The Birds are Coming!

 

Coming soon at www.StencilGirlProducts.com are two bird-themed 6"X6" stencils that I've designed.  The osprey stencil is the focus of an earlier post, below.  This post focuses on the stencil Heron.

 

In earlier posts, I described creating monoprint-backgrounds, followed by placing the bird stencil atop multi-hued paper (orange to purple, in this case), tracing the outline of the image, cutting out this silhouette (with cuticle scissors or other small scissors to catch all the fine details) and, as a final step, adding the heron shape to the background with matte medium or a good-quality gluestick.

 

The above background looks pretty much like a monoprint ... and in a way, it actually is a monoprint ... but the technique I used was not the same as what I've described in earlier posts below.

 

Citrasolv was used to make this particular background; here is a helpful video:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqUDnY5z8qE&feature=em-subs_digest

 

Be aware that Citrasolv fumes are strong and for this reason it's my advice to do this technique outdoors.  I also advise wearing heavy-duty plastic gloves (not disposable plastic gloves.) Cheap Joe's Art Supplies sells Citrasolv via their online store; it can also be found on the housecleaning shelf at Whole Foods.

 

The Heron stencil, soon to be released at www.StencilGirlProducts.com:

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Art Journal Page Designed with Part of One Border on the 3-Part "Borders 1" stencil, Soon to be Released

In this facsimile of an art journal page, the background paper was created by monoprinting, as detailed in the post below this post.

After this background paint has dried, the next step is to place over it one of the three borders in my soon-to-be-released 9"X12" stencil Borders 1 (www.StencilGirlProducts.com.)  In this particular example, I took the option of using only part of the border -- this border-design includes decorative bars; these decorative bars can either be included -- or, as shown here, the bars can be masked off (on the stencil itself, using masking tape.)  This is just one example of the creative freedom that's part of the fun of art-making with stencils.

The Borders 1 stencil:

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.  These samples of mine, however, were created with normal acrylic paints.  I started using open acrylics when I bought my Gelli Plate.
 

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

Border Stencils are Coming!

More new stencils that I've designed will be coming available at www.StencilGirlProducts.com; below, I've used one of them, Borders 1, to add design elements to this abstract-on-canvas work-in-progress ...

 

Borders 1 is a 9"X12" stencil made up of three separate borders; each border is 11 1/4" long and 2" wide.  Art journaling and the book arts had been on my mind when I had designed my border series (alongside the Borders 1 stencil is a Borders 2 as well as well as a Borders 3, all with the same 3-border-per-stencil format.) 

 

But when -- to my delight -- my stencil-prototypes arrived yesterday, I decided to apply them to some of my works-in-progress:  abstracts on canvas that I am readying for a local solo art show that will last thruout October.

 

In the unfinished piece above, one of the stencil-created borders was used to make the orange vertical pattern in the upper right.  Another border, from the same stencil, was used in creating the dark orange pattern that runs horizontally inward from the far left, less than halfway down the left side.

 

I chose those two patterns because, to my eye, they play nicely with the patterns established earlier, when I used a rubber stamp.  (If you see this post, Mary Ann, you will recognize the stamp!  Marge, I'm sending a bouquet of thank-you's up to you!)

 

The Borders #1 Stencil:

 

 

 

 

Zibbet!

I'm gratefully passing on the news at Zibbet ...

 http://www.zibbet.com/blog/2013.08.19/fantastic-five-abstract-art#comment-12669

... because painting abstracts is my first and biggest love.  It was the idea of incorporating patterns and designs into these "loose" paintings of mine, that led me to begin creating stencils for StencilGirlProducts.com. 

New Stencils on Their Way!

Coming soon to the website

www.StencilGirlProducts.com

are five of my newest stencils:  Steampunk 9" X 12", Trivet 9"X12" and three 6"X6" stencils: Trivet A, Trivet B and Trivet C !  In the order listed, each is shown below; you can click on each image to enlarge it --




Steampunk 9X12

 

Trivet 9X12

And here are Trivets A, B and C --

I've already started to use them and photos will be posted soon!

 

 

New Stencils Coming Soon at StencilGirlProducts.com!

I'm excited at knowing new prototypes are in the mail, making their way here to NJ from StencilGirlProducts headquarters in MO.  Upon their arrival, I will see in the flesh (or more accurately, in the plastic) what some of my newest stencils will look like.  Shortly thereafter, they will appear on the SGP website.  And they will be announced here on my blog.

