ATC MIXUP 1's DIAGONAL MANIA Used WITH 9" X 12" Mask PRAYER FLAGS

My new 9" x 12" ATC Mixup Swatton # 1 set of 9 stencils includes 3 bonus masks as well as the design Diagonal Mania.  It's the first image on the left, in the top row below --

Diagonal Mania isn't a direct derivative of my 9" x 12" mask Prayer Flags, but the two designs have enough features in common that I wanted to use them together in making art samples for today's post.

9" x 12" mask Prayer Flags

For this project I wanted a limited palette of red-orange, pale pink and blue that's "muted" by a small amount of gray mixed in.

Today's art samples show that ATC-sized stencils and masks can be used for far more than Artist Trading Cards alone.  When large and small designs with similar features are used together in one artwork, the result is a pleasing complexity that entertains the viewer's eye everywhere as it travels across the surface.  At the same time, it provides a unity that makes the viewer say,  "Everything here is something that belongs here.  All of it 'fits.' "  These principles hold true regardless of whether the art is representative or (like my own art) abstract/non-representational

Clicking on any or all of the above photos to enlarge them, you may be able to see additional colors peeking thru the acrylics that I used.  This is because of the substrates I chose -- all of them were magazine pages and old calendar photos that had "busy" images -- multi-colored, with lots of small details.

My approach in creating each of the pieces was the same:  I covered each paper with a layer of muted blue (in the form of colored gesso, which is opaque.)  

While that gesso was still wet, I placed my 9" x 12" mask Prayer Flags onto the paper, held it down with one hand, and wiped away the wet gesso that showed thru the openings of the stencil.  A few times I needed to dampen the paper towel with water before rubbing away the gesso. 

I lifted my stencil and allowed the papers to dry.

Then I mixed acrylic matte gel with a couple of heavy-body acrylic paints.  These paints were in the colors I wanted -- pale pink and reddish-orange -- but they were opaque.  Mixing them with the gel made them translucent.  I wanted translucency because I wanted a little of the multi-colored backgrounds to show in the finished pieces.

Next, I came back to the papers with Diagonal Mania and a sponge brayer loaded with heavy-body acrylic paints. 

These sponge brayers are re-usable ... and good quality ones are getting hard to find!

The sponge brayers made it easy to create columns of color with both my pale pink and my red-orange paints.  The columns became key elements in my overall designs on all of today's art samples.  

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Something for Everyone in ATC Size

My ATC Mixup Swatton #1 and ATC Mixup Swatton # 2, each 9" x 12" with 9 images apiece, are sized just right for making Artsit Trading Cards, but I've used them in a variety of ways, including bookmarks, gift-tags, greeting card covers, dangling ornaments, even refrigerator magnets!  They're also sized right for taking on trips; just add an art journal (or loose papers) and watercolor pencils and a brush with a water reservoir such as this one.
  

ATC Mixup Swatton # 1 (9" x 12")

ATC Mixup Swatton # 2 (9" x 12")

These 18 ATC stencils (with bonus masks) offer something for everyone.

The art sample below is destined to decorate the side of a white paper gift-bag.  It's printed with Desert Blooms from ATC Mixup Swatton # 1, on a background of glossy black cardstock that had first been spattered with metallic bronze and blue acrylic paints.

From the hint of desert above, it can be a quick easy trip to Antarctica --

Penguin, from ATC Mixup Swatton #2, was inspired by my original 6" x 6" mask Penguin Family, which looks like this:

6" x 6" mask Penguin Family

Other ATC-sized designs of mine have been inspired by my earlier-released stencils and masks.  Among them --

Above:  Ornamental Iron Curls from ATC Mixup Swatton #2 was used to print the central image with red interference acrylic paint on glossy black cardstock.  This design was inspired by my 6" x 6" mask Ornamental Iron Curls, which is shown below and which was used to create  the print that serves as the background above.  Glued together, they're now on the cover of a 6" x 6" greeting card.

Another way, of course, to combine the new ATC versions with their namesake originals, is to make one print using them both....

Above:  the ATC-sized Mikki's Flowers mask from ATC Mixup Swatton # 2 was printed on the same paper that I'd already printed with my 6" x 6" Mikki's Flowers mask, which also comes as a stencil:

my 6" x 6" stencil Mikki's Flowers 

my 6" x 6" Mikki's Flowers mask

Note:  Altho the new ATC-sized masks and stencils resemble the older larger versions, they are not exact duplicates.  In the case of Mikki's Flowers, for example, I changed the size, number and arrangement of the flowers.

Below are two prints made with ATC-sized Mikki's Flowers by itself.  Both were printed atop flower photos from old picture calendar pages.

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Exciting Ways with ATC 9" x 12" Sheets, Continued

This is what my worktable looked like while I was preparing art samples made with my new 9" x 12" ATC Mixup Swatton #1 and ATC Mixup Swatton # 2.  Can you tell I had fun?

I've experimented with a variety of applications beyond ATCs:  bookmarks, refrigerator magnets, art journal embellishments, gift-tags, gift-wrap, and most of all, greeting cards.

The first image below was printed with a triangle-shaped mini Gelli Plate and Diagonal Mania from ATC Mixup Swatton # 1 .  When the triangular shape emerged, I decided it looked enough like a Christmas tree to be labeled as one....

Again I used Diagonal Mania from ATC Mixup Swatton #1, this time to make the horizontal ATC below --

Switching to ATC Mixup Swatton #2, I chose Fern Fronds Silhouette for creating a greeting card cover with a base of Chinese Joss paper.  Clicking here, you can see what this paper looks like before being used and you can buy some of your own.  The central area of this particular kind of joss paper is a thin sheet of pseudo gold leaf which is highly reflective, altho the photo below doesn't show this quality.  

