Inkjet Ink Blending

by PC Smart

sandbox serendipity (my art blog)

Another technique I discovered by accident (love those happy accidents!). I inserted a piece of matte photo paper into my printer, not realizing it already had a photo in the center of it. Where the two photos overlapped, the inks blended to form new colors/patterns. The light bulb went off and I started to play. As usual, the examples here are very simple, but look at the clock project to see where you can take this technique. I also like to combine this technique with the printer masking one to get some really cool patterns/images.
The basic idea behind this is color blending. Just like you can blend watercolor paints, you can blend inkjet inks. You are layering shapes/images and printing them separately to get sections where the inks create new colors/patterns. When I do this technique, I usually use a layers based program such as photoshop, elements, picture it, etc. You can do it without layers but it is much more difficult to position each subsequent image/color on top of the previous one. The effect you get is like layering with transparent images but the color blending is much cooler. This is one of those techniques that is great for backgrounds, I like to use it for cards and tags. Refer to a color wheel if you are unsure of what the color combos will look like....

The examples used here are not graphically manipulated, they are scans of the actual printouts I created. No transparent layers or other digital tricks.

step one:
create an image (8.5x11) and add five light yellow rectangles of varying shapes/sizes, print them onto plain white cardstock (you can use matte photo paper also, glossy will work but the blending will look different, not as dramatic)

step two:
add five light blue rectangles that intersect with the yellow ones, "hide" the yellow layers so that only the blue are visible (if using a non-layered program, you will have to delete the yellow rectangles). insert the paper so the blue will be printing on top of the yellow to get this type of image. (see scan below) note where the two colors overlap and blend, you get a third shade.


step three: go back to the original image and click on all of the layers to make them visible, add 5 pink rectangles, hide the blue/yellow and print again. (without layers you will be simply placing them around the page or using the undo button to bring the previous colors back and then deleting them again)



step four: repeat step three, adding 5 green rectangles. note in the example below that the green is a darker shade. I did this to show you that darker colors may not blend as easily or as clearly as the lighter ones.




What other ways can you use this blending technique? I use it with photographs and also titles. You may have to play with the color combos/intensities a bit to get it to your liking but part of the fun with this technique is the serendipity of it...you never really know what it will turn out like. In the examples below, I overlayed one photo on top of another just to show you the collaged look that you can achieve (busy photos might not work well, I usually stick to like colors/backgrounds). This would be a great way to print a collage, overlapping images to create interest. I also printed the word "thanks" in three different sizes/colors. In the thanks example, I printed the yellow last to give it more punch against the red and green (the blending is subtle on this photo but it is more noticable in person). Most of the time you will work from lightest to darkest for the printing order. The bottom image is a clock I did for my CraftLab appearance. The circles are ink blended and the silhouette is added later. (rhinestones complete the girly look)
Now it is your turn, try this ink blending technique on your next project....don't forget to drop me a line (and send a photo!)