Paper Preparation II

More Layers

Following are additional steps in painted layers on the papers started last time.

But FIRST: Now is a good time to collect pretties from the rain puddles on your morning pony walk, or dog walk, or baby walk.  Leaves to press, moss......

.....lichen-covered sticks, curly twigs, nuts, conifer cones, or any bits of interesting natural material. We can USE these.  My family carefully doesn't say that they wish I would not collect so much to dry in the kitchen, but 'tis the season and I need to have things on hand when I am making things.

Last time we applied paint in different ways to various papers and let them dry. Now we can use some of the same techniques to add further layers of colors in selected areas of those same papers. Here I scraped on paint with the card and painted some thin paint with a brush in the white areas.

I liked that scrape effect, so added more bits of paint on the paper....

.... and scraped and repeated......

... to get to this point. Let dry.It doesn't look like much yet, but we need layers. In mixed media more is more.

Then I put out some colors on my palette....

......mixed them just a bit.....

.... and pressed a textured surface - in this case a food tray bottom - into the paint....

.....and applied in selected areas on some sheets.....

...... of various colors....

..... in more or fewer areas.

Then, after cleaning up those materials, I got out different paints for the next application......

...... this time for dots from something called "sequin waste," the left over material after sequins are made. Before applying that, I filled in some white areas on the under layer of some papers, using the balled up plastic method and a dry brush pounced.

Then I selected a paper, decided where it needed more layering....

.... and added stippling through holes, but not solid - only in selected areas. These will all get more attention.

Then I thought and thought, and came up with a composition for an actual work. I cut a strip of one paper, applied it to a heavier weight paper with gel medium .....

.... selected two more papers and cut strips. from them....

.... and adhered them with gel medium......

.... overlapping a little inside, but aligning the outside edges....

.... thus. That is the background.

The I tore out two copied hymn lines, put a wash of paint lightly over them.....

.... and adhered them with gel medium. That is the background. Next is to add surface treatments.

One way is to make marks with various tools. Here I use a yogurt container, paint the top edge.....

.... and make two large circles; then paint the bottom edge to stamp two smaller circles.  I plan to add further marks, but needed to do many other duties, so started to think about the lettering I planned for the piece.

I pulled out some chipboard letters, but they were too big.

I could use wooden letters, or cut out paper letters, or hand lettering. 

I decide to do a combination, first using a stencil with structure paste.

This. It holds its shape and dries 3-D.

It is applied with a palette knife or card, then the stencil is carefully lifted straight up. 

Some paste seeped out the edges, but that is correctible with paint later.  I don't have pictures yet, but I started the letter stencilling with paste, one at a time with long drying between each (not time efficient,  but necessary so as not to smear when doing letters close together).

And that is all for now. To be continued.