More Flights of Fancy with 6" x 6" Mask LOOKING UP THROUGH TREES SMALL

More flights of fancy with 6" x 6" Looking Up Through Trees Small ....

Above:  This mysterious Japanese beauty came from an old hairstyling magazine and has been transformed with dramatic impact via acrylic paints and my new mask Looking Up Through Trees Small -- its 6" x 6" outer frame having been cut off prior to use here.

Below:  An abstract series:

The original 6" x 6" mask comes with a border and looks like this --

Looking Up Through Trees Small 

This mask also comes in a 9" x 12" size, similar but not identical --

9" x 12" mask Looking Up Through Trees L753

All four of today's prints are destined to become origami papers.  I've never been good at origami, but I'm willing to attempt it once again!

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StencilGirl StencilClub Party Call for July 2020

Lisa Dobry at StencilGirl StencilClub has created a popular, long-standing and fun tradition called Party Call.  Each month she announces a new theme, whereupon StencilClub members have the option of taking part in a project that usually calls for a members' exchange of stencil- and/or mask-printed art.  

The July 2020 Party Call theme was inspired by Wendy Baysa, who's developed a technique for developing homemade "washi tape."  These decorative paper strips ordinarily come in rolls, ready for use in embellishing art journals, etc.  

The advantages of making your own "tape" are:  (1)  It's fun!  (2)  Your finished tape will not look like any of the commercially available tapes -- instead, the project is opportunity to express your own unique creative approach to art-making.

Lisa's suggestion for this Party Call was to create one or more strips of paper roughly 24" long and 3" wide.  One source for this paper can be the brown wrapping paper that comes as cushioning in packages of fragile supplies delivered to your door.  Another potential source is the "Kraft" brown rolls of paper in the giftwrap section of a dollar store.      

There's no wrong way to do it!  If you don't like your first results, just keep going!  The original stencil- and/or mask-prints are quickly covered by the next layer -- partially covered, just enough to make someone ask,  "How did you do that?"  You'll see what I mean as your eye travels down thru the sequence of prints coming up.

I started with the idea of creating two washi tapes, so I cut a 24"-length of paper 6" wide; at the end of my printing session, I would cut it in half to get two 3"-wide tapes, for doing trades with two other StencilClub members.

My first series of prints , not shown here, were done with 9" x 12" Looking Up Through Trees using red and yellow heavy-body acrylic paints applied thru a sponge brayer.  After those paints dried, I created a new color by adding opaque white paint to the red used earlier.  Using my 6" x 6" stencil Marbles, I made a series of prints all along the 24-inch length of paper --

Next, with a switch to pale blue heavy-body acrylic paint, I repeated this step using my 6" x 6" mask Ski Lift Works:

Above:  You can click on this or any other of these photos to enlarge them and better see details.

Choosing my 6" x 6" mask Tiger Lily for the following step, I decided to start making the prints in an every-other 6-inch space, instead of continuing to make continuous prints all along the paper strip .  For example, below, Tiger Lily  has been used with purple paint to the left of the central image and to the right of it.  This was to establish an every-other-one pattern.

Below:  I continued the every-other-one pattern as I made prints with my 6" x 6" Swatton Links Stencil.

Above:  A close-up highlighting the gradual build-up of an intricate layered look.

My 6" x 6" mask Trivet A went to work helping create the next layer:

Sidestepping back to a cool color -- green this time -- I used two more 6" x 6" stencils of mine.  In the upper left of the photo below:  Bamboo Wall.  To the right of it, in the upper middle of the photo:  Swatton Grid Stencil.

Once the final, green paint layer had dried, I cut the 24-inch-long paper strip into halves, creating two strips of 3-inch widths each.  I added embellishments, then coated everything with a layer of gel gloss medium.  This gel intensifies colors as well as securing all the embellishments permanently in place, especially in the event that my two StencilClub trading partners may want to roll up the tape after receiving it.

Above:  Full-length view of 2 strips of washi tape.

Below:  close-ups of the first third, middle third and last third of the 2 washi tapes.

Left third.

Middle third.

Right third.

Below:  A macro-close-up of an embellishment made with a butterfly paper punch and a partial print (orange and blue, spattered with yellow)made with my 6" x 6" mask Sprigs.

Thank you sincerely for checking out my blog today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.

Starbursts and More using the Masks LOOKING UP THROUGH TREES SMALL 6" X 6" and 9" x 12" LOOKING UP THROUGH TREES

Below is a print developed with my brand new 6" x 6" mask Looking Up Through Trees Small and my previously released 9" x 12" Looking Up Through Trees....

Above:  This acrylic paint print on watercolor paper has come thus far thru the use of both my 6" x 6" mask Looking Up Through Trees Small (mostly in the background) and my 9" x 12" Looking Up Through Trees (foreground.)

The more I worked with these two masks, the clearer it became that both designs are perfect for creating starburst effects; all that this takes is for the bottoms of the trunks to be left out.  The print above is one example; here's another --

-- and another:

Altho I came to love the starburst idea, I still at times revert to using the 6" x 6" mask Looking Up Through Trees Small to further explore abstract imagery of any kind ... just for the fun of the exploration, to see what surprises await me:

Below:  Another exploration; its first step was this multi-print made with Looking Up Through Trees Small ....

