Modeling Paste + Titanium White Acrylic Paint + Spray Paint + Stencils = Fun!

STENCILGIRL(TM)Products stencils used in step one below:  6"X6" Grid, 6"X6" Links, and 9"X12" Borders 2.


Above:  Stencils have been secured to background papers with masking tape.



I use the Pat Dews atomizer, purchased from Cheap Joe's Art Supplies online.  I clean the atomizer thoroughly after each use.



Above and Below:  I have been sprayed the stencils with a mouth atomizer and acrylic inks. 
 



To the left:  I've cut out two 6"X6" backgrounds from the spray-and-stencil prints.

Below: With masking tape, my Cats stencil has been secured to one of these two background papers, and, with an artist's spatula, I've mixed equal parts Titanium white acrylic (heavy body) paint with light modeling paste.

Above:  I've spread the paint-paste mix thru the stencil, lifted off the stencil, and placed it immediately into a basin of soak-water.  I will clean the stencil later with paper towels.

Below are similar artworks created with the same mix of modeling paste and heavy body paint (Titanium White); the first two were created with my 9"X12" stencil Borders 2 --

This is a close-up detail of one border created from my 3-border stencil Borders 1,  which measures 9"X12".  After the paste-paint mixture had dried, I brushed on orange-yellow blending chalk.

After creating this border with my "9"X12" stencil Borders 2,  I applied yellow-orange oil pastel crayon, once the  paste-paint mixture had dried.

The two substrates shown above began as white cardstock; I then embellished them with  monoprints of mauve acrylic paint, which created the wavy backgrounds.

Below:  final versions, as greeting card covers:


This cat, made with my 6"X6" stencil Cats, was painted with glitter glue, after the paste-paint mixture had dried.  My substrate had been previously embellished with spray paint thru my 6"X6" stencil Links.

This osprey, made with my 6"X6" stencil Osprey Wings, was created with the same paste-paint mixture.  After that dried, I used oil pastel crayon to outline the figure.  The substrate had been prepared earlier, with spray paint thru my 6"X6" stencil Grid.  

The Cats stencil (6"X6") is found here:

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/Cats-Stencil-Cecilia-Swatton-p/s183.htm

Borders 1 stencil (9"X12") is found here:

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/l220.htm

Borders 2 stencil (9"X12") is found here:

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/l221.htm

Osprey Wings (6"X6") is here:

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/s176.htm

Grid (6"X6") is here:

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/s077.htm

Links (6"X6") is here:

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/s079.htm

Note:  Whenever you see a blue stencil being used, this is a prototype which is sent to designers at STENCILGIRL(TM)Products.  Stencils that you purchase are made from a heavier and sturdier acetate which is translucent white.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Good News --

-- well, okay, it can't rival the news wrapped in the gift of Christmas, but it's a joy for me to announce the release of three new stencils of my design at STENCILGIRL(TM) Products:

Wrought Iron Gate--

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/l224.htm

Feathers 9--

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/l228.htm

Feathers 6--

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/s178.htm

And, while you're on the STENCILGIRL(TM) website, check out the new stencils by Lizzie Mayne!  After I pulled my envious eyes back into their sockets, I placed these stencils at the top of my wish list!

Below is Wrought Iron Gate stencil, which measures 9"X12"--



Above is a faint print that I created with this brand-new stencil.  Here, I used the stencil to enliven the background in a much larger painting.  I layered Wrought Iron Gate over an orange print from one of the 3 borders on my Borders 1 stencil --

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/l220.htm

-- and you'll be seeing more examples of my Wrought Iron Gate stencil in days to come.

Above is a "re-run" image, showing a water-and-ink marbled print created with my Feathers 6 stencil (measuring 6"X6".)  See my 11-27 post -- which appears below this post -- for the quick-and-easy steps taken to make these marbled prints.

I plan to use these two brand-new Feathers stencils in composite artworks that will include the use of my bird series of stencils:

Heron --

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/s175.htm

-- and Osprey Wings --

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/s176.htm

 

Re-Run Season Already?

