StencilGirl® Talk: collage with stencils

Showing posts with label collage with stencils. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Cyanotype with Stencils + Vintage Papers

Hello StencilGirl® fans! Nicole here, and I’m back with a fun way to create unique papers for your mixed media collages and art journaling.

I have long admired cyanotypes. There’s just something about those mysterious blue and white images that draw me in. In fact, when a local art gallery had a class last fall to learn how to cyanotype, I was there! In class we used hot press watercolor paper and fresh flowers to play with layers and the sun to create a few different pieces of art. Here is what I made in class:

After taking the class, I knew I just had to try the process with stencils. And, I failed. Miserably. I don’t know what I did wrong, but nothing worked. All my images washed away in the developing process.

However, I am determined! So, I am here several months later trying this again.

The basic process of creating a cyanotype is simple:

1. Mix up the solutions as directed (allow to rest 24 hours)

2. Mix one part of each solution (I use the lid to measure) and put into a cup (only mix what you need as the solution is only stable for a short time)
3. Lightly paint the solution on your papers in a darkish room with limited UV light

4. When dry, protect the papers from light until you are ready to develop them

5. Place the stencil on top the paper and expose it to the sun (3-30 minutes)

6. Once developed, process the print in water

7. It will take about 24 hours for the print to completely oxidize, or turn the deeper blue

Note: More detailed instructions are on the cyanotype solution package, and there are a lot of websites and videos to also help in the process and include even more ways to alter prints.

Creating cyanotypes my way.

Instead of plain watercolor paper for my substrate, I wanted to use vintage book pages and ledger pages, two of my favorite papers to use in my artwork. In keeping with the cyanotype tradition, I did also use some hot press watercolor paper and a white tag (pictured below) as well to have some of the true blue and white images.

One of the fun parts of cyanotypes is the unpredictability and layering. On the other hand, it’s also one of the most frustrating parts. They take a few minutes to develop, and you don’t always know what you’ll create until the end. During the development process, you can move the flowers (or stencils in my case) about every 30 seconds or so to add interest and different intensities of blue.

Since I failed miserably the first time, I practiced before my official blog. And, yay! It worked, plus I learned a few things to tweak.

I learned that not all paper works the same.

When using vintage papers, you have to be ok with the unpredictability! Not all papers are created the same, and some just don’t work as well. But, I’m making collage material, so in the end there is always something to use no matter how well it works.

Sometimes the vintage paper itself reacts with the solution so that the cyanotype doesn’t darken as much. Also, since vintage papers are not white, the final outcome colors are varied. It can be frustrating, but occasionally you develop amazing results that you have no idea how it occurred.

For some reason, several of my papers partially developed soon after I spread the cyanotype mixture on them. I’m not sure if it was a reaction to the vintage papers or that I let too much light get to them. Since I didn’t want to waste the papers, I still printed on them with interesting results.

On a side note, when using papers with handwriting, choose ones that won’t react with water, such as ledger pages written in pencil only.

I learned, or realized, that my previously used stencils that were full of paint worked the best.

Since new stencils are clear(ish), they don’t block the UV rays 100%. However, with that, the clear stencils were also fun because they let light in causing a lighter shade of blue with the darker images of the stencil. Both are fun! It just depends on what type of images you are wanting to create.

Since I had some new stencils I picked out specifically for cyanotypes, I solved that problem by spray painting them with black paint first.

As an added bonus, this created some more collage papers!

Most importantly, I learned to just enjoy the process.

I am certainly not an expert at cyanotypes. Over the course of a couple days and sessions printing my papers, no results were alike. Some turned out absolutely amazing and others, well, let’s just say they will make great background layers.

As frustrated as I was in the sunshine and 100+ degree temps here in Austin, I am truly excited to play again! I have so many more amazing StencilGirl® stencils I want to explore.

If you are like me and always admired cyanotypes but thought they would be difficult to create, I hope this tutorial inspires you to have fun and play. I cannot wait to add these papers to my mixed media art and collage.

I posted my favorite result throughout the blog above, and here are some more of my favorites playing with stencils and cyanotypes:

And, you can watch some of the process in the video below, with additional commentary and a flip through of all the papers I made.

Happy Cyanotyping!

