More Flowers to Celebrate Spring!

Today's first art sample was printed on a page from a pre-1929 set of encyclopedias, a page that came with its own floral illustration, which now sits happily in the background behind a red curtain of translucent red acrylic paint....

Above:  Printed with 6" x 6" Silhouette of a Wildflower Bouquet

Above:  The top embellishment was printed with my 9" x 12" stencil Boxed Vines, which in its entirety looks like this --

 9" x 12" stencil Boxed Vines

Below:  an old printed paper (based on a photo of a sawed-off tree stump) has new life as a background for a print made with my 9" x 12" mask Garden Montage --

Above:  Printed with 9" x 12" Garden Montage, which in its entirety looks like this --

9" x 12" Garden Montage

  Above:  Top print made with 9" x 12" Garden Montage.  Underneath print was made with Nosegay Stencil (9" x 12") -- which looks like this--

Above:  Nosegay Stencil (9" x 12") 

Below:  Two prints made with my 6" x 6" Quilted Flower Garden --

The second print made with my 6" x 6" Quilted Flower Garden was done on Yupo that had previously been printed with a 9" x 12" mask from StencilGirl -- Circle Tile, designed by Mary Beth Shaw. 

Below is another print done on a page from a pre-1929 set of encyclopedias, a page that came with two of its own floral illustrations.  Swatton Flowers Version 1 is the stencil that was put to work:

Below:  Today's final art sample is the cover of a greeting card.  The small paper (top layer) of this collage was made with my 9" x 12" mask Garden Montage (shown in its entirety earlier in this post.)  Garden Montage was used to make an over-print (in aqua acrylic paint.)  The under-print (orange and yellow acrylic paints) was made with my 9" x 12" mask Prayer Flags.  

The bottom layer of this greeting card collage was over-printed (in gray acrylic paint) with my 6" x 6" mask Sprigs.  The under-print (in yellow and red acrylic paint) was created with my 9" x 12" mask Winter Berries.

my 9" x 12" mask Winter Berries

 my 6" x 6" mask Sprigs

my 9" x 12" mask Prayer Flags

Thank you for coming to check out my blog today!

Paint Scraping Technique to Get Stencil Imprints in a Whole New Way

I've surprised myself by looking back over a number of years and finding how often I've used the technique I'm highlighting today.

I call it the scraping technique -- a "wet" version of the dry rubbing technique that's been around forever.  Immediately below is an example of a dry rubbing that I did with an Art Bar crayon and my 9" x 12" mask Trivet A 9.

Instead of dry crayon (or other soft media such as pastel sticks or an Art Bar), today's wet scraping approach calls for acrylic paint fresh out of the tube or jar. 

I've tried this with both liquid acrylics and heavy body.  I think the latter generally work better.   But experimenting is a good idea, because different papers react differently with each type of paint, when used in this technique.

For the results that I like, I use stencils and masks with medium-to-large openings. 

Below are the six masks and stencils -- all by STENCILGIRL(TM)Products -- that I've chosen for today's first round of art samples.

Top row, L to R -- my 6" x 6"mask Trivet B, my 6" x 6" Mimosa and (far right) Curvie Lattice (by Mary Beth Shaw)

Bottom row, L to R -- two copies of my 6" x 6" mask Kaleid  and (far right) Intersections (by Wendy Aikin) 

Above:  I have used masking tape to secure the stencils and masks to my work surface.

My next step, shown above, was to use more masking tape to secure a sheet of Lineco tissue atop the stencils.  Without that, the tissue wouldn't stay in place during the scraping.  

You can click on the photo below to enlarge it and better see these details:  wet acrylic paint sits atop each column of stencils, ready to be scraped downward over the paper. Far left: blue paint; middle:  Titan Buff paint; far right: red paint.  

Above:  Over the tissue, I've spread the tools I could have used for the scraping.  The shower-wall-cleaning "squeegie" did a better job than the Princeton Wedge (altho the Wedge is great for other projects.)  The paint-covered credit card and the white rigid-plastic wedge (from a home supply store) have been used in the past. 


I've learned that different scraping tools work better than others, depending on the type of tissue used.  

Above:  Paint has been scraped down across the stencils; then more paint was added and scraped down in the same way.  I made sure to keep using steady pressure as I ran the scraping tool downward.

Important tip:  If using Lineco tissue paper, remove the paper from the stencils as soon as you have finished the paint-scraping.  If the paint is allowed to dry first, the paper will stick to the stencils and will be more difficult to remove. 

I used both Lineco tissue and dry-wax deli paper for this technique and found that the Lineco tissue will expand and form wrinkles as it is being scraped by the paint-loaded tool.  This does not happen with the deli paper.  However, the deli paper is more resistant to the paint, and needs to be scraped more than once.

After the above paint had dried, I turned the tissue over and repeated the same technique on the other side of the same tissue.  I used different colors of paint on the second side so that, when finished, the paper would be printed on both sides, with non-matching prints.

Two-sided printing on translucent papers makes for more interesting results.

Important note:  Doing both sides of the tissue makes the finished product stronger.  When cutting up the finished paper, make sure to check both sides before making the final cuts.  Sometimes you will like the "top" side of one section and the "bottom" side of another section of the printed paper.

After paint has dried on the second side, the tissue paper is ready to be cut for use in collages, greeting card covers, scrapbooking, art journaling, etc.

The above photo was taken during another paint-scraping session.  On the far right is the mostly-red substrate (an old Gelli Plate print) as it looked before the scrape.  On the far left is the palette paper holding the off-white acrylic paint that is being spread.  In the top middle is the old motel room key (like a credit card) which I was using to spread the off-white paint across the mostly-red substrate.  My 9"X 12" stencil Mimosa is taped down securely right under the thin but sturdy paper.  Holding the credit card scraper at different angles, while pressing it downward over the substrate, produces slightly different scraping results.