Now that this STENCILGIRL(TM) stencil is available online, I'm re-running an older post ... with a little editing to update it:

One of my new 6"X6" stencils features a pair of soaring osprey (fish hawks) and bears the title Osprey Wings:

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/s176.htm

 This particular design happens to be one I developed a long time ago, after taking photos at Sandy Hook National Park, NJ, a long peninsula jutting up between a wide double-bay and the Atlantic, with the NYC skyline as background.

The above image, which features one of the two osprey silhouettes on this new stencil, was created long ago in Photoshop.  But I could have created the exact same results using this new stencil -- I simply would have placed the Osprey Wings stencil atop yellow-to-purple paper, traced the outline, cut out the silhouette, and adhered it to a piece of background paper.  Or I could have created the osprey via the alternate (and slower) method described in my recent post that showed the heron image on a Citrasolv-monoprinted background paper.

This background paper started life as a sheet of black glossy cardstock.  I then pressed it, glossy-side-down, to a sheet of Plexiglas* randomly spread with aqua and blue acrylic paints.  I twisted the sheet of cardstock a few times before lifting it off the Plexiglas and setting it aside to dry.  This method of monoprinting often yields results that remind me of seawater.  This particular piece of paper made me think of soaring over ocean waves, looking down ... so it was natural to add the osprey gliding along below the artist's hypothetical viewpoint, watching for a fish.

*Another option would have been to use a Gelli Plate, which would have worked equally well or better.

One More Artwork from my Brand-New 6"X6" stencil "Osprey Wings"

The above is a Gelli Plate print, using my Osprey Wings stencil and a twig of pressed and dried evergreen.  (It was supposed to come out looking like a bird flying toward a distant tree.  Not sure that worked the way I had hoped!)  If you click on the above image you can see that the background paper (Asian newsprint) was first printed with a dollar-store plastic lace placemat used as a stamp.  This stencil is available here:

 http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/s176.htm

Still More Artwork using my Brand-New STENCILGIRL(TM) Stencils ...

Above is an example of a monoprint on glossy cardstock, first allowed to dry, then used as a background to be imprinted with a design from a stencil -- here, my brand-new 6"X6" stencil Osprey Wings.

Above is another final-result example of the same stencil being having been used, this time as a resist during the process of marbling with Boku-Undo inks.  This process was detailed in an older post.  Note:  Yellow shades, on white background, yield a subtle-looking final product, since there is little contrast between white and yellow.

Above is another subtle piece, created with the use of my brand-new 6"X6" Heron stencil, molding paste, monoprinting and ink marbling.  This process was described at length in an older post.

Here again is the link for purchase of these two stencils:

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

 

More about My 4 Brand-New Stencils Now Available at StencilGirlProducts.com



Above, repeating my last post, is the brand-new 9"X12" Swatton Borders #1 Stencil.

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/l220.htm



Above is a sideways view of the brand-new 9"X12" Swatton Borders #2 Stencil -- shown horizontally to perhaps better display the middle border of keys.  The bottom border -- or far-right border, when this stencil is seen vertically -- is a Steampunk-ish design.

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/l221.htm

Above is the brand-new 6"X6" stencil Osprey Wings.

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/s176.htm

Above is the brand-new 6"X6" stencil Heron.

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/s175.htm

These brand-new stencils are available via the individual links above, or the link below can be used to reach all 4 on one webpage:

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

And now for some artwork examples:

Above is a sheet of glossy cardstock that I monoprinted with pastel acrylic paints; then, after dry-time, I imprinted it with orange acrylic paint, using part of the third border in the 9"X12" Swatton Borders #1 Stencil .  I chose to mask off the boxed part of this border, using Frogtape, a temporary-hold painter's tape.  Sometimes I mistakenly call it Green Frog because it's green and because at times my brain seems no bigger than a frog's!  My apologies to the tape's manufacturer, ShurTech!

http://frogtape.com/  (I don't receive compensation for this plug, but I feel guilty for having mis-labeled their product, probably multiple times!)

