Artful Celebrations: The Influence of Street Art with Trena Brannon

Hello Beautiful!

My artful piece was inspired by the creativity of street art.

I looked up artful in the dictionary. 😊

adjective: 

1. (of a person or action) clever or skillful, typically in a crafty or cunning way.

"her artful wiles"

synonyms: sly, crafty, cunning, wily, scheming, devious, Machiavellian, sneaky, tricky,  conniving, designing, calculating;

antonyms: ingenuous

2. showing creative skill or taste. 

"an artful photograph of a striking woman"

synonyms: skillful, clever, adept, adroit, skilled, expert "artful precision"

The description made me think of how people who paint on buildings and huge spaces have to think in a truly creative way – a way that is beyond a controlled environment.  Below are the steps for my faux street art – a little piece of a building that will hang in my creative space.

Step 1:

I painted a thin coat of a medium shade gray onto a canvas panel with a sponge, being sure to paint the final strokes horizontally.

 

Step 2:

After it totally dried, I painted a thin coat of a lighter shade gray with a sponge, being sure to paint the final strokes horizontally.  While the paint was still wet, I lightly wiped with a baby wipe through the Intersecting Brick Circles Stencil (S137) stencil in random areas to create the illusion of a brick wall.

Step 3:

After that layer completely dried, I used a sponge to paint the first face through the Shadow Face (S559) stencil. 

 

Step 4:

I created a mask out of a piece of scrap paper.  To make the mask, I sponged color through the face stencil onto the scrap paper and cut it out creating a side of the face shape. After the first painted face dried, I laid the mask over it and placed the stencil next to it, lining it up to overlap with the first. I then sponged in color, adding a face outline with a thin paintbrush.

I repeated Step 4 until all the faces were finished.

Step 5:

Using the Brush Alphabet stencil (L645) and a paint pen, I created the word “COMPASSION.” I practiced on a scrap piece of paper before adding the letters to my canvas.  First – making sure I spelled the word correctly. 😊 Then deciding how I wanted to outline.

Step 6:

To add some interest and perspective to the “building,” I added a fire hydrant.  I drew it with a pencil first, used a red marker for the outline and then erased the pencil.

Step 7:

At this point, I decided to have the first face be a full face. I flipped the stencil over and positioned it as mirror-image and sponged in the matching paint color.  Using a small round brush, I drew in a hint of the left side of the face. I also painted the fire hydrant.

Step 8:

I absolutely love the November StencilClub Her Story set SC-11-2018 and wanted to incorporate the cool word design from Pam Carriker. I spayed a light white mist through the 6x6 stencil in two different areas.

Step 9:

To really make the letters pop, I added a vivid pink over the paint marker, being careful to not paint over the black lines.

Notes/Tips:

•  I used dry sponges to apply paint - with a small amount of paint dabbing most of it off.
• Since I’m right-handed, I turned the canvas upside down to sponge the faces.
•  I cleaned my stencil in between paint, first wiping off with a paper towel, then spritzing with alcohol to get all the paint off. I wanted the colors to remain pure as I applied them.
• Before outlining, I allowed the paint/ink to dry, wiping off pen tips before putting away.
• Be sure to move your artwork far away from where you are cleaning, otherwise, you will get some splatters and sprays – that may or may not end up enhancing your piece. Hehehe
•  I shared my second attempt at creating this piece. The first time I tried to make this piece, the implementation did not align with my vision. Sometimes that’s ok, the implementation turns out better than my vision! In this case, it did not. 😊 I decided to start over. I repainted the canvas gray. I learned a lot from the first try – what not to do.

 Supplies I used:

• Substrate:  canvas board
• Paints/Inks: Liquitex gesso and acrylic paint, Jane Davenport acrylic paints, Golden fluid acrylic paint, Pebeo high viscosity acrylic, Mister Huey’s color mists
• Other: sponge, Tulip handle sponge, #4 round paintbrush, Sharpie markers, Derwent Graphik line painter
• Stencils: S137, S559, L645,  November StencilClub 6x6 stencil

I hope this post inspires you to create something artful that makes your heart smile!

Thank you so much for reading.
Take care and STAY POSITIVE!
Trena