StencilGirl Blog Hop Featuring Cecilia Swatton

****GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED****
Welcome

 to the

 StencilGirl Blog Hop

 featuring....

 StencilGirl Artist 

Cecilia Swatton

Today, not only is Cecilia hopping with us, she did a tutorial for us here on StencilGirl Talk and ANOTHER tutorial for us on her personal blog (next on the list). 

How lucky are we??!!

**The Blog Hop order is under the tutorial.**

"Scraping" with Stencils

by Cecilia Swatton

What I call "scraping" is simply a wet version of making rubbings -- an old technique, originally done with crayon or similar dry media, for transferring textures and designs from their original surfaces, onto paper.

Supplies:

(1) sturdy but thin paper

In these pictured examples I have used deli paper, available at restaurant supply stores, but other options include tracing paper, sturdy art tissue (not the cheaper tissue used for giftwrap) and some of the thin Asian rice papers.

It's not necessary for the paper to be translucent, like my deli paper, but I prefer this because I want to eventually layer these papers onto backgrounds while allowing the backgrounds to remain somewhat visible.

(2) acrylic paints

I use both liquid and heavy-body acrylics; I also use acrylics mixed with matte or gloss medium -- sometimes using these media in gel form; other times, the liquid form.  I encourage experimentation.  Each blend yields slightly different results.

(3)  an old credit card, a palette knife, or a Wedge tool --

http://princetonbrush.com/catalyst-wedges-acrylic.html

(4) masking tape and scissors

(5) a protected work surface

I use masking tape to secure freezer paper (shiny side up) to my work surface. 

(6) stencils

For this demonstration, I have chosen my 9"X12" Mimosa and my 6"X6" stencils Grid, Marbles and Kaleid.

Method:

I tape the stencils to the protected work surface, making sure that they are lying flat against the surface, and well-secured with tape.

Over the stencils, I tape pieces of deli paper ... one layer of paper over each stencil.  I make sure the paper is flat and taut across the stencils; I secure the edges of the papers with masking tape.

I load the edge of the credit card with my first paint of choice.

Next, I apply firm pressure as I start at the top and drag the spreading tool down across the stencil, scraping on a layer of paint as I go.

 I sometimes stop after the first scrape, depending on the results.  If the first scrape doesn't satisfy me, I scrape again.  Having secured all edges of the stencils and papers, I can also scrape sideways, rather than top-to-bottom.

I often load two or three colors onto the scraping tool, getting a three-color image with my first scrape.

Other times, I load only one color onto the scraping tool, for the first scrape, but usually I move forward using additional colors, adding colors over one another or immediately side-by-side, with some overlap.  I do this while the paint is still wet.  However, another approach would be to allow the first scrapes to dry, before adding the next layers of wet paint.

Once the scraped papers are dry, they need to be carefully removed from the background surface -- then, the artist can turn them over to see which side she likes better.  Often, when several layers of color have been used in succession, it can happen that the "underside" is more appealing that the side where the paint was applied. 

These pictured examples show an abstract mixed-media collage of mine.  I have used the top sides of some of the scraped papers and the flip side of some other pieces of scraped paper. 

Once an artist has done both the screenprinting method posted on my blog -- http://heartworkbycecilia.blogspot.com -- and the scraping method described here, she will see that the two techniques both use stencils to create design; and, in both cases, the prints are made by firmly spreading a gel or liquid coloring media across a stencil, without actually touching paint to the stencil itself.

Now it is time to
HOP!

But....before you go.....

Cecilia is giving away these three of her stencil designs on her personal blog (next on the list).

and

StencilGirl Products will be giving this design of Cecilia's away!

Remember, ALL comments on all blog's are eligible to win both giveaway's!
The more times you comment, the more chances you have to WIN!

You will have until Sunday, October 27th @ 11:59PM Central Time to enter!

Good Luck!

*****GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED*****

Blog Hop Order

StencilGirl Talk YOU ARE HERE

Cecilia Swatton GO HERE NEXT

Linda Kittmer

Linda Cain

Carolyn Dube

Corrine Gilman

Judy Shea

Kirsten Reed

Jessica Sporn