The above close-up of an abstract artwork of mine shows my use of 2 of the 3 borders included in the brand-new 9"X12" Swatton Borders #2 Stencil.  Note that the Steampunk-ish border is used multiple times on the left side of this image.  Dry-time was allowed between applications of acrylic paint in assorted colors.

Above is another monoprint -- this one, achieved using Citrasolv on a page from a National Geographic magazine -- later imprinted with my brand-new 6"X6" stencil Heron.  Note that I manually filled in the area of the design where the heron's legs meet its body.  For me, the easiest way to do this is to use a small pointed paintbrush and the same shade of acrylic paint that was used thru the stencil to imprint the heron.  This manual addition was tricky since I had opted to blend the heron's color from orange to muted purple.  That color-merge was done by using two different sponge brayers, one loaded with orange paint and the other loaded with muted purple.  Orange was applied first. Then I came in with the muted purple and rolled the brayer lightly over the area where the orange merges into the purple.

 

Now Available at StencilGirlProducts(TM) -- 4 Brand-New Designs!

Announcing the arrival of --

Swatton Borders #1 Stencil --

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/l220.htm

-- and Swatton Borders #2 Stencil --

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/l221.htm

-- and Heron Stencil --

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/s175.htm

-- and Osprey Wings Stencil --

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/s176.htm

-- and I will soon post more examples of artwork using these brand-new stencils.  In older posts, I have already shown examples of art featuring Heron and Osprey Wings.  Another artwork using Osprey Wings is coming up ...

Float Stencils on Marbling Inks! Spoiler Alert!

I was experimenting with color combinations ... these are not my favorites, but I love how the stencil created its design.

http://www.interweavestore.com/marbled-fabric-surface-design-dvd , which I learned about from my friend Mary Ann Russo, goes into depth on the topic of floating stencils on the surface of marbling liquid to create a combination stencil-and-marbled look on pieces of fabric. 

I'm not into fabric arts, but I tried this idea on printing papers -- the type of paper recommended in this short online video --

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J410yQ7PI1E   Please do watch this short video, for complete directions.  I haven't included every detailed step in the photo captions below, but it all comes together once you see the video.

That recommended paper, copperplate paper, is a type of printmaking paper which can be found here, but is also available elsewhere:

http://www.dickblick.com/products/copperplate-paper/

And the marbling inks, Boku-Undo, can be found here:

http://www.dickblick.com/products/aitoh-boku-undo-suminagashi-marbling-kit/

The reason I went with this particular process and these particular materials was that I knew they would work well with my stencils, without creating a need to clean the stencils afterward.  (Yes, I'm lazy!)  There are many methods for marbling paper and fabric, with a
corresponding wide variety of liquids required for each marbling method.

This particular method uses plain water as the liquid upon which the marbling inks float.  That makes for quick preparation and quick clean-up -- leaving more time for having fun!

Spoiler alert:  Except for Maria McGuire's beautiful 6"X6" Stitch a Doily stencil-- http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/s169.htm

Maria's doily stencil created this design.

-- and my 6"X6" stencil Kaleid --
 http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/s085.htm
-- all of the other designs shown in this post are COMING SOON at www.StencilGirlProducts.com -- they can't be purchased yet, but they are on their way.  In one photo below, you will see the blue prototype for a new 6"X6" stencil of mine, Feathers -- but when the stencils come available, the real-deal stencil will be the usual translucent white.  (Feathers will have a "big brother" measuring 9"X12" featuring a different feather collection and design.)

Step 1 -- in the background you see the palate and brushes; in the foreground, the feather-designed prototype-stencil and basin of water.  The stains on the bottom of the basin are from acrylic paints used in a previous, different project.  The floating inks are not very visible in the above shot. 

