A couple of 5 x 7 canvases that I'd painted with Golden's Fluid Acrylic Paints (photo on the right) have been on my desk for a while. I'd had an idea in mind but then I saw someone, I think it was Lin at Yours Artfully or Claudine Hellmuth, who stamped on tissue paper, then used gel medium to adhere the stamped piece to a canvas. Brilliant! So I inked my Donna Downey stamp with Ranger Archival ink, heat set it, then painted (carefully) with Golden's Fluid Acrylic Paint (photo on the left).
The left photo below shows the tissue paper adhered to the canvas. Notice that you can see the tissue edges.The photo on the right has some "interest" already added, which helps to cover the tissue.
Having two canvases, I wanted to use different mediums on each, after the initial layer of paint. On the first I sprayed a little of Distress Reinker spray in Broken China and Wild Honey (those streaks on the canvas above right). See the little mister bottles? Add one dropper full of Distress Reinker, then fill almost to the top. Mix & spray. A little scoop of Perfect Pearls is a nice addition also. On the first canvas, I wanted to use PanPastels. Diarylide Yellow toned down the Tissue Tape. Tapping a little Permanent Red through a stencil, dabbing on Turquoise in the bottom right corner (left photo below) completed the first layer of color. Then I thought it would be fun to add a couple of smaller flowers (below left). I was wrong! Notice the picture on the right below - more gesso on the top left to tone down the tape & on the bottom right to cover the flower. I love gesso!
A little more PanPastel was added to tone down the whiteness of the gesso. I had a new stamp set from Wendy Vecchi's Stampers Anonymous collection that needed to get inky. The "stamping on tissue paper" technique worked well with the saying, and it was perfect for the project. Apply a little gel medium (Golden's Reg. Gel Matte) to the canvas, lay the quote on, and add a little more pastel to blend into surface. "Make Art" was stamped directly onto the canvas using Ranger's Archival Jet Black ink. Although it was about the process, I enjoy the end result :-)
On the second canvas I wanted to use Faber Castell Gelatos. First things first, however. And that would be layers and texture. A variety of tissue tape and random stamping accomplished the goal (left below). Then some messy gessy (right below). I love how gelatos move on gesso, much easier to smooth them (with my finger, cause I like messy hands!).
Scribble the gelato directly on to the canvas, smear. A wet finger or a spritz of water can also help the process. Experiment to see what you like. Green and violet were layered across the top; a little orange and red color the bottom left with a little green traipsing down toward the right corner (left photo below). But it needed more something... I know, gesso! Another layer of random gesso, applied with a palette knife, blends the colors a bit. Scraping it across the flowers brings more life to them also (right photo below).
I don't have a photo but ... I watered down some green gelato that was smeared onto my craft mat. Used quite a bit of water to dissolve the crayon, then dripped it with a paint brush down the top left to bring back the green background (left photo below). And then I found another fun technique. I love image transfer and I really love this. I really enjoy Michelle Ward's work. And she had a fabulous blog, Green Pepper Press Street Team - so much inspiration! She is one reason I picked up a paint brush and began to play. Speaking of play, "Playing" was typed in Word, flip, printed on the laser printer and transfered to the canvas using Gel Medium. I love how it turned out! The additional words were printed, trimmed and adhered with Gel Medium. I like that almost as much as I like gesso! Smudge on some gelato, rub until it's messy. The piece was still a little bland so I added Gel-dot-os. Okay, so I just made that up :-) I did use gelatos, pressing the crayon straight down to create a dotty pattern (left photo below). And then just a close up of all the "noise".
Wow, if you stayed with me this whole time, I'm impressed! I encourage you to go play. Grab some gesso, gel medium, paint and other arty goodies. Make something. It may make you smile too!
Debbie
