Full-Sized TREES Stencil Prints & Detailed Close-Ups

Today's post swings back to the theme I started in my November 16 post -- announcing the release of my newest 9" x 12" stencil, a celebration of trees that you can grab here.

Looking Up Through Trees

It's a simple theme -- merely a display of full-size prints on wild-and-crazy backgrounds; and, below each full-sized print, a close-up or two of areas to better show details.  Acrylic paints were what I used in every piece.  Backgrounds were created with a variety of techniques and foregrounds were made with sponge brayers loaded with heavy-body acrylics.

Note:  the two photos directly above show a background that I'd created with my 9" x 12" Winter Berries mask.

It's fun for me to spotlight the amazing differences between prints -- achieved just by introducing the stencil to widely varied backgrounds.

Thank you for taking time to visit my blog today!

To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.  

There, you can pick out your favorite(s) for the upcoming sale!  December 1 - 3 will be here before you know it!  Below, my 6" x 6" mask Penguin Family looks forward to Christmas!

Upcoming Sale on Stencils and Masks!

Made with stained stencil of Looking Up Through Trees (9" x 12") on a pre-made collage background.

Coming soon -- your chance to get my stencils on sale for 25% off!

Discount code to use at checkout:  cheers25.

If you buy 6 stencils of the sale size, StencilGirl’s 10% everyday discount is automatically applied to those stencils.

But the best part is there are FREEBIES to be had!

• $100+ exclusive large stencil made only for this sale
• $300+ a StencilGirl Studio class
• $500+ original piece of art made by StencilGirl Founder, Mary Beth Shaw

Please note: Freebies are calculated after the discounts are applied.

You can take advantage of these colossal stencil savings through 11:59p.m. CST, December 3, 2019.

Yes, my stencils and masks will be on sale December 1 to 3!  Details to be posted here on December 1.

Printed with Longwood Florals, Looking Up Through Trees, Mikki's Flowers and Swatton Flowers Version 1.

Made with Fern Fronds Silhouette Mini (4" x 4")

Made with Dance of the Courting Cranes (6" x 6")

Made with Looking Up Through Trees and Garden Montage (both 9" x 12".)

Follow this blog to keep updated -- My stencils and masks will be on sale, December 1 to 3!  To subscribe to this blog, just check out that option in the upper right sidebar.

To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl masks and stencils -- to pick your favorite(s) for the sale, please start here.

3D Experimenting with My New TREES Stencil

Here you can see my just-released 9" x 12" stencil -- designed to celebrate the glory of creation!  Picture yourself in a forest or park, looking up into the sky, where branches and leaves meet in a canopy of flickering lights.

Looking Up Through Trees

Today, curtains draw open on a photo-sequence showing my adventure in 3-dimensional art with this stencil.

Below, you can see this stencil's already stained green from earlier adventures.  With masking tape, I've secured it to a red background -- a sheet of Yupo that had been previously printed with older stencils.  Across the top, I've used an art spatula to generously deposit a line of heavy gloss gel medium.  Above that line is a partial view of the advertising sheet of plastic that I'll use as a spreading tool.

Below:  With that plastic spreader, I've smoothed a layer of gel downward across the stencil and its pre-painted background Yupo.  

Above, you can see what resulted when I lifted off the stencil. Because I've used gel medium, it appears as a near-white layer, but after drying, it will be transparent because I used gloss gel.  I could have used matte gel, which contains a small amount of ground marble to dim its sheen.  Matte gel also moves toward transparency as it dries, but it never becomes as clear as gloss gel. 

In the upper right corner you can now see the earlier imprint that I'd made using M & Y, one of my 4" x 4" mini-stencils.  That imprint will disappear as I move forward in my art experiment, so I'm just ignoring it.  But for the time being, it's visible in the two close-ups below.  The close-ups show details in the gel once it's dried.  It's clear, so the way to show it is to let it reflect light.

Next, below, you can see my black Sumi ink and a sponge brush.

Above: I've started to spread the ink generously across the 3-dimensional gel, now that the gel has thoroughly dried.

 Below are two close-ups showing the way the black ink pools in textured areas --

Below:  With a rag, I've started to rub ink from some of the higher-level areas.  Altho it appears as if I've already added metallic gold, I haven't yet.  The pale gold area is reflection of light.

Now, I've decided to shift from ink to water-soluble solids.  First, I've rubbed watercolor pencils over the raised areas of the 3-dimensional surface....

Second, I've switched to Caran d'ache watercolor crayon:

Above:  My next step has been to spread a pale metallic gold across the raised areas, using a Shiva stick, as shown both above and below --  

Above, I have started to rub off some of the excess from the waxy Shiva stick.

Below is a close-up shot of the project as it has reached this stage of development.

I haven't finished this project yet, since the full-view shot doesn't please me as much as the detailed area above.  

I may let this piece rest while I move on to other art adventures.  Later when I come back to it with "new eyes," I'll continue my experiments.

Thanks for visiting here today!

To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.

Released Today! LOOKING UP THRU TREES

Have you ever stood in a park or forest and looked up thru trees? -- did you have a "John Muir moment," when the glory of creation brought sweet joy into your heart?

Here, you can grab hold of my brand-new 9" x 12" stencil that I drew to celebrate the feeling that can fill me when I get a chance to take in this view; it looks like this --

Looking Up Through Trees

In the first two art samples here today, I used another StencilGirl 9" x 12" stencil, Figures Praising, designed by Valerie Sjodin (one of my all-time favorite artists, whose work I had followed long before, to my delight, she became a fellow designer at StencilGirl!)

The praising figure in the foreground -- Figures Praising, designed by Valerie Sjodin -- was cut from a print I'd made using my stencil Blooming Where Planted.  You can click on this image to enlarge it and better see detail.

The small hearts added to each of the praising figures were cut out with a hole punch.

Moving on ....

Below:  First, I'll show a few "catch-all sheets" which will eventually become fascinating backgrounds for stencil printing ....

Above are just a few examples of the kinds of papers used in my tree prints shown today. 

These "catch-all" sheets accumulate when I'm working on large projects and need to clean my brush.  I wipe the brush clean across scrap papers, rather than rinse it in water that later goes down the sink.  This approach is a better way to go, in helping protect the environment.  

Now, I'll show a series of full-page prints paired with close-ups showing details of each full-sized 9" x 12" print.  I made this series to demonstrate the wide range of looks that can be achieved when you use this brand-new stencil atop paper previously used as a "catch-all" paper for leftover acrylic paints.

Original full-size 9' x 12" print.

Details in a close-up.

Original full-size 9' x 12" print.

Close-up detail number 1.

Close-up detail number 2.

Original full-size 9' x 12" print.

Details in a close-up.

Grabbing up one of these jazzy-background tree prints, I cropped off the top and used the bottom on a greeting card of "booklet"-size (5 1/2" x 8 1/2") ....

More ways of using this just-released 9" x 12"stencil -- starting with a three-dimensional project -- will be posted soon!

Thanks for visiting here today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.  To follow this blog by email, please use that option in the upper right sidebar.