Exploration 5 -- Abstract Composition Backbones Masks -- and Collage

 ATC Mixup 2 Swatton contains 9 stencils and 2 bonus masks ....

.... one of which (in the upper right corner) was inspired by -- but not identical with -- my 6" x 6" mask Ornamental Iron Curls.... 

....and when I used the Artist-Trading-Card sized mask in an earlier project, it became stained with a beautiful metallic sheen that reminded me of an opal or mother of pearl.  So I set it aside, knowing someday I would use the mask itself as part of a collage.  That someday has come -- today.

But the whole started when I used the subtractive technique to create this background on watercolor paper:

This technique is simple:  Choose a painting that didn't quite measure up to expectations; brush over it with a coat of white gesso; quickly place a mask or stencil into the still-wet gesso, and rub with a soft cloth or paper towel.  The results are subtle but, in the above background, they can best be seen in the upper left quadrant.  

The mask I used in the subtractive technique is the same one that I chose for developing most of the papers for this collage:  Abstract Composition Backbones Mask 4 s867. 

Those papers include:

Above:  the top half of this paper was a direct print made with Abstract Composition Backbones Mask 4 s867.  Under that print, I flipped over the still-wet mask and used it like a rubber stamp, to create this reverse version of the mask.  Note:  this mask has been cut free from its original 6" x 6" frame. 

Above:  I used the same "stamping" technique here, pressing the mask, still wet with acrylic paint, onto a sheet of "catch-all" paper (paper that "catches" leftover acrylic paints that result from work on other projects.) 

These were the two main papers that I tore into pieces and applied to today's background watercolor paper in making this collage --

Additionally, I used small pieces of another "catch-all" paper and some novelty material, a translucent woven synthetic that came printed with purple flowers.  And one small piece of Citrasolv paper that I received in a swap at StencilGirl StencilClub.

Abstract Composition Backbones Masks 1, 2, 3 and 4 look like this --

s864

s865

s866

s867

  

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