The Rundown on Spattering Art Made with 6" x 6" Mask LOOKING UP THROUGH TREES SMALL --s793

More flights of fancy with 6" x 6" Looking Up Through Trees Small -- s793....

Above:  This mysterious Japanese beauty came from an old hairstyling magazine and has been transformed with dramatic impact via acrylic paints and my new mask Looking Up Through Trees Small s793 -- its 6" x 6" outer frame having been cut off prior to use here.

All of the abstract prints below are destined to become origami papers.  I've never been good at origami, but I'm willing to attempt it once again!

Above:  Note the spattering and the way it adds interest to the art.  I have a lot to say about spattering at the end of this post! Just keep scrolling down!

Above:  Once again -- please note the spattering and the way it adds interest to the art.  I have a lot to say about spattering at the end of this post -- just keep scrolling down!

The original 6" x 6" mask comes with a border and looks like this --

Looking Up Through Trees Small (6" x 6")

This mask also comes in a 9" x 12" size, similar but not identical --

9" x 12" mask Looking Up Through Trees L753

Here's my rundown on the spattering technique:

I use several methods for spraying. Usually I reach for my own customized sprays that I keep in little mister bottles that come from drug stores or art supply vendors. My customised sprays are roughly 2/3 Golden High Flow acrylics, roughly 1/3 water (distilled is best) and a tiny amount of Golden airbrush medium.

 (There are other media that would work just as well, like Liquitez Palate Wetting solution. You could probably even use that liquid product sold for reducing water spots in your dishwasher. This kind of liquid is called a surfactant* -- something that functions in reducing surface tension in a liquid into which it's added. Its purpose is to keep the mister hole from clogging up with dried paint or ink.)

In a totally different approach to spattering, another tool I use is a cute little round-brush tool for spattering from Jerry's Artarama; this tool reminds me of the old toothbrush spattering method, but I like it a lot more because it gives control that I never achieved when I rubbed a thumb across the bristles of an old toothbrush dipped in paint.

Next-to-last on my spatter-making list:  A tool called a "mouth mister."  The way to use this tool is to put one end of it to your mouth; stick the opposite end into a liquid like acrylic ink, liquified watercolors or Golden High Flows; and blow!  You can get different results by blowing gently, blowing with gusto, etc.

One of these misters is sold by the artist Jo Toye.  Another mister is the Pat Dews mister.

There's one last "tool" I use for spatter; the reason it's in final place is that it's the most risky.  When I use it, I have a wet-wipe of some kind ready at hand, in case I want to do do immediate damage control after making the spatter.  And I make sure to place the painting-in-progress on a generous spread of old newspapers or old packing papers.  Because this could get messy!

And at times -- for added insurance -- I create a barrier coat over the painting-in-progress, and make sure that layer has dried thoroughly, before I bring out this tool.  (A barrier coat can be brushed on using either matte medium liquid or glossy medium liquid -- or even a combination of the two, with a little water added to the mix.)

This risky spattering is done with a liquid acrylic paint, using its original container -- when that container has reached the point of being nearly empty.  For this, I use either liquid acrylic or Golden High Flow acrylics, or even a combination of the two, one after another, when I want more than one color of spatter. 

The way I do this spatter is to lift the nearly empty bottle above the painting and squeeze the bottle.  That's all!  (But it's a good idea to try a test squeeze first, using an old newspaper!)

Below are examples of the kind of spatter you can get when inverting a nearly empty bottle of acrylic paint over the substrate and giving the bottle a good squeeze:

Made with (left) R&E M268 and (right) M& Y M267 -- so named because each is an abstracted version of two letters of the alphabet.

    

R&E M268, again

R&E M268, just once more

Below are two examples of paintings that were completed with my customized acrylic paints in spray bottles; you may want to click on the photos to enlarge them to better see the spatter--

Made with scissor-customized 6" x 6" masks Sassy Spray and Looking Up Through Trees Small s793

Made with scissor-customized 6" x 6" mask Sassy Spray

The reason I list all multiple approaches to spattering is that with each of them, there's a somewhat different effect. Even when using those little mister bottles of my custom sprays, I can get a variety of effects, depending on how near or far I hold the spray bottle from the substrate.

Note:  I usually put some kind of protective barrier behind the substrate to control the areas that will be hit by the spray.  And I always do a test-spray or two, on scrap paper, before going to the artwork-in-progress.

*Using a surfactant is not an original idea. I got it years ago in an art class.  We were painting fabrics -- something I never plan to do again; but even in a class like that, there are things to be learned.

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