Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Guest Designer: Lesta Frank

Hi, everyone! Lesta Frank here!
I'm excited to be today's Guest Designer sharing my tutorial for creating this art journal spread!Lesta Frank: Art Journaling with StencilGirl® Stencils
These are the StencilGirl® Products I used:
Pilgrimage to India designed by Laurie Mika
Vintage Script designed by Cecilia Swatton
Rose Window and Border stencil designed by Lizzie Mayne
Paisley Floral Repeat and Five Hamsas designed by Jessica Sporn
Lesta Frank: Art Journaling with StencilGirl® Stencils
For my first step, I used light colors with very wet watercolors. I used the wide flat brush seen in the photo below.
I propped up the journal so that the paints would run and make drips and allowed it to dry naturally.
Lesta Frank: Art Journaling with StencilGirl® Stencils
I'm using my favorite art journal and a flat watercolor brush.

Lesta Frank: Art Journaling with StencilGirl® Stencils
For step two, I used Lindy's Stamp Gang spray acrylic inks through the stencils, making both tiny and large sprays for variety. The little dark tree patterns are painted with a house paint sponge trim roller with Martha Stewart fluid acrylic paint and the color is called ink. Some of these tree shapes were stenciled on top of the dried spray inks.
I placed one of the faces I chose to glue down to see how it would look. It felt too dark, so I took these black and white images and re-copied them at Office Max with the lightest possible setting and also the least contrast setting.
Lesta Frank: Art Journaling with StencilGirl® Stencils
Using the lightest setting photo copies, I glued them down with a glue stick.

I thought this would be the final step, but when I saw this on the computer,
I felt the Buddha on the left side needed some brighter colors to keep the viewer’s eye from leaving
the left side of the page and being drawn to the face on the right side too fast.
Lesta Frank: Art Journaling with StencilGirl® Stencils
I colored in more brights on the Buddha on the left side.
This piece felt and looked done to me. I like a piece to have a looseness and imperfections which I feel it does. 
Lesta Frank: Art Journaling with StencilGirl® Stencils
I chose stencils I thought would enhance the Buddha Theme. 

I had practiced Zen with a Zen Master while in my twenties. When painting and journaling with these images, I feel a reconnection to the serenity that is so central to the long hours of meditation I did back then. I still carve out some time mostly every day to sit in this state, putting my attention on each breath. 

I enjoyed using the wonderful StencilGirl® stencils with this project and am honored to be a Guest Designer here!
Lesta Frank
Lesta Frank


6 comments:

  1. Hi Kate and Lesta! It was truly a delight to visit today and see Lesta's beautiful creation. Thank you, dear Kate, for having her on your website.

    Hugs to you, my friend!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Lesta,
    This is a wonderful tutorial and love your Buddhist influence! So glad i found this online !! :)

    ReplyDelete

If you are entering a GIVEAWAY, please add your email address in the event we need to contact you.

To avoid SPAM, please write it like this:

marybeth (at) stencilgirltalk (dot com)

Thank You!