In preparation for our demo on Saturday morning at the Impress Holiday Open House in Tukwila we have been creating all kinds of samples. We are always asked about the difference between using different coloring mediums on the Art Squares and if we prefer one over another. So, we decided to do a test evaluating Splash Inks against Koi pan style watercolors.
For those of you not familiar with Splash Inks, they are quite unique because not only are they an acrylic based 'ink', but there are only 4 colors in the set including yellow, blue, magenta and black...just like the ink colors in your printer. Working with Yasutomo, Karen Elaine Parsons created a massive color chart (that comes with the 4 bottle set) with drop by drop formulas showing how to make just about every color you can imagine.
We recently discovered the Sakura Koi Watercolor Pocket Field Sketch box containing 24 colors of highly pigmented dry pan style paints. This small box kit comes with it's own palette that you can use to mix brushfuls of color that you pull when you moisten the pans of color with water.
We were surprised to find that the intensity of color was very similar between these two completely different types of paint mediums!! And, with very little effort in color mixing we were able to quickly replicate similar colors.
First we stamped 2 white ATC size Art Squares with the Forest of Trees stamp from Impress using VersaMark ink, white embossing powder and then heat setting. Paint right over the embossed trees and then use a paper towel to blot up any paint to keep the trees white.
The one on the top right shows the watercolor version created by the traditional method of combining different green, blue and yellow pan watercolors. And the bottom left version shows the exact same colors mixed from just the cyan and yellow Splash Inks.
Who knew...it's a draw! And frankly we love both of them!!
