were all dry (not long at all, since the fire evaporated most of the moisture), I painted the sides of them with some Joe's Prime Really Good Lightfast Acrylic to match their schemes. Then I sealed them with a few coats of Liquitex Soluvar Aerosol Varnish (Glossy). And when THAT was dry, I stuck these little footsies underneath so the unfinished bottoms wouldn't scratch up my tables. If you have some felt lying around, that would work great. But I just picked up these furniture pads while I was getting the tiles. Here are my finished products: If you attempt this project, PLEASE make sure you do it in a well-ventilated area and not under any low ceilings! While the flame doesn't extend more than about 2.5 feet, it could still catch onto things around it. And also make sure your inks are a safe distance from your open flame. With those things in mind, this project is entirely safe and tons of fun!
Painting with Fire!
Hi, everyone! One of the draws of alcohol ink is its looseness and unpredictability--so what if we amplified that and added a little danger? This week's project was inspired by...
