Shattered!

Hello Hello :)

It is Louise here to share with you a painting [and some process photos], that I created recently to showcase new product releases for another creative team I create for - Finnabair Ambassadors.

With this painting I have used one of my favourite stencils designed by Carol Wiebe; Organic Roots Large

I wanted to use this stencil to create the background pattern because if you turn it upside down, it looks like a brick wall up the top, then down the bottom the lines that look like fracture lines in the bottom of the brick wall, and the circles in between look like pebbles of loose mortar, [please use your imagination LOL :)] This fit perfectly for the theme and image I was creating of an emotionally  'shattered person'.

The creating of the background on the canvas board is very simple, however it formed an important foundation for the painting theme and the building up of layers of paint and gesso to create the final image.

  

To begin with I drew the basic line image on the canvas board with a pencil, and then positioned the stencil over the top [held in position with masking tape], beginning on the left first.

To create a dimensional pattern with the stencil around the head and shoulder outline, I used a palette knife to apply plaster paste. This paste drys very quickly and has the added benefit of being sandable.

To cover the entire background I moved the stencil to the left of the canvas board and repeated the process.

Once the paste was dry I applied a coat of black gesso over the entire background, and then when this was dry I applied crackle medium to create the human form. I applied this roughly with the same palette knife I used to apply the plaster paste. I did use a heat tool to speed up the process  of the crackle medium drying and cracking.

I then applied a relatively thin coat of white gesso over the remainder of the black gesso surface.

To complete the painting I worked up layers of paint/colour to highlight the stencilled pattern and the crackle medium, and to complete the image of my shattered person. I used only 3 products in various combinations to do this; Rustic Brown Metallique acrylic paint, black and white gesso. I utilised  both dry and wet brush techniques and various consistencies of the acrylic paint and gesso, alone and mixed.

To highlight the stencil pattern as shown in the image above I actually used my dirty brush water.

Here is another close up image that helps to show the layers of paint and colour.

So that is it for me, I do hope that you have enjoyed this creative share.

Cheers and Happy StencilGirl Creating!!! :)

Louise :) xxx

Gwen's Gems - A Stenciled Boho Canvas

Hi All! It's Gwen back again this month with the latest installment of Gwen's Gems. I've been collecting blank canvases for a while now, with the vague plan of getting back to doing more of that type of work. I decided that it was past time to pull one out and do something with it! I also happen to have a batch of amazing vintage Afghan Kuchi patches, so I decided to create an entire boho-style mixed media piece around one of them.

Ready to see how it's done?

This is one of those projects where I had a pretty firm concept of where I wanted to end up, so I sketched out a general plan for how I was going to proceed... with all of the elements and texture pastes I wanted to use, I needed an outline for the order I was going to work on each step. I started with an 18"x18"x1" stretched canvas and mixed a few colors of yellow to get a big circle in the center.

When the paint was dry, I used gold embossing paste along with June Pfaff Daley's Fireworks Spritz stencil and covered the entire center section with a textured pattern.

When that layer was ready, I mixed Pyrrole red paint with molding paste (about 8-10 drops was enough to get a really saturated color,) and I spread that through my Decorative Curvy Ornament stencil in the middle of my circle. You'll notice that I didn't get all of the design in the middle - I knew I was going to cover that part up at the end, so no worries.

While that was drying, I started painting blocks of color coming out from the center. I used three shades of each color in order to get some depth to the background; I based the palette on the colors in the patch I was using as the focal point.

Again, I knew I was going to cover up the area between the circle and the color patches, so I wasn't concerned with leaving white patches.

When the paint was dry, I got my gold embossing paste back out and stenciled each color with a different stencil. For the red / magenta areas, I used my Decorative 6-Petal Flower Screen, for the blue areas, I used my Ornamental Peacock Feathers stencil, and for the green areas I used Nathalie Kalbach's What's the Point? stencil.

Once the embossing paste was set, I pulled out some multi-colored sari yarn and glued strips of it along the borders between the different colors.

Next it was time to start to bring in more depth and get things a bit dingy; the patch for the center is vintage and well worn, so I wanted the same feel to the entire canvas. I used a dirty glaze over all of the colored sections (polymer medium, Van Dyke Brown paint, Micaceous Iron Oxide paint, interference gold paint.) I let that sit for a minute or so, then went in with a baby wipe to take off most of it, just adding some grunge to the background and highlighting the raised areas.

Here you can see the difference - the bottom half has been glazed, the top half has not. It's subtle, but it really adds a nice effect!

Next it was time to start getting crazy. I pulled my tub of molding paste back out and used a palette knife to start to turn the center circle into a crater of sorts. (You know that paste at the top of your container that starts to get a bit hard but isn't totally dried out? This is where you dig that stuff out and put it to use!)

I used the palette knife on the inside and outside of my little wall to scrape it out and integrate the molding paste with the rest of the piece.

Next I took some texture stones and some glass shards (no idea what they are - picked them up on a swap table!) I pushed these into the wet paste to start to build up some texture.

I hit that with some heat - just enough to form a skin, but making sure that I didn't make it puff too much (heating wet molding paste makes it puff up, which I frequently do on purpose!)

When the thin sections on the inside were dry, I glazed the middle.

Then, making sure I had a good enough skin, I coated the entire "wall" with gold crackle paste.

I used my palette knife and baby wipes to again pull some of the paste onto the surface of the canvas to integrate it. (As the paste dries, it starts to contract which lets all of that texture I built up underneath show through.)

Fast forward about 24 hours... all of my pastes have dried, crackling ensued, and it's just what I'd hoped for! Next I glazed the whole wall so that the glaze would get down into all of the cracks and dips and give me some contrast.

Once the glaze was dry, I pulled out some waxes and started to rub it over top of the "wall." I wanted to start to hit the peaks of all that texture and start building in more contrast and depth.

I followed the dark with bronze, then went in with black and really upped the contrast...

Then I brightened it again with gold.

Finally, it was time to add the centerpiece of this whole project - my vintage kuchi patch!

I originally thought I was going to be done at this point, but I kept looking at it and feeling like something was missing. I played around with a few options, but finally decided that I needed some repetition of the jewels from the patch in other areas of the piece to create more unity. I used some gold dimensional paint to adhere various sizes of acrylic rhinestones onto my stenciled peacock feathers - sticking them down into the dot of paint pushed it out and around so that it acted kind of like a bezel.

One more step - I went through with a cheap brush and some black Rub 'N Buff and scrubbed in a bit more shading to bring the contrast back up a bit more.

Whew... that's it! It was finally done! Here are a few close-ups so you can see all of the texture and dimension that came from this process:

That's it for today, I hope you enjoyed the project and that you picked up a few tips and techniques to try out in your own work!

Until next time, happy stenciling!
Gwen