Wildflowers Mixed Media Canvas with StencilGirl® Stencils

Hi, everyone! Jennifer Evans here!
Excited to share my tutorial for creating a Wildflowers Mixed Media Canvas with StencilGirl® Stencils!

Supplies:

• Acrylic paint

• 11”x14” Canvas

• Gesso

• StencilGirl® Stencils: Wildflowers 6”x 6” and Wildflowers and Grasses 9”x 12”

• Coffee filters

• Variety of paper: vintage book pages, sheet music, tissue

• Gelli plate

• Rubber brayer

• Paint brushes

• Mod Podge or matte medium

• Baby wipes or paper towel for cleanup

1: Gesso the canvas. Paint whole canvas background color of your choice.

2: Coat the Gelli plate with a thin layer of paint, using the brayer to smooth. Pull a few prints using the coffee filters -- since these are absorbent, it helps to have a base layer of very thin paint before you begin printing or stenciling. Flatten the coffee filters and create several backgrounds using the Gelli plate.

3: Next, choose a contrasting color and smooth over the Gelli plate. Center the stencil over the plate, then pull a print. To achieve a second print, remove the stencil and switch papers. You will get a variety of looks if you experiment with vintage book pages, tissue paper, mixed media paper, and the coffee filters.

4: Continue making prints. Make more than you think you’ll need, in a variety of colors.

5: Stencil layers over some of the prints.

6: Tear the prints and arrange a loose layout on the canvas. Use Mod Podge or Matte Medium to tack everything down in place.

7: Unify the elements on the canvas by using the stencils to make additional layers of wildflowers. Paint in stems and grasses. Trace through the stencil, if desired, using a graphite pencil to create line work.