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All About Atelier Inks
Since 1965 Chroma has been creating incredible materials for artists, including paints, mediums and now a range of Inks. Chroma’s Atelier Artists’ Pigmented Inks are made with professional, lightfast pigments, the same pigments that are used in Chroma’s professional range of paints. With an acrylic base, these inks are water-resistant when dry, durable and non-toxic. If you have ever considered inks, there are a lot of different types available such as Indian Inks, Alcohol Inks, Acrylic Inks and Water-Based Inks. These inks use a variety of different binders and either a pigment or dye as the colourant, resulting in different properties. Inks that use dyes are alcohol and water-based inks, and although brightly coloured, will fade over time. Our Atelier Inks use pigments and provide the best possible combination of usability and vibrancy of colour!
So what is a pigment and why is it important? A pigment is a coloured material that is insoluble in water. Pigments can be lightfast, meaning they won’t fade over time; lightfast pigments are used in all our professional, artist-grade materials. Pigments can also be non-lightfast; these types are generally used in fugitive, student-grade paint. Pigments can be natural (inorganic) or synthetic (organic). Inorganic pigments consist of dry ground minerals, usually metals and metallic salts.
Because of their composition, inorganic pigments are usually more opaque and more insoluble than organic pigments. Organic pigments are carbon-based pigments, derived from animals, vegetables, or synthetic organic chemistry. While historic organic pigments were created from animal, floral, or other such natural sources, the majority of modern pigments are created through synthetic organic chemistry. All the pigments used in Atelier Inks – and throughout all of our paint lines – are NOT derived from animal-based materials. While there can be some health risks associated with heavy metal pigments, all the pigments used in our Atelier Inks are lightfast and AP-approved non-toxic.
Atelier Inks can be used on paper, canvas, ceramic and wood. When using paper we recommend heavyweight paper, 180gsm or higher. As a general rule of thumb, use watercolour paper for ink artworks. The paper needs to be heavy (gsm stands for grams per meter) to keep its rigidity when wet. Because of the acrylic base, Atelier Inks are perfect for mixed media artworks. This is due to their excellent adhesion to a large variety of surfaces/ Also, because they are water-resistant when dry, layering is a breeze. They can be painted over with acrylic paint, acrylic mediums and varnishes.
Because they are compatible with our range of Atelier Acrylic Paints and Mediums, you can experiment by using them for a variety of techniques, including acrylic pouring. Mixing Atelier Ink with Atelier Pouring Medium will create a low viscosity mixture that is highly pigmented and fast flowing, which results in more detailed and dreamy effects. You can even experiment with painting Atelier Inks over dried Atelier Moulding Paste for a gorgeous abstract surface quality and effect!
No matter what project you may have in mind, our Atelier Inks are perfect for drawing, painting and mixed media. Give them a try today with our gorgeous “Boho Cat” Project!
Atelier Artists’ Acrylics Tutorials
If you are painting a landscape, knowing how to mix greens is essential. But with all the pre-mixed greens, blues… Read more.
The Atelier paint is a wonderful substitution for printing ink – once it is dry, it remains stable and does… Read more.
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe lightfastness or permanence of a pigment is its resistance to change on exposure to light. This… Read more.
Reading Time: 3 minutesAnyone who is interested in our new Atelier “Viscosity Ladder” mediums and would like to understand them… Read more.
Beginning a sketchbook habit can be challenging but it is very rewarding. A sketchbook is a place to explore, to… Read more.
Reading Time: 3 minutes How to clean your brushes using Chroma Incredible Brush Cleaner. Read more.
Reading Time: 4 minutes Plein air painting first became popular in the 1880s with the Impressionists. The fact that paint… Read more.
