Jill McDowell's Art Journal and OSPREY WINGS Stencil, Among Other StencilGirl Stencils

Jill McDowell has once again given me an ear-to-ear smile.  Among other StencilGirl stencils, Jill chose my 6" x 6" Osprey Wings to create this two-page spread in her tassel-decked art journal --

To better see details, you can click on the above photo to enlarge it.

The Osprey Wings stencil itself looks like this --

To see my full line of stencils, please visit here.

My thanks to Jill McDowell for granting me permission to display her eye-catching artwork, and to you ... for taking time to check out my blog today.

If you'd like to follow the blog by email, you can sign up in the upper right sidebar.

Resisting in Black and White

I decided to re-visit the resist technique, which is nearly as old as dirt, but I hadn't yet done it with these two pencils.  The top photo shows a white Caran d'ache, which I used to fill in leaf-shaped openings on my 9" x 12" stencil Ivy Frame.  My substrate was a sturdy sheet of white paper.

Below:  With the same stencil, on a new sheet of sturdy paper, I used a white grease pencil.  These are also called China markers and the brand I happened to buy was Phano.  If you click on the photo below, to enlarge it, you can better see that the pigment stick broke.  I was bearing down too hard!

After filling in a number of the ivy leaves, I poured some black gesso into a disposable foam plate and got out an old credit card.  I dipped the card into the pool of gesso, then scraped the card across my substrate, as shown below.

A close-up of that paper:

Above:  grease pencil as a resist.

Above:  grease pencil as a resist.

Above:  grease pencil as a resist.

Above:  Caran d'ache as a resist.

Above:  Caran d'ache as a resist

Ivy Frame comes in two sizes, the size used today (9" x 12") --

-- and the 6" x 6" Ivy Frame 6 Stencil, which looks like this --

To see all my stencils, please visit here.

Thanks for stopping by this blog today!  If you'd like to follow it by email, just sign up in the upper right sidebar.

Netherlands Artist Marsha Valk and CLUSTERED LEAVES Alongside other StencilGirl Stencils

This issue of StencilGirl Talk shows step-by-step photos, with directions, for a beautiful multi-page project by Netherlands artist Marsha Valk.  I'm delighted that, from among the many fantastic StencilGirl stencils, she chose to include one of mine, Clustered Leaves.

Besides her stunningly bright colors, I love her creative use of this stencil, in using its design as a frame for circled script --

In its entirety, this 9" x 12"  stencil looks like this --

Thanks for visiting my blog today!  If you'd like to follow it by email, just sign up in the right sidebar.

To see all my stencils, please visit here.

Juried in at the 2017 Canterbury Art Show in Rumson, NJ

I'm happy to announce that one of my paintings on stretched canvas, Alive in You, has been juried in for the Labor Day weekend Canterbury Art Show in nearby Rumson, NJ.

This painting was created with Golden High Flow acrylics and my stencils Sassy Spray (6" x 6") and It's a Jungle Out There (9" x 12").  The method I used is described in the Absentee Artist chapter of Creative Paper Art by Nancy Welch and it's shown in Pat Dews' DVD Designing Great Starts with Texture and Form (available at Cheap Joe's Art Supplies.)

I'd been pleased with this painting even before it had been juried in at this show; I had even ordered a mug here with this artwork wrapped around it.  The mug is prettier in person than it appears in these photos, but I'll post them anyway --

These mugs come in two sizes and I ordered the smaller version, since I prefer something lighter in weight.  I'm happy to report the mug has proven dishwasher-safe. 

Today's two featured stencils look like this --

Sassy Spray (6" x 6")

It's A Jungle Out There (9" x 12")

Thank you for visiting my blog today.  If you would like to follow by email, please use the option in the upper right sidebar.

To see all my stencils, please check here.

CLUSTERED LEAVES -- in the Talented Hands of Artist Nathalie Kalbach

Check out StencilGirl Talk here -- to see a full-length write-up, with step-by-step photos, showing the artistry of Debi Adams with stencils by Seth Apter and Nathalie Kalbach, alongside my 9” x 12” stencil Clustered Leaves.

Here is just a small sample:

To see more work by Debi Adams, visit her blog.

To see my full line of stencils, please visit here.

To follow this blog by email, please use the Follow by Email option in the right sidebar.

Thanks for stopping by!

I Love Orange with SASSY SPRAY Stencil!

Below is an early version of a painting that has now been re-worked ... and still needs more final touches.  This "start" was made with my 6" x 6" stencil Sassy Spray, following directions given in Pat Dews' DVD Designing Great Starts with Texture and Form (Cheap Joe's Art Stuff.)  

(Note:  I altered my stencil -- only a little -- with Joyce Chen scissors.)  

The reason I'm still working on this piece is that I decided it needed more contrast as well as an introduction of complementary color.  Since the piece is only 9" x 12" (on stretched canvas) I had at first thought one color family sufficed.  But since then I've changed my mind.

