Thursday, February 23, 2017

LINE WAVES, a Beautiful 9"x12" Stencil by Trish McKinney


Line Waves by Trish McKinney is one of my all-time StencilGirl favorites!

Here is yet another artwork on stretched canvas that I made using this stencil, modeling paste and acrylic paints:





Close-ups appear below:










My thanks to Trish McKinney for creating such a gorgeous and versatile stencil!

Monday, February 20, 2017

Mary Ann Russo's Vintage-Themed Artwork with WROUGHT IRON GATE and SWATTON BORDERS #1


My friend Mary Ann Russo has kindly allowed me to post photos I've taken of her vintage-themed art journal-in-progress; today's post focuses on two of her 2-page spreads, both done on heavyweight, cold press watercolor paper, with Liquitex flexible modeling paste, acrylic paints and a couple of my 9" x 12" stencils.

First, I'll show the full spread of two pages with their centers yet unfinished; a smaller page is lying atop a larger page:





Next come two close-ups:







The yellow page-edges were created with portions of Wrought Iron Gate --




-- and the rust-beige page-edges were one of the three borders included in my stencil Borders #1 --





Above, the border used by Mary Ann is highlighted in red.

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, February 18, 2017

DANGLED PODS and TANGLED PODS Stencils Used Together, Yet Again


My earlier posts have shown similar versions of today's pieces ... but since I haven't yet stopped tweaking my experiment-paintings, updated photos end up in my files.






In an earlier post, I showed an artwork made with Dangled Pods alone.
Just for fun, I used the same piece as background and overlaid it with a the sister stencil, Tangled Pods, which had been, when used in an earlier project, stained with shades of orange:




The two stencils look like this:



Tangled Pods
Dangled Pods (the reverse of Tangled Pods)

Any questions?  Please feel free to post them in the Comments, and I'll gladly answer.

Friday, February 17, 2017

TANGLED PODS and Its New Sister-Stencil DANGLED PODS


Here are still more close-ups of my experiments using Tangled Pods paired with Dangled Pods --



















Again, the majority of these experiments was done with a technique that's part of the June 2015 Stencil Club package, which includes an instructional video by MaryBeth Shaw.  (For more information, join Stencil Club.)

In addition, the knobby texture of the final piece above is the result of my adding a layer of clear bead gel over the originally painted surface.  This gel looks opaque-white when it's first spread over the surface, but when dry, it's transparent. 

 These two stencils look like this: 



Above:  the original stencil, Tangled Pods.
Above:  the new stencil, Dangled Pods -- the reverse of the original stencil.

More Dangled Pods examples are coming!

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Still More DANGLED PODS Paired with TANGLED PODS


Maybe it's time for some close-ups?

These are culled from a number of experiments I've been doing on stretched canvas ... I use Fredrix Watercolor gallery-wrap-edged canvases because I like their ultra-smooth surfaces and their erasability.  And because their finished-look edges eliminate any need for framing!










Most of these experiments were done with a technique that's part of the June 2015 Stencil Club package, which includes an instructional video by MaryBeth Shaw.  (For more information, join Stencil Club.)

In addition, the slightly speckled light-blue pods directly above were created with spray paint, thru my Tangled Pods stencil.

This pair of stencils looks like this:



Tangled Pods
Dangled Pods (the reverse of Tangled Pods.)

Continuing experiments will be posted here soon!

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

More DANGLED PODS Stencil (New), Paired with the Original TANGLED PODS Stencil


After that short break for Valentine's Day, I'm back to daily posts showing ways I've used my new 9" x 12" stencil Dangled Pods, paired with Tangled Pods.

Both these stencils, by the way, were inspired by the beautifully dangling seed pods of the Japanese Pagoda Tree.  





 The piece above was created by piling layer after layer of black and red acrylic paints on a 9" x 12" stretched canvas.  After so many layers had been added, ridges had formed in the shapes of the pods.  I dry-brushed metallic gold paint over these ridges to reach the finishing point above.  Below is a close-up of one detailed area:





Above is another piece created with the technique cited in my Feb. 13 post.  Below are two close-ups focusing on areas of this painting:







These two stencils look like this: 



Above:  the original stencil, Tangled Pods.
Above:  the new stencil, Dangled Pods -- the reverse of the original stencil.

More Dangled Pods examples are coming!

Monday, February 13, 2017

More DANGLED PODS with TANGLED PODS


Since these two stencils -- altho created far apart chronologically -- are a paired set, it's natural (and easy) to use them together.  Here are the results of five of my adventures in pairing them ... 













These were created with the technique that I used in preparing art for the June 2015 Stencil Club release of a three-piece set of stencils I'd designed (Crop Circles.)  This technique was demonstrated in a video that features MaryBeth Shaw.  Since the video was part of that month's special package, I won't discuss the technique here.  But anyone who joins Stencil Club can order this package by following the directions here.

Many of my posts showing this new stencil, Dangled Pods, were made in the same way, because this technique continues to intrigue me.  Easy variations are proving to be endless!



Above:  the original stencil, Tangled Pods.
Above:  the new stencil, Dangled Pods.

Thanks to StencilGirlProducts.com for this new combination of stencils!

Saturday, February 11, 2017

DANGLED PODS in Solo Appearances


Most often, I use my brand-new 9" x 12" stencil Dangled Pods with my original-version stencil Tangled Pods.  But I've also found ways to use the new stencil all by itself --







My starting idea for these two pieces was to make them as a set.  Things didn't turn out that way.  I don't mind!



Above:  the original stencil, Tangled Pods.
Above:  the new stencil, Dangled Pods.

Thanks for stopping to see this blog! 

Friday, February 10, 2017

Phases 1 & 2 with DANGLED PODS and TANGLED PODS


I started this art on stretched canvas using leftover paints and my 9" x 12" set Tangled Pods and Dangled Pods  --



Note:  Dangled Pods is the reverse of Tangled Pods... as shown below:

Tangled Pods
Above:  Dangled Pods

In my top-of-the-post artwork, the orange-yellow-green background was made with Tangled Pods.  The dark pink overlay was made with Dangled Pods (which is Tangled Pods in reverse.) I liked the colors but felt it needed more punch.  Fortunately, I ran across some old papers that I'd made with Tangled Pods.  I cut those into pieces and collaged them onto the canvas --





Here is a close-up of one area to show it in more detail --





This is one of the pieces I've done in what I call "Bollywood colors" -- I'm in love with the dazzling costumes of these Hindi movie dancers.  Oh um ... I'm also in love with the King of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Kahn ... but that's another story ...