In the meantime I've played with some Liquitex spray paint and my Gingko stencil ...

http://stencilgirlproducts.com/stencils-6x6/view/677

... to make a greeting card cover.  Before spraying with the acrylic paint, I masked off part of the stencil's overall design using scrap paper and masking tape.  Masking tape also anchored the stencil onto the blank greeting card cover (the card is made from 140-lb. watercolor paper.)  After the paint dried, I used a glue stick to add two strips of textured wallpaper that I had previously used as "catcher paper" for leftover paints (colors that I had mixed while doing my abstract paintings.)

 

Stencil Quartet with the Magic of Photoshop

 

In my August 4 post above, I mention my 6"X6" Gingko stencil, available at StencilGirlProducts.com...

 

http://stencilgirlproducts.com/stencils-6x6/view/677

 

...and today I want to show another way I've used this stencil. 

 

It started with my doing some stencil-and-stain prints (this technique is described in an older post), followed by the afterward-discovery that an interesting, grainy stain (from acrylic paint) had been left on my stencil.

 

I decided to scan the stencil and its stain.  Then I experimented with Photoshop filters (mostly Hue/Saturation) to come up with the above quartet.  They will be printed and used on greeting card covers, or possibly as elements in a large collage.

 

Stencil Girl 2 ...

... is the title of this artwork, finished just today, on Yupo:

I used liquid watercolors and gouache (a thick, opaque form of watercolor).  My first step was the stencil-and-stain technique which I showcased in my March 4 post.  My four 6"X6" stencils were two of my own design -- Kaleid --
http://stencilgirlproducts.com/stencils-6x6/view/705
and Grid
http://stencilgirlproducts.com/stencils-6x6/view/696

-- as well as Wendy Aikin's Intersections --
http://stencilgirlproducts.com/stencils-6x6/view/551

and Wendy's Crazed Stencil --
http://stencilgirlproducts.com/stencils-6x6/view/537

After my stencil-and-stain step had dried, I used masking tape to block out a freestyle but geometric-shaped border, filling in the outer edges with white gouache using a sponge applicator.

To add the two top-layer yellow shapes (small upper right triangle and lower left geometric shape), I used more masking tape and brushed in a yellow-white gouache mix, then stamped both shapes while the paint was still wet, using a homemade rubber stamp.  This stamping step lifted out some of the yellow-white paint, enough so that some of the bottom layer shows through.

This close-up shows the upper right triangle; click on the image to enlarge it.

 After creating the two yellow-white shapes, I added the focal point area (part of which is visible in the two photos below.)  For this I used a sponge-topped applicator, masking tape, Wendy's Intersections stencil and three layers of gouache -- gray-white, purple and white -- allowing dry-time between each layer application.

 

Another Happy Surprise

I had another happy surprise today when I opened the Stencil Girl Talk e-newsletter in my Inbox --

http://www.marycnasser.com/2/post/2013/07/new-work-wednesday-nature.html

Clicking the above link, you can see that artist Mary C. Nasser came up with a very creative way to use my 6"X6" stencil Seaweed, available at StencilGirlProducts ...

http://stencilgirlproducts.com/stencils-6x6/view/716

I speak with total sincerity -- not modesty -- when I say that every time I see one of my StencilGirlProducts stencils used, I'm surprised:  the reason being that, when I look thru the large selection of stencils available on that website, I see work by other designers that has me completely in awe.  I never knew stencils could be so exciting!  Every abstract artist (and many representational artists) should own the whole collection!  I often find in my own work, as I move thru the process, that I suddenly wish I had bought such-and-such stencil as part of my most recent order.  Bottom line:  if I don't have it on hand, I can't use it -- so I need to grab every design that catches my eye, even if I have no immediate idea as to where I will eventually see a need for using it.  And I need to check the SGP website often, because new stencils continually pop up there. 

Making a Rubber Stamp-Type Printing Plate using a Stencil

Mary Ann Russo, an artist in the field of fiber arts, has invented -- and as far as I know, it IS a new invention -- a method for using a stencil to make  a rubber-stamp-style printing plate (similar to a collograph printing plate -- but using synthetic material much like what is used in making rubber stamps.)  Here she has used my 9"X12" stencil Vases ... http://stencilgirlproducts.com/stencils-9x12/view/714
Fiber artists like large stamps, and I have a feeling it's possible to make a stamp/printing plate that's even larger, simply by starting with more than one stencil, side-by-side.  These printing plates are not used like traditional rubber stamps.  They are placed face-up on the work surface, then coated with fabric-coloring ink; and, when fabric is placed over them, pressure is applied evenly across the top side of the fabric.  Mary Ann has used a rubber-like material so sturdy, in creating this tool, that it can be used with endless repetitions.

