A much wider range of substrates is now available to artists who use aqueous-system inkjets as part of the creative process. By applying the inkAID? precoat, artists can image to all types of papers, aluminum, acrylic sheets and wood. No special application equipment is needed”?just a paintbrush and rubber gloves.
The precoat was designed to work with aqueous pigmented inks, but has also tested well with some types of dye-based inks. Available formulations include a white matte precoat and clear formulations in semi-gloss and gloss finishes. An adhesive is also available to enable the precoat to bond more effectively to non-porous substrates such as plexigas or metal. The adhesive can also be used to reduce the number of coats of precoat needed on porous materials.
One artist who uses the precoat is Karin Schminke, whose mixed-media prints are on display in the One Union Square building in downtown Seattle until August 30. To create the prints, Schminke integrated traditional artist media (paint, ink, colored pencil, and photos) with digital imaging tools. For example, Schminke used Photoshop to digitally combine some of the ink and pencil drawings that she had scanned. Using the InkAid precoats, Schminke prepared the surface of Arches Cover Black paper to achieve additional affects when the images were output on an Epson Stylus Pro 9500 wide-format inkjet printer. “By varying the density of the InkAid, I can control the intensity of the printed color,” explains Schminke. (InkAid: www.inkaid.com)