IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE!

I've now used this new 9"x 12" stencil so many times, in so many different ways, that I have to say it's become a favorite.  One thing I  like about it is that, to my eye at least, it goes with a number of other StencilGirl stencils, including my 9"x 12" Clustered Leaves.

This stencil, It's A Jungle Out There, has met the fate of many of my stencils -- it's been cut to pieces.  But this time, instead of many small pieces, there are now only three big pieces of the stencil that originally looked like this:

And here is one of my works on stretched canvas that uses imprints from these pieces:

Close-ups are below:

I did this piece atop an older artwork that had been layered with crushed tissue paper.  

In all the central areas, I used Golden High Flow acrylics; after they dried, I highlighted some areas with Sakura Solid Markers.

The outer edges, forming a rugged frame around the central areas, were made with a mixture of Golden white gesso and Golden Maganese Blue acrylic paint.  

FERN FRONDS SILHOUETTE MINI and Distress Inkpads with a Gelli Plate

Today's issue of The Scoop newsletter from StencilGirl features photos of a multitude of techniques that work well with stencils, or that work only with stencils.  One of these photos shows a print I made with my Gelli Plate and Distress Inkpads.  

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 carol@stencilgirlproducts.com

Below is my Gelli Plate print shown in this issue of The Scoop ...

This was achieved by using Distress Inkpads -- pressing them, wet side down, onto a Gelli Plate.  I used a different (but hue-related) color for each pulling of a print.  I also moved the stencil slightly with each pull, so that the finished image would be purposely off-register, as shown above. 

Fern Fronds Silhouette is a the stencil I used.  It's a mini, measuring 4" x 4". 

FANTASIA -- Stencil Beauty!

Sometimes, after an art project, I find the stencil so beautiful that I want to keep it just the way it is -- never to use it again for art-making, because I can always buy another one!  That's happened again with my new stencil Fantasia, now coated with orange and purple acrylic paint: 

Unfortunately these two shots don't do the purple area (along the bottom edge) justice.  In real life, they are an attractive counterpart to the orange areas.

Eventually I will cut up this stencil to use its pieces as collage elements.

FANTASIA!

In recent posts, I've shown the progression of an artwork (still unfinished) that I've given the working title of Pink Flower Trail, made with one of my new 9"x 12" stencils, Blooming Where Planted.

I began a second canvas at the same time, using an identical starting point -- which was to get out green and turquoise acrylic paints, pair them another new stencil, Fantasia, and use the stencil-scraping method to create an imprint on the surface of the stretched watercolor canvas.

Once that imprint dried, I applied two more layers of paint, one yellow in the upper right and, in the lower left, a pale tan.  Creating these two color fields, I used the subtractive/reductive technique.  

Next, I repeated the process of applying a white grease pencil thru part of the Fantasia stencil.  Over that, I applied a layer of orange acrylic paint.  And, over those two applications, I added another layer of orange acrylic paint, this time using the entire stencil and placing it so as to dominate the upper left of the painting.  Below are both a distance shot as well as a close-up photo...

After the top layer of paint had dried, I placed the stencil back onto the canvas, this time in the extreme upper left, and spray-painted thru it with olive green acrylic paint; this is shown below, in two close-ups:

As my last step so far, I got out orange's compliment, purple, and used it with part of the Fantasia stencil to make a bold statement  nearly down the center of the artwork...

This painting has now, like the flower-trail one, reached a temporary stopping point.    I await further inspiration!

IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE!

Here is a series of close-ups showing two artworks-in-progress, both on stretched canvas; here, I'm focusing in on areas where I've used one of my three new 9" x 12" stencils, It's a Jungle Out There....

These were created with Golden High Flow acrylics and Golden Fluid Acrylics.

It's a Jungle Out There (9"x 12")looks like this:

And to make the artwork shown here, I've cut the stencil into three pieces.  

Enter Green-Gold!

One of my favorite colors in fluid acrylics, Golden's Green-Gold, was what I chose to use next on the art-in-progress that's been posted here in a continuing series.

Here are some shots, taken at close range as well as farther out:

In the final close-up above, the green-gold area is on the far left.  That layer as well as the pink ones were with my new 9" x 12" stencil Blooming Where Planted.

Some of the imprints were made with the reverse-stencil method and some were made with the subtractive method which also goes by the name of the reductive method .

Now, this canvas has reached a crossroads.  I'm going to set it aside for the time being.  Eventually, I'll be ready to decide what direction needs to be taken next.  

More Layers ...

After analyzing the painting shown in these recent posts, I decided to add a cruciform in bold yellow and to cover the latest Fantasia print with a thin layer of paint that still allows some of the original print show thru.  Below is the art-still-in-progress, with the canvas turned horizontally rather than vertically as it has been shown before.