And its last step was to cut out one of the above prints and glue it to a background that had started life as a page in a picture calendar. Once the calendar was out of date, I added a layer of dark coral acrylic paint that matched that color in the multi-print above.

Above:  I call this Flight of Fancy Landscape, since my center-stage trees print is flanked by trees that had appeared in the original photo and are still visible, tho paint-veiled.

Many thanks for coming to look at my blog today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl masks and stencils, please start here.

LOOKING UP THROUGH TREES -- both the New 6" x 6" Small and the Original 9" x 12" Mask

Before launching into another series of prints made with my newly-released 6" x 6" mask Looking Up Through Trees Small, I'm excited to share news of something that I've just discovered.  I'm not into fabric arts myself, but I gather that a number of us art enthusiasts are dabbling both in the fabric arts and paper arts.  For those focusing on the fabric arts, here's a gem-of-a-find.  Ta-da! -- it's a Cutterz Ring.  It strikes me as such a creative and brilliant idea that I just had to give its mention top priority today!

Now comes a parade of art samples developed with my 6" x 6" mask Looking Up Through Trees Small as well as, where noted, my 9" x 12" Looking Up Through Trees....

Above:  This acrylic paint print on watercolor paper was created with both my 6" x 6" mask Looking Up Through Trees Small (mostly in the background) and my 9" x 12" Looking Up Through Trees (foreground.)

Above:  Made with my 9" x 12" Looking Up Through Trees 

Above:  Printed with my 6" x 6" mask Looking Up Through Trees Small. 

The print directly above, done with acrylic paints on watercolor paper, is just the first step in what will become a multi-layered piece.  

Below is a series of prints, numbered in progression, all made with my 6" x 6" mask Looking Up Through Trees Small.  Since acrylic paints dry rapidly, these layers were quick to build up:

Above:  First layer of prints using my 6" x 6" mask Looking Up Through Trees Small.

  

Above:  Second layer with my 6" x 6" mask Looking Up Through Trees Small 

The photo below shows the third layer; in this layer, I started to include the use of my 9" x 12" Looking Up Through Trees:

Studying this 3-part progression in hindsight, I've come to the unhappy conclusion that the second layer is where I should have stopped!  

But because I didn't stop back at the second layer, I now face a challenge -- I need to continue adding layers, hoping to see a final version that will satisfy me!

One thing I've learned, in these happy years of working with my StencilGirl stencils and masks, is that there's one person I want to please with my final artworks.  Moi! 

Thanks for stopping to see my blog today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.  To follow this blog via email, please use that option in the upper right sidebar.

6" x 6" LOOKING UP THROUGH TREES SMALL Mask

As usual, I've customized my Mylar art-making tool from StencilGirl; this time, I took scissors to my brand-new mask, 6" x 6" Looking Up Through Trees Small.  After having liberated it from its original square frame -- as shown here --

6" x 6" Looking Up Through Trees Small

--I then used the cropped design in a number of projects that ultimately left it stained in a way that makes it almost a new piece of art in itself....

Now to show a series of abstract art paintings that helped create this staining -- 

I'm hoping these samples prompt some ideas for adventuring with abstract imagery via my just-released 6" x 6" mask Looking Up Through Trees Small!  

And for further art-making explorations, I suggest pairing this new mask with the 9" x 12" version of Looking Up Through Trees.  It looks like this:

Looking Up Through Trees (9" x 12")

Many thanks for stopping by here today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.

Working in a Series with 6" x m6" Mask LOOKING UP THROUGH TREES SMALL

Working in a series is a fun way to build up a cache of background papers; but the fun doesn't stop there.  Besides developing into color-coordinated backgrounds for future art projects, a series of similar prints also volunteers to become giftwrap or begs to be cut up for collage.

Below are four papers printed with 6" x 6" Looking Up Through Trees Small....

 ... and this brand-new mask itself looks like this:

6" x 6" Looking Up Through Trees Small

That series of four printed papers went to work in several ways.

Above left:  one print has been cut into strips.  Above right:  Some of the strips are cut down even further and are being auditioned as collage pieces, as embellishments atop other papers printed with other stencils and masks.

  


Above:  The audition continues as more pieces are added.  Below:  In this close-up, the other prints become recognizable.  The three-quarters orange and blue paper, as well as the two pieces of red and brown paper along the top, were all printed with the companion mask, 9" x 12" Looking Up Through Trees Large.  And the vertical purple paper along the right border was printed with 9" x 12" Clustered Leaves.

9" x 12" Looking Up Through Trees Large

9" x 12" Clustered Leaves

Yet another piece of paper from this series ....

.... was used to create two parts of the greeting card cover above.  The 6" x 6" piece became a background in a size corresponding to the blank greeting card.  A purple painted tag was added with a gluestick.  My last step was to use a hole punch to cut out a butterfly and add it as the final touch with the gluestick.  I use Pioneer Embellishment Gluestick, which I like for its permanency as well as its ability, as a dry adhesive, to avoid wrinkling papers. 

What would you do with a series of stencil- or mask-printed papers?

Thank you for taking time to visit here today.

To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl masks and stencils, please start here.