Below:  Yet another sheet of stencil-scraped paper serves as background for the word "Love," which is a freehand cut-out.  Again the stencil used was my 9"X 12" Mimosa.

For the following 2 art samples, I used sheets of cheap paper that had a glossy surface.  This paper was not translucent like the papers mentioned above.

You can on the image below to enlarge it.  The imprint of my 6" x 6" stencil Mimosa 6 runs across the top.  At bottom left, the imprint of Kaleid is visible.

In the photo below,  paint has been scraped across my 6"X 6" stencil  Kaleid -- 

Rounding out today's post is a repeat of a post from about a year ago.  For this, I made a video, here.

I have to smile at adding this segment, because I find I'm now recommending different types of paint and scrapers!  Once again, let me say that experimenting is always a good idea -- try everything!

Supplies for this last segment:

lightweight but sturdy paper (I used Asian rice paper);

a stencil (I used Clustered Leaves);

liquid acrylic paint;

a 12-inch-wide drywall taping knife, sold at home improvement stores, or you can order it here.

This is a quick and easy technique, as the video demonstrates.

Some prints I've made this way --

Clustered Leaves (9"x 12" mask)

Fantasia (9"x 12" mask)

Clustered Leaves (9"x 12" mask)

 Fantasia (9"x 12" mask)

Clustered Leaves (9"x 12" mask) 

 Clustered Leaves (9"x 12" mask)

Clustered Leaves (9"x 12" mask)

Mimosa 9" x 12" Stencil 

 Mimosa 9" x 12" Stencil

Mimosa 9" x 12" Stencil 

Clustered Leaves (9"x 12" mask)

Clustered Leaves  (9"x 12" mask)

Clustered Leaves  (9"x 12" mask)

Clustered Leaves  (9"x 12" mask)

This technique works better with some stencils than with others.  Experimenting is fun!  Art-making is all about adventure!

To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.

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Flowers Made with Stencils and Masks

Flowers are starting to bloom!  Outdoors and indoors....

Over a white gesso-coated stretched canvas, I started an art project by spreading a large pool of orange and yellow acrylic paints; next to them, a small pool of green and aqua paints.  

I misted the edges of the pools with water in a spritz-bottle, then did a little tilting to help encourage the spreading paint pools.  

Once the surface was dry, I placed my 9"x1 2" stencil Queen Anne's Lace over it.  With masking tape, I blocked off one of the flowers to keep it from printing.  

My next step was to apply green acrylic paint thru the stencil with stencil sponges. 

The finished piece is here:

And below are two close-ups--

The stencil Queen Anne's Lace looks like this:

Do I have any more flowers to show today, you ask?  Now that you ask, yes, actually, I do!

Above:  I did the first print with a part of my 3-part 9" x 12" mask Blooming Where Planted.  That mask in its entirety looks like this--

Over that first print, I did a second print using another 9" x 12" stencil of mine, Thistle.  This particular plant -- considered a weed by some! -- is also available in 6" x 6" size, Small Thistles, shown below.

 My thistles series even comes in a mini (ATC) size, as one of the nine stencils that make up my 9" x 12" ATC Mixup Swatton #2 --

All three of these differently-sized thistles are similar enough so that they can be used in combination.  However, they are not identical in size, arrangement, or detail.

Today's last flower image is one that you could call a hybrid.  Its background was printed, in the usual manual way, with my 6" x 6" mask Sassy Spray.  

In contrast to that, the silhouetted flower was first printed on reddish paper with my 6" x 6" stencil Silhouette of a Wildflower Bouquet.  Then I scanned that print into my PC, and used Photoshop to stretch the flower-and-leaves shape.  

I call this a hybrid because the background was created in the usual way and looks exactly like its mask, Sassy Spray.  But the red-and-white image -- altho made from the  6" x 6" stencil Silhouette of a Wildflower Bouquet -- is a vertically stretched version.  Just for the fun of it! 

  

Thanks for stopping by here today!  To scroll thru all my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.

Stencils and Masks that Inspired my Two 9" x 12" ATC MIXUP SWATTON Stencils

A little over a month ago, my two 9"x 12" sheets of ATC-sized stencils were released. 

 https://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/stencils-cecilia-swatton-s/1832.htm

The majority of the new stencils and masks had been inspired by larger stencils and masks that I'd designed previously.  

Today's post features some art samples created with just a few of those original stencils and masks.

Ski Lift Works (6" x 6") was the mask I put to work in creating this image on the photo of an old calendar page.

Fantasia (9" x 12") was used to print this image on an old sheet of newspaper.

Hot Air Balloon (6" x 6")

This print, made with 6" x 6" Osprey Wings, was printed with alcohol inks on a background previously coated with pearl "metallic" acrylic paint.

Printed with 6" x 6" Ornamental Iron Curls on a substrate that was a blueprint.

Mikki's Flowers Stencil (6" x 6") was used to make this print on an old calendar page photo.

Sprigs (6" x 6") was the mask I used in making the above print.

In earlier posts I've shown some of the fun I've had pairing the original-sized stencils and masks with the newer ATC-sized ones -- which are similar to the originals, while not identical with them.

ATC Mixup Swatton #1 (which includes Cats, Ski Lift Works and Fantasia, all in the brand-new ATC sizes.) 

ATC Mixup Swatton #2 (which includes ATC-sized Mikki's Flowers (as a mask),Sprigs and Ornamental Iron Curls, all in the brand-new ATC sizes.) .

   
Thanks  for coming to check out my blog today!  To scroll thru all the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.