Mimosa 6 Working in Harmony with Other stencils from STENCILGIRL(TM)Products ...

StencilGirl's blog-hop of the day includes a project by Beth Watson --

http://bwdesignstudio.blogspot.com/2014/08/eileen-hull-inspiration-team-blog-hop.html

-- that uses my 6"X6" stencil Mimosa 6 in a way that I never would have thought to try.  Her results are really nice.  While visiting Beth's blog, be sure to leave a comment because you may win a prize!  And enjoy visiting the other blogs on today's hop.  You'll find the links on Beth's blog.

Pulling Gelli Plate Prints ...



The prints above and below were made with my 9"X12" stencil Mimosa.

The print below was made with its corresponding smaller-sized stencil --

 -- Mimosa 6.

 Anyone unfamiliar with making Gelli Plate prints with stencils, just click on the Gelli Arts badge in the left column above.  Lots of ideas there!

Texture Prints with Stencils -- the Tool Makes Art and Becomes Art

Joan Bess is the person I thank for this technique.  I loved the concept she introduced so much that I decided to take it one step farther....  

Her 2014 post demonstrates using a Gelli Plate to create a textured paper that can be used not only as a printing tool, but also as a final artwork.

Using a squeeze bottle of textured paint and a sheet of paper, Joan opted for a freehand-drawn approach to making this tool.  

I decided to use stencils rather than a freehand approach, in my very first step.

First, I used masking tape to secure my 9"X 12" stencil Mimosa to a sheet of previously-painted-red newsprint. Then I began to outline the design with a watercolor pencil --



Above shows the stencil in full.

The above close-up shows the blue outlines as they are being drawn around each part of the design, by tracing the open edges of the stencil.

Above: The stencil has been removed; the watercolor pencil lines remain.

Above:  The outlining with textured paint has begun.  It's just a matter of following the lines drawn with watercolor pencil.  I felt no need to be exactly faithful to each of those original lines.

Above:  The textured outlines have been completed; now comes an important step --

--waiting for that textured paint to fully dry.  

Don't start printing with your Gelli Plate till you can raise your right hand and affirm on a Bible that the texture paint is DRY. 

Once I started printing with my Gelli Plate -- I used the 12" X 14" plate since my large Mimosa stencil measures 9"X 12" -- the process was quick and easy.  With a brayer, I spread acrylic paint over the plate, then pressed the textured paper face-down onto the wet paint.  When I pulled the paper up, it had collected some of the paint; it had also left an imprint on the Gelli plate.

I repeated this process several times with new layers of paint, continuing until I had pulled a number of prints. 

Having previously used the Gelli Plate with the Mimosa stencil itself -- not an outlined version created from the stencil -- I could immediately see that the two approaches had radically different results.

I'm pleased with the results I've achieved both the original way -- using the stencil itself -- and this new way, with the textured paint.

Some of the "new-way" prints are shown below.

Above is one of the original new-way prints.

Above:  This version started with the original green print.  After scanning the original into Photoshop, I altered its color blends.  Now, it will be printed out for use in an art journal alongside the original green print.

Likewise, the above pail blue print is the original pull.


And likewise, the purple version below was color-altered in Photoshop from a scan of the original pale blue print.

To show a comparison with the "old-way" Gelli Plate prints, created by using the stencil itself instead of a texture-outlined version, I'll include the images below --

For anyone puzzled by my term "the old way," I'm talking about brayering the Gelli Plate print with acrylic paint, then placing an original stencil onto the plate.  The stencil is then lifted, leaving its imprint on the plate.  Next, a sheet of paper is pressed onto the plate, and pulled.  The above two images were achieved this way.  Variety is the spice of life!

Last but not least, here is the paper I had treated with texture paint.  This is how it appears now that it has been used multiple times with the Gelli Plate.  It was a tool, but now it's artwork :

My 9"X 12" stencil Mimosa is available at www.StencilGirlProducts.com.
So is my 6"X 6" Mimosa, which fits either of the two smaller Gelli Plates.

Still Scraping Paint ...

I still find myself using leftover acrylic paint, before it dries, to scrape across paper that has stencils underneath.  Below is my work surface covered with (upper left) Borders #2 and (upper right) Trivet A 9 and (lower left) two of my 6"X6" Kaleid stencils.

Below is a sheet of glossy paper taped over these stencils; I have used a credit card to scrape leftover paint across it, picking up the patterns of the stencils underneath.

 

 Below is a close-up:

 

 Below are two more examples created with other batches of leftover acrylic paints. 

Above:  this example was created with my Kaleid stencil (lower half) and my 6"X6" Mimosa stencil (upper half.) 

Below are three close-ups of papers that were paint-scraped as a first step.  After the paint dried, I re-positioned the papers over the same stencils and made new imprints, this time using Art Bar crayons. 

 

Using crayons is the original way to make imprints called rubbings.  I like doing one set of rubbings over another set, and using paint for the first layer makes this easy.  This layering results in a more complex/interesting look in the finished product. 

"Mimosa" in Miniature Available Only at STENCILGIRL(TM)Products...

Above:  my 6"X^" stencil Mimosa

This stencil is available here and only here:

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

Awhile ago I bought some 6"X6" blank greeting cards made from cardstock in an assortment of bright colors, including a pink so vivid it throbbed before the eyes.  My idea was to use them with my 6"X6" stencils.  Because this pink was nearly bright enough to cause physical pain, I decided to use a sponge brayer to tone it down with a coat of water-thinned light blue acrylic paint.  The sponge roller left a bubbly-looking surface that I liked. 

I placed my 6"X6" Mimosa stencil over this paint once it had dried, then pounced a cosmetic sponge across the stencil, loaded with light purple acrylic paint which I had thinned with matte gel.

Above:  The greeting card after I had applied a half-border of silver rose stickers.

New Artwork created with a STENCILGIRL(TM) Products' stencil...

Above is the 6"X6" version of my stencil design Mimosa.

The background on this greeting card cover was created with my 6"X6" Mimosa stencil using spray paint.  Collaged over it were leftovers from my days of creating digital clipart, along with a drape of real lace.

This stencil is available here:

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