All that gleams ...

... may not be gold, but it could be pearl ... or pearlescent paper.

 













You may not be able to appreciate the glowing beauty resulting from this simple technique, till you try it yourself -- no photo, scan or video can  capture it as well as seeing it in person.  The gleam of this painted paper shows thru the translucent alcohol inks, and the inks themselves form mottled patterns.  The combination of the two is a treat for the eyes!

Supplies:  watercolor paper or other sturdy, smooth paper; Ranger alcohol inks; Ranger alcohol ink applicator; brush or brayer; pearlescent paint; masking tape; stencils

First step:  Use a substrate of hot-press (smooth to touch) 140-lb. watercolor paper.  Lacking that, you could try using heavyweight cardstock.

Brush or brayer on a layer of white pearlescent acrylic paint. I used Golden's but other brands are available.  Make sure the whole surface is evenly coated; this may require 2 coats, with dry-time between.

Click on the above image to enlarge it.

The gleam is more visible in the photo below...

After this dries, hold, or secure with making tape, stencils onto the substrate.  Then add just a few drops of alcohol inks to the ink applicator and do several test-prints on scratch paper to take out any excess of alcohol ink.  It's far better to have too little alcohol ink on the applicator, than to have too much, since the runny nature of this ink makes it tricky to use with stencils.  Ink wants to run under the edges of the stencil-cuts to create blurry images.  Use a light touch when daubing the inks thru the stencil openings.


Above:  my 6"X6" stencil Heron.

Above:  my 6"X6" stencil Osprey Wings.

Above:  my brand new 9"X12" stencil Boxed Vines.

Below:  After the inks have been applied and the stencils have been lifted:

My first attempt at this resulted in "run-under" blurs like this:




 

 
But with a little practice, I learned the right amount of ink to use (very little)  -- and I learned two ways of dealing with run-unders.

(1.) They can be camouflaged:

Above:  I sprayed acrylic inks over the entire print to camouflage the run-under areas. 

Another example:

 

Above:  This print made from the stencil Osprey Wings had under-runs along the edges.

Above:  This is the same image after I sprayed it with acrylic inks.

Above:  the Pat Dews mouth atomizer and acrylic inks that I use with it to create sprays.  Another option would be to use Color Bloom Sprays or Ranger's Color Wash sprays.

 

(2.)  Run-unders can also be painted out:

Above:  my 6"X6" Gingko stencil was used to make this greeting card cover; I had two areas of run-under, which I later touched up with a small paintbrush dipped into the pearlescent paint.

 

More examples showing alcohol inks on pearlescent paper:

 

Above:  my 6"X6" stencil Ferns was used to create this greeting card cover.

Above:  my 6"X6" stencil Flowers Version 1 was used to create this greeting card cover.

 

 

Above:  My 9"X12" stencil Ivy Frame was used to create this greeting card cover.

All the above stencils, and many more, are available here at STENCILGIRL(TM)Products:

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/category-s/1832.htm

 

3 New Stencils Just Released at STENCILGIRL(TM)Products!

The newcomer Boxed Vines measures 9"X12" and is derived from an old design I created for my own amusement long ago.

This design started when a friend gave me several stacks of paint chip samples -- the kind that come in long strips, each roughly the size of a large bookmark.  While watching TV, I idly began to use my fine-detail scissors to freehand-cut these long strips of glossy cardstock into vine-and-leaf patterns.  One thing leads to another; after cutting out several of them, I decided to scan them and incorporate them into a design.  All of this happened several years ago, before the happy day a little over a year ago when I came onboard as one of the designers with STENCILGIRL(TM)Products.  It delighted me to convert this favorite design into a stencil.  I've been using it madly, with my Gelli Plate and with dabber-applied acrylic paints, and will post 2 examples here:



Above:  This artwork was created on gallery-wrap canvas where some other STENCILGIRL(TM)Products stencils helped form the background.*  The individual blue vines are freehand-cut from those strips of paint sample colors.

Above:  a close-up detail of the canvas.

My other pair of brand-new stencils continue my Asian series, which started with my 9"X12" stencil Two Fans, shown below:

Above:  my 6"X6" stencil Bonsai.  Brand new!

Above:  my 6"X6" stencil Bamboo.  Brand new!

 

These three newcomers are available here --
http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/stencils-s/1846.htm

Below are some other artwork samples created with these two new additions to my Asian line; each of them is a 6"X6" greeting card:

Above:  Two shades of green acrylic ink were used, with a cosmetic sponge.  After that paint dried, I added a gold "garland" and a silver Christmas tree ball with glitter glue.

Above:  I used a tri-color dye inkpad (meant for rubber stamping) by inverting the pad and rubbing it over the stencil.  This method works IF you first place the cardstock-substrate on a mouse pad.  It will not work if you are working on a solid, hard surface. 

Above:  I used the same technique with a different stamp pad, with a watercolor-like finished product.

Above:  a "non-Christmas" version of the same type of greeting card as shown above.

Above:  This greeting card cover was created with a Gelli Plate print as its first step, followed by blending chalks and a fine-tip marker.

Above:  This greeting card cover was created with Titanium White acrylic paint applied thru the stencil with a cosmetic sponge.  Later, I added gold and red highlights with glitter glue.

All of my stencils, including these three brand-new ones, can be seen on my web-pages here:
http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/category-s/1832.htm

* Other stencils used in this wall art include:

Twist Lattice by Lizzie Mayne

my Borders 2 stencil

Web by Mary Beth Shaw

Map by Mary C. Nasser


 

Did I Go Overboard?

Some of us -- you know who you are -- are thinking about Whitman's Samplers at this time of year, since they (and all their rich, high-calorie friends) will be staring you in the face every time you step into a grocery store.  Well, this is the inspiration for MY title STENCILGIRL(TM) Sampler, which I gave to this new artwork on canvas --

Okay, so maybe I got a little carried away ... but it was fun.  The bottom layer is molding paste and the top layers are acrylic paints.   In no particular order, these are the stencils I used:

Use Your Words by Carolyn Dube --

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/Use-Your-Words-Stencil-p/l207.htm

Trivet B stencil by yours truly --

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/s167.htm

Optical Large by Michelle Ward--

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/l040.htm

Blockout Overlap by Mary Beth Shaw --

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/l073.htm

my two Mimosa stencils (9"X12" and 6"X6")--

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/l141.htm

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/s126.htm

and a soon-to-be-released 9"X12" stencil that I titled Boxed Vines ...
just keep checking www.StencilGirlProducts.com.