Welcome to StencilGirl Guest Designer Deborah Boschert
It’s finally spring and the sun is out,
so I wanted to do some sun printing. I pulled out my stack of StencilGirl
stencils and got started. I wanted to work with small bits of fabric, so I tore
some pieces of yellow, light green and white. These small sizes mean that the
entire stencil will cover the fabric, so the design will go all the way from
edge to edge.
Next I chose a mono-chromatic color palette: teal, light green
and blue. I squirted some paint into a plastic container and mixed with water.
About half paint and half water.
I spread two plastic garbage bags out on the driveway and set the
fabric on top, then sprayed it throughly with water. See the spray bottle
there? Then I just dabbed paint onto the fabric. Wet fabric, watered down
paint. It’s swirly and wet!
Then I placed the Spinners stencil on top of the wet fabric. I tapped it
down so I could see the stencil really making contact with the fabric. This is
my friend Terri’s stencil design. Isn’t
it cool?!
I ended up with seven pieces of fabric and I used almost all my
stencils. Now it’s time for the sun to do her magic.
But, then I got a little worried about the wind. So I added
several more rocks to weight the edges of the stencils and the plastic.. You
can see my dog, Lincoln, “standing guard.”
I couldn’t resist taking a peek to see if some
change was already happening. It sure was! Here the paint and fabric are still
very wet, but the pattern is emerging!
A couple of hours later I had these amazing pieces!
It doesn’t seem logical, but the areas that are
open on the stencil end up darker. I really love the effect. I think this one using the Trees Stencil is especially cool.
My newest stencil is Garden Flowers and Leaves. I think because
it’s such a delicate stencil, there are bits that didn’t
make full contact with the fabric creating a less precise effect. But, it’s
interesting and unexpected to see the pattern fade in and out with the colors.
Now I’ve got a great collection of sun
printed fabrics to add to my stash. But, I wanted to create something right
away! I cut a tiny bit of the flower sun print and stitched up this sweet
little collage. It’s mounted on a 3x3 inch canvas.
I added it to our collage art wall in the living room. See it in
the corner?
If you’ve got stencils, acrylic paint, fabric
and sunshine you’re ready to do some sun printing too!
(Actually, I understand it’s not really the sun that does the
work. The process would happen naturally as the fabric dries. A sunny day just
means the fabric dries faster.)
So beautiful! Love that the areas that are open on the stencil end up darker -- so unexpected and lovely!
ReplyDeleteWhat type of acrylics did you use that worked in the sun like that?
This is a great technique and the results are lovely!
ReplyDeleteThese are so cool! I've never tried sun printing, but I love the results you got! I didn't realize you could do it with regular paints like you used... I'm going to have to try this! (And I love the little canvas you did too.) Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteOOOHHH! I love sun printing and I am quite happily surprised to learn that this can be done with regular acrylic paint!!! Is that right? Oh my…I can't wait to try this. Hopefully the sun will come out on my day off so I can immerse myself in this new technique. Thank you so much for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteWow! I love what you did here Deborah!!!
ReplyDeleteWow! What a cool technique! I have never tried sun prining before. We have a big balcony so I'm sure I will try this with my stencils, too! Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeletehow totally cool!!! I have not tried this before, will add it to my bucket list
ReplyDeleteThis is sooooo cool! Maybe it has something to do with the stencil creating more heat under it, since it's a plastic. Don't know, but it's very interesting. TFS!
ReplyDelete~Linda
Stencils- check
ReplyDeletePaints- check
Fabric- check
As soon as the rain goes away I start sun printing!
So cool! I live in sunny South Carolina so I will be doing this! Alway thought I needed special paint!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! Thanks.
ReplyDelete