I have been taking time each morning in the studio and 'playing' with different techniques and artists! A couple weeks ago I was on a real tear as I had just gotten a new book "Abstract Explorations in Acrylic Painting" by Jo Toye that totally inspired me and I did several of her suggestions and was so inspired by the book itself.
The book really opened my eyes up to using a few of my products in a different way. As you are aware, I encourage this a lot and whenever I figure or find something like this out I am always willing to share!
Project #1
Working in my Urban Journal (on watercolor paper), I poured some Speedball India Ink on my craft mat and dragged my old visa card through it.
I simply dragged the card then down the paper in what I thought would be in an 'abstract'ish pattern.
I then misted the page with water. As soon as I did this, I decided right then and there I would e going in a totally different direction that Jo had written in her book.
I 'saw' something evolving on the page. It totally made me think of the recent forest fires here in Alberta and the destruction it caused.
Once it was dried, I wanted to show rebirth of the the forests, so I added FW Acrylic Inks in two different greens (Light & Sap) to reflect this growth of new life.
Again, misted it with water.
Really love it turned out. It is a very simple page, but I think says volumes.
Project #2
I took an old Yupo sheet that I had created on using Alcohol Inks and covered it with a good coat of White Gesso. Once it was dried, in a great suggestion by Jo, I put some Liquid Frisket in a Fineline Applicator (18 gauge) and created some abstract doodles. With the humidity at the time, it needed to dry overnight.
Once it was dry again, I gave it a good coat of white gesso using my brayer. I tend you use my brayer more so now for applying gesso as I find it gives a good even (and light) coat to surfaces.
I first started out using my Golden Fluid Acrylics and simply painted within the lines of the Masking Fluid.
It turned out okay, but I wanted more...
...hence the India Ink! Again, applied with my brayer.
Now I thought it would be cool if I added more color on top, this time Using some of my more vibrant FW Acrylic Inks. So I dropped single dots down from the dropper applicators...
...and sprayed with water!
I got a tad carried away on this, and it started to muddle...ugh!
Ya...went too far! Off it comes...
I like the grunge look of this, but it was just too dark - so I added some scrapes of White Gesso with my palette knife.
Once it was dry, I started adding white gesso through a few of my Donna Downey Stencils (Mini Number Repeat and Mini Alpha Rerun) using my Pouncer.
Thinking I had added too much white gesso, I now added some of the stencils using Black Gesso.
Once I was happy with it, I started to pull off the Masking fluid. You can either use an eraser or I just start rubbing it with my finger and it lifts and I start pulling!
Very cool!
Project #3 & 4(ish)
Again using Yupo, I covered two separate sheets up using Black Gesso as I wanted to try two different paint applications. Once the gesso was dry, I used Golden Tar Gel two different ways. First I applied it using my palette knife and allowed it to drip from the end of the blade. You will note in the photo that I had some Tar Gel in a 20 gauge Fineline Applicator....ya - no, it doesn't work! Nor does it out of a 18 gauge!! So I ended up using on of my Needle-Tip Applicator Bottles and it worked perfectly!
Applying using the Needle-Tip Applicator.
It needed to dry over night, You will know when it is dry as it will be clear and no longer tacky to the touch.
I applied White gesso (to one) using my Dina Wakley Media Stiff Bristle Brush (1") as I needed to get in all the nooks and crannies!
While it was still wet, I dragged my old credit card over top to clear the gesso off the tar gel.
So cool! I could have left it as is here - I really loved the look. But alas...more needed to be applied...COLOR!!
The other one, I started adding DecoArt Media Interference Paints.
Not one of my faves at this point, so I set it aside until I can figure out what to do with it.
Back to the White Gesso'd one, I thought using Golden High Flows might be cool (in Florescent), but nah...didn't do it for me. So instead, I pulled out my Faber Castell Pitt Pens (Brush) and went to town coloring!
As I was coloring, I blended it out using a wet brush (heavily saturated with water).
It turned out really cool don't you think?!
This book by Jo Toye is fabulous! I have gotten so many ideas on expanding the use of acrylics and simply trying something new! I highly recommend this book if you are looking to expand your knowledge and interest in Mixed Media and Art in general.
Thanks for stopping by - look forward to seeing you again!
