Tuesday, June 20, 2017

"Underwater" Stencil Layering with Debi Adams


Hi everyone!  I'm Debi Adams and I am a newbie to the StencilGirl Design Team but I am hardly new to the art field. (I refuse to be called "old" so let's just say I am "well-seasoned".) 

Anyway, I love everything about art but the clean up. So let's focus on doing the fun, messy work right now. I created this underwater piece titled "Anticipation" using a variety of stencils and art supplies.


I think my favorite part of doing art is in the discovery. With this particular project, I had no idea of where I was going. I just started creating. Here is a picture of all the "color" products I used but please don't be limited by what I selected. Not shown are clear Nuvo drops, foam dots, watercolor/mixed media paper, a white pen, and a brayer (optional for creating second project.)


To begin, I painted my 140 lb. watercolor/mixed media paper with black gesso and let it dry.



Then using the Clustered Leaves stencil and a sponge, I applied a variety of aqua, green and white acrylic paint on top of the stencil.


Here is what the project looked like after the application.


Now I have to interrupt right here to show you something I discovered. I found that the paint that was stuck to the stencil was still wet and so I decided to apply the negative image of the stencil to another piece of gesso paper using a brayer to see what would happen. (I added a few colors to the Leaves, as you will see further down in this post.) I ended up loving the result! Pretty cool, huh? No waste.  


Now back to our project.  Though I loved the Leaves the way they were, I really felt they needed some color.  Since I had just gotten the new Jane Davenport watercolor pens, I thought I would try them out on this piece.  They are rather bright, which I love, but I wanted to tone them down so I used a watercolor brush after I had brushed the watercolor pen onto the Leaves. I only put colors here and there.  


Adding  some of the metallic paint to the very edges of the Leaves gave it some interest. 
Because one stencil is not nearly enough, I went on top of the Leaves with the Crackle stencil using white paint and then added a tiny detail or two using Seth Apter's Numbers stencil.  




I applied aqua and white paint to the Urban Insiders Circle  onto a separate piece of black gesso watercolor paper and repeated the paint process above. When dry, I cut out the shapes. 


Circles of black thread were attached to the page.  The Urban Insiders Circle pieces were then adhered to the substrate using foam dots. Adding Nuvo drops to the page gave it the appearance of water.  Finally, small markings with a white pen and a hand-typed sentiment  completed the page.  


So there you have it.  Don't know how I got to this point but I sure did love the journey.  Hope you learned a thing or two in the process.

Thank you so much for joining me at StencilGirl.  To see more of my work you can go to my blog here or see my gallery on instagram at debi_adams.

XO,

Debi








22 comments:

  1. Debi Adams, thank you for having chosen, alongside stencils by Seth Apter and Nathalie Kalbach, my stencil Clustered Leaves -- I love what you did with it!  May I have your permission to re-post these photos on my blog?  Giving you full credit, of course.  If you would like to first check out my blog, this is it -- http://heartworkbycecilia.blogspot.com

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    1. Oh I am so honored and yes you may repost these pics. I will go see your blog but you already have my approval. Thank you for your wonderful die!

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    2. Thank YOU, Debi! I will include a link to your blog. (I don't do Instagram so I don't know how to include a link for that.) I will tentatively schedule yours to go live at the end of August. Sometimes I have to change dates (when I have a new stencil release or something along those lines.) There is an option to follow my blog, by email, if you're interested. It should appear in the upper right in the sidebar. Thanks again!

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  2. Beautiful, Debi......just beautiful!!!

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    1. Carole, thanks so much for leaving your kind comment :). Happy you liked it.

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  3. Beautiful works Debi ❤️❤️❤️

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    1. Thanks Sherry. I have a lot to learn but with great mentors like you, I am on the road to "coloring outside the lines".

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  4. Stunning work. The color choices, layering and mark making really elevate this. Thanks for including my stencils as well.

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    1. Thanks Seth. Always a great creativity road when using your stencils. Pretty much a staple these days. Thankful to have them.

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  5. Debi, this is completely adorable. I wish my brain was this productive when I have no idea where I am going!! LOL

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    1. Have you gone to the MBS studios lately? Hmmm, that gallery, yea, it's pretty amazing! Wish I could just sit down like you, talk and make masterpieces! Thank you for leaving me a sweet note.

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  6. Thank you from wonderfully, amazing you!

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  7. Love it. Easy technique with a gorgeous result

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    1. Oh that is good to hear Beth! Thanks for letting me know.

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  8. click the link to find what spy aps offer you, just have a glimpse at weblink here

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