Staining idea

[Sadie-f]

Most of the key features are present here (without giving away where the final idea is going).  I started from the right and cut and dyed the blue (while tape still covered where the amber is).  I then taped the other side, dyed amber to the second tape line (where the second blue is).  So amber was dyed free-hand against the blue on the right and against tape on the left.  I finally free-hand stained the narrow strip of blue (clear where the hand slipped, hence the "work dark to light" recommendation).  This was also before I figured out the sharpie to make the edge pop a little better.  A Q-Tip also helps in some of the tighter spots (and subsequent attempts have been better at the edge).

That looks to be coming along beautifully!

For my current project, I chose solid pigments over stains for a couple of reasons. One was that for 7 colors, I would be buying by the ounce when the amounts needed were in fractions of a milliliter. Second was limited choice - I can go to Blick art and buy artist pastels in about 220 shades from just one brand, and there's 3 different brands to choose among. Third is the committing nature of dye/stain -- it sinks in fast, and once applied, isn't coming back out. Not that solid pigments come out, I've simply found them easier to carefully blend.

For my black bg I did use stain and I used your idea of dilution with alcohol, I used 100% isopropanol because I have it available. It worked a treat, so thanks for the idea!

I look forward to seeing how it comes out!

EDIT: I see you posted the completed work in the WIP thread, nice work!