Frieda Oxenham: Art Journaling with StencilGirl® Stencils

We have reached the penultimate line of Ben Okri’s poem and it reads: “Wake up to what you can be”. In our September project we illustrated the line Wake up to who you are”. To me this new line means that there is always room for improvement and it is up to us to continue to work towards becoming who we want to be. It is never too late!

Here is the tutorial:

1.      Using watercolours and a water brush, randomly add colour to 2 facing 8 x 11.5” pages and use water spray to let them merge into each other.

2.      Continuing with the watercolours and water brush using contrasting colours to step 1, add pattern through the large stencil from the May 2021 StencilClub.

3.      Using an 8 x 10” gelli plate, brayer on white acrylic paint. Put stencil Circles Overlapping Filled on top and take a full page print on both pages.

4.      Repeat step 3 but now with red acrylic paint and taking only partial prints.

5.      Add focal face of your choice to the right hand side page with soft get medium.

6.      Using green paint and one of the patterns from stencil Art Deco Borders add a border to the top and bottom of both pages, missing out the figure.

7.      Stencil on the flower border from the large stencil from the July 2017 StencilClub with red acrylic paint. Also paint the clothing of the figure red.

8.      Colour in the centre of the flowers from step 7 with a yellow Sharpie Poster Paint marker

9.      With black gesso stencil on part of the page from stencil Delicate Face to the edge of the left hand page

10.  Stencil on words as shown, again using black gesso. I used stencils I get to choose, A conversation with Matisse and Emotions and Feelings 1.

11.  Outline the flowers and little circles in green borders with a permanent black marker and add the centres of the flowers while also colouring in the little circles with a white marker. Outline the figure with a black Stabilo All pencil smudging the edges. Colour the hairband of the figure with a red Stabilo Woody.

12.  Glue on the text by Ben Okri to the right hand page and outline with a black marker

13.  Spray on copper mica spray paint randomly through the medium stencil from the June 2021 StencilClub.

14.  Edge the pages with a gold ink pad.

© Frieda Oxenham 2021. To see more of Frieda's work, please visit her BLOG.