January, Day 7 - Back to the Basics

Patricia and I promised to start back on Bernie Berlin's workshop after the first of the year so yesterday we discussed the next technique "Stencils" and here are the results. I LOVE IT! Sorry, just had to shout that out cuz this was so much fun...definitely try it! I highly recommend this book, you can even click on the amazon link to the right of my blog and go purchase it there.

I used 140# watercolor paper as the base...nice and sturdy (also a favorite of mine). Using heavy acrylic paint, I painted the background a nice Tangerine Orange. Once that was dry, I used a square stencil and pounced in some semi-opaque Orange Juice acrylic paint. I let that dry completely and then added the Pure Pink acrylic stenciling using star-shaped punchinella.

I liked how that looked very much but have been itching to use some stencil paste I had so I added the final layer using the paste and various flower stencils! WOW! Once again, I'm sorry...I just had to shout. Love it, don't you?
I am going to cut these down to two 10.5" x 3.5" strips and send one of them to Patricia. That way we can use them for IttyBitty or ATC backgrounds. She is going to send me 1/2 of hers too. Isn't that fun? Can't wait to see what she creates.

Technique #5 Inky Layers

Oh my goodness! I love any technique that involves layers and this one is a real winner! This week Patricia & I are doing "Inky Layers" from Bernie Berlin's book "Artist Trading Card Workshop: Create, Collect, Swap" and I think the results were awesome! I used paper from a dictionary, sheet music, magazine (glossy), & scrapbook paper. I didn't have any translucent glittery ink or paint so I used a drop of silver alcohol ink and rubbed it around. I like the results! Here are a couple photos of the finished products!

Technique #4 "Leafing Pen Resist"

This week Patricia & I worked on "Leafing Pen Resits" which is Technique #4 from Bernie Berlin's book "Artist Trading Card Workshop: Create, Collect, Swap". Bernie states that this technique works best on watercolor paper so that is where I started. My pages turned out really cool so I decided to try the same technique but using alcohol inks on semi-gloss paper. Woah! Totally different look but equally exciting.

Here are the watercolor pages using just two monochromatic colors. Imagine what they would look like if I would have used 2-3 complimentary colors. She also recommends using a stamp design over the top of these which I haven't done yet. But I did stamp the alcohol ink sheets and used them for the legs on this little fairy doll! Pretty cool homemade design huh? I may never buy scrapbook paper again!!! :-)

Techniques 2 & 3 Watercolor on Baby Wipes & Paper Towels

This week Patricia & I are working on Techniques 2 & 3 from Bernie Berlin's book "Artist Trading Card Workshop: Create, Collect, Swap". I'm excited to say that another artist, Cheri Phillips, is going to join us in this process. :-)

Patricia did hers first and made some amazing backgrounds on baby wipes using spray mists (which she's already used). I tried that and wasn't as pleased with my results...maybe I didn't wait long enough for the paint to dry but the sheets were very dark and not worth showing.

Next, I got out the watercolors and made 4 pages rather quickly. What I did was layer my sheets; bottom later was cardstock, then 2 layers of paper towels and then the top layer a baby wipe. ( I told you I'm not very patient, wanted to do them all at once - LOL)

What I liked most about this technique is that I didn't have to worry about too much water. If I didn't like the depth/amount of color I had...I just added some water and the color went on through to the next layer under it. When I was pleased with the top baby wipe layer, I used a brayer to "push" the paint through to the layer underneath. I removed the baby wipe layer and did the same thing to the paper towels. A really cool thing happened on the bottom layer...the paper towel left the color on the card stock in a waffle-weave type pattern like the pattern in the paper towel. Very cool side effect!

Thanks, Bernie, I love this technique and will use it again & again. Here is a photo of the final results and the beginnings of an ATC using the paper towels & wipes as a background (they are torn up and stamped). One of my new favorite things to do.

The layers in the photo are from top to bottom: an ATC made with torn up pieces from all the others with a paisley pattern stamped on it, cardstock showing the waffle-weave design, a dried-out kitchen wipe, 3 sheets of paper towels & a baby wipe (with teddy bear!). You can click on the photos to see more detail in the background if you want. Enjoy!