Below is another piece created with the same stencil; I've decided that it, too, needs more development.  I'm still mulling over what to do ...

Sassy Spray looks like this before it gets scissor-altered --

To see all my stencils, please visit here.

Thanks for visiting today!

TANGLED PODS and DANGLED PODS 9" x 12" Stencils

I created today's artworks with Tangled Pods stencil (9" x 12") on stretched canvas.  In making most of them, I followed directions given by Pat Dews in her DVD Designing Great Starts with Texture and Form.

Using the same stencil -- and sometimes adding the opposite-image stencil Dangled Pods -- I've created other artworks, including:

The above collage was not made with the same technique as the other pieces shown here today.  It was made with Gelli Plate prints.

The last artwork here, shown directly above, is one of three similar pieces (all made with these two 9" x 12" stencils) that hung for a month in the gallery at my local guild, before being chosen to hang as one of our off-site locations.  In this case, it was Central Jersey Blood Center.   Having been a donor there myself, I know it's nice to have distractions of artwork to enjoy during the process.

Thanks for visiting today!

To see my full line of stencils, just click here.

More Black, White and Grey Prints with Stencils

Since my online black-and-white class with Jane Davies will be starting soon, I've been making more black-and-white prints.  I'm thinking that these will be torn and/or cut to go into collages for some of her class assignments.  But if it turns out my guess is wrong, I'll brayer or brush over the prints with translucent acrylic paints, to add color to the white areas and interesting tints to the black and grey areas.  Then they'll end up in my own independent collages of merged colors.

To make today's prints, I used the sponge brayer method that's so quick and easy for me.

I had no black papers on hand, so I created some with black gesso.  After those papers dried, I switched from black gesso (pictured above) to Titanium White heavy-body acrylic paint.  

The first image below appears to have a brown tint but is actually dark grey.  The uppermost print was made with my 9" x 12" stencil Blooming Where Planted (which I've cut into three separate sections.)  Beneath this print is an earlier one made with another 9" x 12" stencil, Prayer Flags.  Clicking on the photo to enlarge it, you can better see subtle results from the earlier print.

Above:  another print made with Blooming Where Planted.

Above:  a print made with Fantasia (9" x 12" stencil).  An earlier print made with another stencil lies beneath this top layer.

Above: an experiment -- printing on a sheet of foreign newsprint with my 9" x 12" stencil Vases. 

Above:  This subtle imprint was made with another StencilGirl stencil, 6' x 6" Puddles, by Rae Missigman. 

Thanks for visiting my blog today!  If interested in following it by email, just sign up in the upper right sidebar.

To see all my stencils, please visit here.

A Special Presentation Coming & Today's Black-and-White Stencil Prints

A special technique for art made with the help of stencils will appear July 5, 6 and 7 on my other blog --

http://heartworkbycecilia.blogspot.com

--and will include step-by-step photos alongside directions.

Hope you can make a visit there!  And many thanks to my friends Mary Ann and Julie, whose talented hands will appear in these photos!

Today's post focuses on my own black-and-white prints made for a black-and-white art-making online class with Jane Davies.  

Note:  If you haven't yet bought Jane's new book on abstracts, burn rubber to get it!  The book covers topics valuable for both representational and abstract artists.  I think that Jane writes in a lucid way that's more easily understood than what you may find elsewhere.

This new book of Jane's concentrates on color, but today's prints are black and white because that's what I think we students will need for this particular online workshop.  (Jane offers a wide variety of workshops, both live and online.  Check out her website.)

For my prints today, I started with white paper.  I used a sponge brayer and black gesso to convert some of the papers to black.  Then, with either black gesso or Titanium White acrylic paint, I used the brayer to make these prints with stencils --

Above:  Most of the prints are shown here.  A few more are included in the close-ups below.

Above Left:2 prints with 4" x 4" Palm Fronds Silhouette Mini.  Right: Sassy Spray. 

4" x 4" stencil Palm Fronds Silhouette Mini. 

Above Left:  6" x 6" Palm Fronds Silhouette Small. Right: 4" x 4" Palm Fronds Silhouette Mini. 

6" x 6" Ferns stencil.

6" x 6" stencil Sassy Spray.

6" x 6" stencil Swatton Grid.

6" x 6" stencil Swatton Grid.

 6" x 6" stencil Swatton Grid.

6" x 6" stencil Swatton Links.

I'm guessing that in this workshop of Jane's, we may be creating additional black-and-white patterns, then cutting or tearing them for building collages.  

If it turns out I'm wrong, I'll be brayering over these prints with translucent acrylic paints to fill the white areas with rainbows of color.  The black areas will appear different, too, once they've been coated with translucent color.  Then they will become fodder for collage.

To see all my stencils, please visit here. 

Thanks for stopping by here today!

To Follow This Blog by Email ...

...please use the Follow by Email option in the right sidebar.  Thanks!