Clicking on this image to enlarge it, you can better see the lower right area where the Fantasia print has been somewhat obscured by a layer of Titan Buff (mixed with matte medium to keep it from being opaque) ... and over that layer, another reverse-stencil imprint has been added, in pink, using one section of the stencil Blooming Where Planted.

Part of the yellow cruciform has been widened with the use of Fantasia (in the upper right.)

More reverse-stencil imprints have been added to the left half of the painting.

Here are 2 close-ups showing better detail:

My next step was to continue adding reverse-stencil imprints, switching to green-gold acrylic paint.  Here's a close-up of one of those prints:

More photos to follow!

FANTASIA and BLOOMING WHERE PLANTED ... Again

Still working on the canvas that's shown up here daily ...

Today's chapter in this ongoing story brings me to the point shown in the close-up above.

The lower left 2/3 of the artwork-in-progress is a simple repeat of the design that had launched this project (when I'd scraped paint over the stencil Fantasia, using a combination of blue and aqua acrylic.)  That original imprint is barely visible now, most of it buried under the trail of pink flowers made with Blooming Where Planted --

-- and a part of this flowery stencil was used again in the upper left corner, as well as (more faintly) in the lower right corner of the photo.  These two imprints were done with reverse stenciling -- coating the stencil with paint, placing it wet-paint-side down against the substrate, and pressing it to the surface (in the same way that a rubber stamp is used.)

Tomorrow -- the multi-layered saga continues! 

A Trail of Blushing Flowers ...

I decided to cut apart one of my new 9" x 12" stencils, Blooming Where Planted ... then use parts of it to experiment with something I had never yet used -- a white China marker.  

I did this expecting the images made with the China marker to work as a resist, after I had added it to my substrate -- a Fredrix watercolor stretched canvas that appeared in yesterday's post.  In that post, I scraped paint over the top side of this canvas, while pressing another new stencil, Fantasia, to the bottom side of the canvas.  I scraped paint in random directions, ending up with a path that bore Fantasia imprints.

Below is a close-up of this imprinted canvas, with part of the Blooming Where Planted stencil placed over it.  Holding the stencil with one hand, I filled in the flowers using the China marker, shown in the lower left.

I continued doing this across the whole canvas, using flowers of different sizes, all of which had been cut from the same stencil.

My next step was to test that resist theory.  So I covered the surface with a mixture of magenta acrylic paint and liquid matte medium -- expecting the flowers to stay more or less white, while the rest of the surface accepted the new layer of paint.

As you can see, this was not what happened!  After the magenta paint had dried, I experimented with a gentle fingernail scratch, and noticed that there was some resist action, after all, but only scratching would bring that out.  So I decided to leave it as-is.  I liked the solid magenta version better, anyway.

In a later post, I'll show what I did next, working to bring the overall image to the finish line.  

Stencil-Scraping with FANTASIA

With one of my 3 brand-new 9"x 12" stencils, Fantasia, I went back to an old technique that I've shown in earlier posts.

This technique works best with a thin but sturdy substrate that has a smooth surface -- like Lineco tissue and deli paper.  (Note:  Lineco tissue is much stronger than the tissue paper you buy to slip into gift-bags.  Gift-wrap tissue will not work.)


Here, instead of Lineco tissue or deli paper, I used a pre-stretched canvas made by Fredrix especially for watercolor -- it has a very smooth surface, ideal for picking up detailed shapes in stencils with large openings.  (Stencils with small openings will work, too, but not as well.)

The 9" x 12" stencil Fantasia looks like this:

The stencil-and-scrape technique is shown and described here.

FANTASIA!

One of my three brand-new 9" x 12" stencils is Fantasia --
and, since I had not used alcohol inks on Yupo for several years, I decided to go back to it, bringing this stencil along!

Here are the results:

Thanks for visiting!

A Parade of Greeting Cards

Before starting on handmade Christmas cards, I wanted to make a few other greeting cards for any occasion.

To create some of these cards, I used my three 9" x 12" stencils released October 13.  I used an older stencil, Boxed Vines, on one other.

My first two shots below show greeting cards after my stencils were used -- but before top layers were added:

Stencil used above:  Blooming Where Planted

Stencil used above:  Fantasia

Now, these two finished greeting cards:

My any-occasion greeting card line-up continues:

Stencil used above:  Blooming Where Planted

  

Stencil used above:  Boxed Vines

Stencil used above:  It's A Jungle Out There.

Stencil used above:  Blooming Where Planted

Here are these stencils themselves:

Above:  Boxed Vines (9" x 12")

Above:  Blooming Where Planted (9" x 12")

Above:  Fantasia (9" x 12")

Above:  It's a Jungle Out There (9" x 12")

Thanks for visiting!