When you use these fascinating markers, aka alcohol inks, you can get lots of effects. When the inks touch each other on the special paper, they can bleed together, repel each other, or you can layer one on top of another, side by side or upsidedown, to create more choices. I usually only use two or three colors because this background will be combined with another artwork.
I have been experimenting with making cat characters. Here’s what I used: #1 cat breed #2 a facial expression #3 clothing. I was looking for a combination of all three to come up with a comical character who had a great personality. I chose the grey cat and inserted a pipe for him to smoke. The background was black because I wanted to see the trailing smoke from the cigar. So my prompt included a “CAT SUIT”. For the background, I used the above Yupo sketch. The AI gave me this guy who I kind of fell in love with. Here are a few versions, with a made up text that seemed appropriate. I pictured him running a casino and having a flashy flare….
I liked him. I added the Yupo paper background to give it a little art deco style flair. What I especially like is the way the colors blend and compliment each other. Here is another version where I changed his suit and thought he looked like a casino boss. So I gave him a title to advertise his place of business.
Wow. Look at that personality change. I went through 3 or 4 versions of the fishy suit and decided on this one. I gave the suit a leathery texture and that gave his face a grainy texture as well. Here my Yupo background is very subtle. To my eye it compliments and looks a but moody and mysterious. What a dapper guy. Would you trust him? So I hope you can see that you can create your own backgrounds. They are important because they are individually YOU!
Painting Mexico 