Here in this close-up of a fresh water batch, the floating inks are more evident.  These trails of ink have been added by brush tips dipped in the inks, both pictured in the Step 1 photo.  The Blick video cited above shows how to add the inks to the water.  For me, this adding of the inks to the water is Step 2.
 Step 3, shown below, is to GENTLY float a stencil on the surface of the water, after the inks have been added.

 

Step 3 --This shot, taken at another time, shows Maria McGuire's doily stencil floating on the water in the basin.




Step 4:  Place the paper gently across the surface of the water, sandwiching the stencil between the paper ad the water's surface.  In the above shot, you see the paper from its bottom while its "face" is downward, resting on the floating stencil and the water under the stencil.  If you look closely in the upper left corner, you will see the imprint of the stencil.  This will show up clearly on the other side of the paper, when it is lifted from the water.  It will look like the photo at the start of this post, since here the 6"X6" Feathers stencil is being used.

Above is a close-up detail of a marbling print from my coming-soon 9"X12" stencil Two Fans.

Above is a marbled print using my 6"X6" stencil Kaleid.

Above is a marbled print using my coming-soon 6"x6" stencil Osprey Wings.

Above is a close-up of one of the osprey wings.  Click on any of the above images to enlarge them.

3 CAUTIONS:  (1) This particular method works best if you choose stencils designed with large openings, as opposed to stencils with finely detailed designs.  (2) It works best to use fresh, dry stencils for each and every dip.  Wet stencils don't float as well on the surface of the water.  So have a lot of stencils at hand! (3) As soon as the paper gets saturated -- a matter of seconds -- immediately lift it from the surface of the water.  Long soaks are not needed, and they tend to disrupt the stencil design.

Coming soon:  Another idea -- also from my friend Mary Ann Russo -- using marbling inks with stencils.  It's going to create a completely different-looking finished piece of art.  And it will be fun!


 

Osprey Wings

Coming to www.StencilGirlProducts.com:  One of my newly designed stencils, measuring 6"X6", features a pair of soaring osprey (fish hawks) and goes by the title of Osprey Wings.

This particular design happens to be one I developed a long time ago, after taking photos at Sandy Hook National Park, NJ, a long peninsula jutting up between a wide double-bay and the Atlantic, with the NYC skyline as background.

The above image, which features one of the two osprey silhouettes on this new 6"6" stencil, was created long ago in Photoshop.  But I could have created the exact same results using this new stencil -- I simply would have placed the Osprey Wings stencil atop yellow-to-purple paper, traced the outline, cut out the silhouette, and adhered it to a piece of background paper. 

This particular background paper started life as a sheet of black glossy cardstock.  I then pressed it, glossy black side down, to a sheet of Plexiglas randomly spread with aqua and blue acrylic paints.  I twisted the sheet of cardstock a few times before lifting it off the Plexiglas and setting it aside to dry.  This method of monoprinting often yields results that remind me of seawater.  This particular piece of paper made me think of soaring over ocean waves, looking down ... so it was natural to add the osprey gliding along below the artist's hypothetical viewpoint, watching for a fish.

Below --

 

-- is another image created the same way:  The background is a monoprint.  After the monoprint paint has dried, the next step is to place the 6"X6" soon-to-be-released stencil Osprey Wings atop the background, and use a dark contrasting color (via spray paint or paint dauber) to add the osprey.  In the above example, the stencil would be used twice, in two chosen locations, to space the pair of birds farther apart than they appear on the stencil itself.

The 6"X6" stencil Osprey Wings:

 

To watch a video of monoprinting using a sheet of glass or Plexiglas, go to:  http://www.goldenpaints.com/technicaldata/monoprnt.php

Note that the speaker on this video says you have the option of using "open acrylic" paints to prolong the printing time and to facilitate easier lifting of the finished monoprint.  I agree this is a good idea for beginners.  My samples shown here, however, were created with normal acrylic paints.  After these projects were completed, I bought a Gelli Plate and began using it for my monoprints; this technique is shown in action by Mary Beth Shaw in one of her two new DVDs:
 http://www.northlightshop.com/stencil-girl-mixed-media-wall-hanging-group