ATC Mixup Swatton #2's Fern Fronds Silhouette was derived from my original Fern Fronds Silhouette Mini (4" x 4"), which looks like this:

Below is a three-dimensional art sample with a base of 140-lb. hot press watercolor paper that I'd previously stained with bubble-blowing fluid and purple ink, both diluted with water.

To get these raised surfaces, I used light modeling paste with Sprigs from ATC Mixup Swatton #2.

Sprigs is another ATC derived from a larger original of my design -- 6" x 6" Sprigs, which looks like this --

As the two examples above demonstrate, the ATCs derived from my original stencils are similar to their inspirations, but they vary in size-scale (and in some cases, other ways), so they can stand alone as independent individuals.

However, the ATCs are enough like their original designs that they can be used with them, getting results that I really like.  I'll be highlighting those combinations in a future post.

Meanwhile:  Below is a print created on Chinese Joss paper, using an ATC image from ATC Mixup Swatton #1.  Its title is Unfurling Leaves, and in its case there was no original stencil of larger size.  It is instead a brand-new design.

Embossed foil embellishments (upper left on the card below) are called Dresden embellishments, available from several Etsy retailers as well as here.

Below are two prints created with ATC Mixup Swatton #2's design Swan, which is another new image, never before appearing in larger size.

     

This image may appear to be a cut-out, but it's actually a print made with heavy-body
Titanium White acrylic paint.  It's on glossy black cardstock that I'd previously blotted with copper metallic and aqua acrylic paints.

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Newly Released: a brand-new collection of 18 images -- mostly stencils, with several bonus masks included -- all sized for creating Artist Trading Cards!  

ATC Mixup Swatton # 1 (9" x 12")

ATC Mixup Swatton # 2 (9" x 12")

More About My New ATC MIXUP SWATTON #1 and ATC MIXUP SWATTON #2

Why do everything the hard way, when tools are within grabbing distance?  Large-and-small combinations of stencils and masks are art-making tools; they are short-cuts.  I'm wildly in favor of everything that makes art-adventuring easier and more fun.   


Mary Beth Shaw -- www.StencilGirlProducts.com -- came up with the idea of making my 2014-released masks Palm Fronds Silhouette in 2 sizes -- and this is how Palm Fronds Silhouette Small (6"X 6") and Palm Fronds Silhouette Mini (4"X 4") came to exist.

Using those two together became so much fun that -- fast-forward 5 years -- I was delighted to design ATC Mixup Swatton #1 and ATC Mixup Swatton #2, knowing I'd base many of those ATC-sized stencils and masks on larger stencils and masks that I'd previously designed.  

Using large versions alongside small versions offers possibilities without end -- what a springboard into the land of creativity! 

I made that exciting discovery back in 2014, when I added some acrylic paints to  a stretched gallery-wrap canvas*, waited for the paint to dry, and used masking tape to secure Palm Fronds Silhouette Small (6"X 6") and Palm Fronds Silhouette Mini (4"X 4") ... 

Next, I mixed modeling paste with acrylic paint and spread that mixture across the stencils with an artist's spatula.  A used credit card  or any other thin-bladed spreading tool would have worked too.

Once that mix was applied, I removed the stencils and immediately cleaned them.  (Altho I no longer clean acrylic paint off my stencils, I still make sure to clean off dimensional media that include modeling paste.  If heavy-body media is allowed to accumulate on stencils and masks, it will clog openings.)

After the first layer of colored modeling paste had dried, I repeated these steps many more times, switching from one color to another and continuing to allow dry-time between each application.

Below are close-ups showing areas of the canvas as it moved thru its early stages of progress.

In this last photo above, I've circled the areas that you can better see by clicking on the photo to enlarge it.  

This particular painting's yet to be finished, but I'm pausing to share the early steps that I took because this combining of large-with-small 
opens up a wide area of adventures now that ATC Mixup Swatton #1--and ATC Mixup Swatton #2 are released. 

Playing with two sizes together opens floodgates of creative freedom and I feel it enhances artwork overall.  Two similar stencils or masks go a long way in helping establish unity and rhythm in art projects -- and at the same time, being differently sized, they automatically add variety to keep the viewer's eye entertained in every area of the painting.

I've come to understand that large-and-small combinations of stencils and masks are art-making tools; they are short-cuts.  Why do everything the hard way, when tools like this are in grabbing distance?

ATC Mixup Swatton #1 and ATC Mixup Swatton #2 contain several stencils, some with masks, that were inspired by these original stencils and masks.

ATC Mixup Swatton #1--

ATC Mixup Swatton # 1 (9" x 12")

ATC Mixup Swatton #1 inspirations --

Ski Lift Works (6" x 6")

Cats (6" x 6")

Fantasia (9" x 12")

Hot Air Balloon (in 2 sizes -- 6" x 6" and 4" x 4")

ATC Mixup Swatton # 2--

ATC Mixup Swatton #2 (9" x 12")

ATC Mixup Swatton #2 inspirations:

Penguin Family (6" x 6")

Sprigs (6" x 6")

Ornamental Iron Curls (6" x 6")

Thistle (9" x 12")

and

Small Thistles (6" x 6")

Mikki's Flowers Mask (6" x 6")

Ginkgo (6" x 6")

Fern Fronds Silhouette Mini (4" x 4")

Osprey Wings (6" x 6")

*"Gallery wrap" refers to edges without staples showing.  Instead of being stapled on the four sides, the stretched canvas is wrapped around its four wooden supports, and the staples are placed out of sight on the back.

Many thanks for coming to see my blog today!  To follow my blog by email, please use that option in the upper right sidebar.  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.