-Nicole

Connect with me on

Stencils Used (some are only shown in YouTube flip through)

Supplies

Cyanotype Solution by Jacquard
Foam brushes
Disposable cup
Access to water/sink or a large container of water
Hot press watercolor paper (90 lb or thinner for easier collage making)
Vintage book and ledger pages
Liquitex black spray paint (optional)
Sunshine! Or a UV light

Monday, September 28, 2020

The Stenciled Nest

Like most of us, I have been keeping very close to home for many months now - longer than many, as I live in New York. We went into lockdown earlier than most states and stayed there much longer. For the first several scary weeks, I pretty much stayed inside. The weather obliged by being cold and wet and ominous. Curled up on my sofa in a nest of blankets, I spent hour after hour looking out the window, too worried and stunned to do much of anything but watch the birds at my feeders. As so many others did this spring, I found consolation in the birds: the bright flash of the goldfinches that brought yellow to my yard before the forsythia bloomed, the quarrelsome starlings, the nuthatches creeping headfirst down the tree trunks, the quick, acrobatic chickadees flitting from perch to perch. Birds have always carried a lot of symbolism on their delicate wings, and this year it seems they've had to do a lot of emotional and spiritual heavy lifting for us - at least they have for me. I tear up when I think how much I depended on my wild bird companions for comfort - and still do. I bought so many additional feeders on-line that I started running out of places to hang them.
And I will confess, I have struggled with making art during this time. My attention has been directed toward my family and my home, always driven by the nagging fear that this winter will likely be a hard one in many ways, and by the need to make repairs and prepare for uncertainty - my own nest has to be my family's sanctuary during the alarming uncertainty that lies ahead of us.
So, in keeping with the theme of home decor, I decided to offer an even larger invitation to my birds by hanging houses for them. I offer this fall craft/ home decor project as a welcome to my bird friends - please, I beg you, stay by me. Don't leave me.
I began with three bottle gourds I purchased on Etsy, already drilled with holes to serve as bird houses. I have always been fascinated by nests, especially the elaborately woven ones that look like giant baskets - the weaverbird nests that can house whole colonies. With that in mind, I looked for stencils that might


Art Party S499

mimic that woven yet organic texture. In Daniella Woolf's Art Party stencil (S499) I found the right texture - woven without looking mechanical. I like that there are some shaggy elements that make it look like bits of grass sticking out of the woven pattern. Using a sponge and quinacridone nickel azo gold fluid acrylic, I stenciled randomly through this stencil onto tissue paper. The best way to stencil onto a rounded or other 3-d object is to use collage, of course, and torn tissue applied with matte medium and a brush makes it possible to conform to any shape, no matter how irregular. The unpainted parts of the tissue seem to melt and become transparent, allowing the underlying color to show through. I overlapped the torn bits to give a somewhat random effect to the weaving. That way, what started as a plain gourd became a "woven" basket nest.

I followed this idea of stitched or woven nests to a looser interpretation with stencils from Pam Carriker (Eyelet Lace S569) and Carol Wiebe (Stitched 02 S540), using sepia fluid acrylic on tissue with two smaller gourds to produce one nest that appears crocheted or knitted, and one that looks patched and embroidered. Because these must hang outside if they are to be true bird homes, I finished each collaged gourd

with a few coats of polycrylic sealer, paying special attention to the edges of the holes to protect them from the elements. Hanging from the same tree is a bag of alpaca hair for nesting material inside the houses.
So this is the home decor that resonates with me in the time of pandemic. I don't know if any of my wild bird companions will use these houses, but I sure hope they choose to make their homes here and be my neighbors- and I hope they like the stencils!
May you all will be safe and warm in your own nests this fall, and may you can find inspiration, comfort, and security - be it in making art, or watching the birds.

Eyelet Lace S569

Stitched 02 S540

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

A Journey through Art with Natalie May

Hey there guys!

Today I am sharing an Art Journal page created for the Passages theme this month.

I admit I had to Google the meaning of Passages and how it applied to me ... and I realized that an important stage in my life is my art and my teaching of art.

Creating a little project to tell that story was going to be easy - or so I thought.
All of a sudden I had too many ideas and too many options so the best thing to do was break it down into what makes me happy ... simplicity and ease.

Here is how the page breaks down into simple steps ...

I started with collaging some music paper and Dictionary paper with Gel Medium and then gave it a quick coat of clear gesso.

Next, I used a brayer to roll on some neutral paint to lay a foundation.

Now for the stenciling ... I used a couple of different "Mark Making" stencils to start building the page in simple shades of beige, grey, and blue.

To give the page a gentle shimmer, I used Gansai Tambi Watercolour paints in Gold & Bronze as well as added some stamping in black.

Next, I used the Pen and Ink Stencil to add my focal point images. I only wanted to use a couple of the elements so using a sponge was perfect for doing this.

I finished with adding some definition with black and gold paint pens and finally my scribble journaling alongside the brushes.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Wash your hands.

Natalie May

Stencils Used -

Shaw Dube Mash-up for StencilClub

ATC Mixup 1 by Mary BethShaw

Pen & Ink Stencil by Leslie Riley

Check out the remarkable classes available via StencilGirlStudio.com.