I've emailed a query to Cloth Paper Scissors to ask whether that magazine is interested in my writing a full-length article, listing supplies and detailing each step of the process (which actually produces two art-making tools, not just the rubber stamp/printing plate.)  It's been a few years since my last publication there, yet I'm happy to say I received another warm reception, this time around.  The only hitch is that Mary Ann can't commit right now to going thru the process of creating another stamp/printing plate, so I can't take step-by-step photos of her process until her schedule opens up again.  I'm hoping someday to take this project forward. 

In the meantime I'm happy to report that another design of mine is now listed, as a brand-new stencil, at the StencilGirlProducts website; it's a 6"X6" version of my already-listed stencil Mimosa...
http://stencilgirlproducts.com/new-stencils/view/926


 

A Marriage of Stencils and Fabric Arts

My friend Mary Ann Russo decorated each of these dishtowels with an applique made from a fabric print, having first created each print by using one of the stencils I've designed, the 9"X12" version of Mimosa --

Find this stencil here...

Mary Ann's method:  She used Speedball Silkscreen Ink For Fabric to make the print, having first attached the stencil to her silkscreen.  She could have opted to use fabric dye, but she has found that if the artist wants a highly defined dark image, fabric paints or silk screen inks do a better job.

 

This is a close-up of the applique; click on the image to enlarge it.

These are the two finished dishtowels -- too pretty to use!  Click the image to enlarge it.
 

 And check out all the other fine stencils at ...

www.StencilGirlProducts.com.

 

Dimensional Stenciling

My latest email from Seth Apter carries news of a new ebook, very attractively priced at $1.99, on the topic of using stencils to create dimensional imagery.  The place to purchase and download it is:

http://www.interweavestore.com/art-lesson-volume-6-dimensional-stenciling
 

My Second EBook Publication...

... is now available for purchase via the following link:

www.awalkintoabstracts6.com

My special thanks to Sue St. John for having invited me to submit artwork for inclusion in both the above Volume 6 as well as her earlier publication, Volume 5:    http://AWalkIntoAbstracts5.com

Sue's ebooks are always a delight to see and to study.  Highly recommended for lovers of nonrepresentational artwork!

Stencil Updates from Here and There

Last week's stencil demo at the Monmouth Festival of the Arts went very well.  My friend Mary Ann co-demonstrated with me, and I was especially delighted with her idea of making a rubber stamp-style printing plate, using the 9"X12" Jugs stencil that I designed for www.StencilGirlProducts.com.  I will be posting photos when they are available.  (Mary Ann had to go straight from our demo to preparing for the Allaire Flea Market, held yesterday.)

Already available for pre-order at www.Amazon.com, Mary Beth Shaw's   book StencilGirl is stuffed with even more ideas.  I've placed my pre-order and look forward to receiving it this fall.

I just ran across a delightful blog --
http://jessicasporn.blogspot.com/2012/12/test-driving-hebrew-calligraphy-stencil.html
-- abrim with even more stencil-using ideas; its author is a fellow designer for StencilGirlProducts.  IMPORTANT NOTE:  The author's name is Jessica Sporn.  Please don't get the idea that her blog title refers to anything other than her name!!!  (Blush.)

Repeating Designs in Abstract Fine Art thru Stencil Use

Above is a close-up of a mixed-media collage I will be bringing to my April 15 demo at Monmouth Festival of the Arts ...

http://monmouthfestivalofthearts.com/festival-information/brochure/

... wherein I will show a number of fine-art applications using stencils from StencilGirlProducts.com.

Like many of the techniques I use, this one that I call "stencil-and-scrape" is not entirely original.  I did discover it by way of happy accident -- but shortly afterward, I saw that someone else had made the same discovery and posted it on the Internet.

After using masking tape to secure a stencil to my substrate, I use more tape to add a sheet of translucent paper over the stencil.  I use deli wrap paper, but tracing paper or many other substitutes will work as well.  With a credit card or an artist's spatula, I then scrape acrylic paint over the paper atop the stencil.  This is simply a "wet" version of making a rubbing, an old technique that I described in a much earlier post.  It is much faster and easier than the traditional dry rubbing method.  When I do it, I'm careful to stroke the loaded scraper in one direction only.  I use several strokes, moving from left to right across the paper atop the stencil.

I remove the translucent paper and set it aside to dry.  After dry-time, I cut it into desired shapes and add it to my mixed-media collages, as shown above:  The far left shows a paper that was scraped over my Kaleid stencil, using a combination of gold and white acrylic paints.

The pink middle section was created with one of my other favorite stencils from StencilGirlProducts.com, using the tried-and-true method of simply sponging on paint thru the stencil's openings.

The aqua right side was created with the addition of a second dried piece of "stencil-and-scrape" paper, this one having been scraped with aqua acrylic paint.

The over-stamp of gold paint on the right side of the photo was a "ghost print" --  elsewhere on the same artwork, I had just used a stencil in the traditional way of applying (gold) paint thru a stencil with a sponge-topped stipple brush.  While the leftover gold paint on the stencil was still moist, I pulled the stencil off the substrate, flipped it over and pressed it to this area, over the aqua collage paper.

This ghost print method is a form of monoprinting, stamping and transfering; I've seen all three labels applied to it.  It keeps paint-waste to a minimum and it serves the purpose of helping create unity in the artwork by repeating a pattern ... doing so without using the exact same image, which could become boring to the viewer's eye.  The flipping over reverses the original image; the fact that the paint is just leftovers creates the "ghost" effect, which further changes the design in a way that is likewise subtle.  I like to make my artwork interesting in every part of the surface -- not equally interesting; I almost always want the focal point to stand out -- but I do want to "entertain the eye everywhere," to borrow a wonderful phrase from some other artist whose name I wish I could remember!

Altho it may not be immediately apparent, the gold ghost print was created using the same stencil (my Kaleid stencil, available at www.StencilGirlProducts.com) as what had been used earlier in creating the "stencil-and-scrape" collage paper on the far left.  The viewer's eye may not immediately grasp this similarity, but the vaguely similar pattern will give the viewer a sense of satisfaction.  The goal of unity in an artwork is, I think, to achieve this satisfaction.

Stencil-Use in Mixed-Media Collage

Above is a close-up of one of the mixed-media collages I will be bringing to show at my April 15 demo at Monmouth Festival of the Arts...

http://monmouthfestivalofthearts.com/festival-information/brochure/

 

... and it shows two uses for art stencils that I will be covering in my demo:   The left side of the photo, as well as the white-and-blue over-print on the right side of the photo, are examples of simply spreading a thick medium thru a stencil that's been secured to the substrate with masking tape.  The medium I chose for this piece was molding paste/modeling paste (one manufacturer uses one name and another uses the other; yet another company calls it "artist's cement.")

 

The upper right area of this photo shows embossed "paper" that I made using one of my favorite stencils from StencilGirlProducts.com.  Please scroll down to my March 6 post to read the technique used to create this embossed "paper." 

Stencils are Fun!

One of my favorite fellow designers at StencilGirlProducts.com, Daniella Woolf, has created a 9"X12" stencil entitled Calligraphy -- which I have used many times.

http://stencilgirlproducts.com/stencils-9x12/view/691

Because I've been too lazy to follow my own advice for cleaning stencils after use with acrylic paints and other acrylic media, I've created a mixed-media patina on the original stencil ... and I like it so much, I've scanned it.  I plan to use it as an overlay or a background in future digital artwork.

And, you know, I'm tempted to cut up this particular stencil -- after ordering a replacement! -- and use it as part of a collage. 

Stencil News

Available now for pre-order at Amazon --

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1440330174/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1440330174&linkCode=as2&tag=thealtpag-20

While waiting to receive that all-stencil book by Mary Beth Shaw -- well worth the wait; to my knowledge, there is no other book out there focusing exclusively on the variety of ways to use stencils -- you may want to check out page 133 in another book, Mixed Media Revolution, by Darlene Olivia McElroy and Sandra Duran Wilson:  Here, in the write-up Embrace Me, find a technique for stenciling a flexible substrate which then can be shaped to fit a vase or any similar 3D object.  In other projects shown in this book, the authors have explored using crackle medium with stencils ... including a brilliant idea for scanning the dried, paint-stained crackle designs, and printing them out for use as collage pieces.  http://www.amazon.com/Mixed-Media-Revolution-Creative-Reusing/dp/1440318719