Sunday, May 7, 2023

Combining Designs

For me, a big part of the fun with stencils and masks comes from the surprise-results of using one design atop another.  

Many artists using more than one stencil or mask tend to blend each printed design with the others, as they go.

Those results are lovely; I'm a big fan of that approach.  

However, I myself don't usually work that way.  I like to start a project by printing with one design while striving to make that print closely match the design on the stencil or mask that I'm using.  Then, after the bottom layer has dried, I like to add new layers using new prints.

Both approaches reach the ultimate goal -- which is to create richly complex images.

Another thing about layering prints is that you can continue adding more and more layers, as long as you're using thin art-making media, such as pencils or watercolor or liquid acrylic paint.

When I have what I consider a finished print, today, may tomorrow strike me as a piece that needs another layer -- often with new colors and a new stencil or mask design.

My newly released masks inspired by Bulb Kelp include pods that have prompted me to combine new prints using 9" x 12" L963 Kelp Forest, with earlier prints I'd made using either 9" x 12" Dangled Pods L490 or 9" x 12" Tangled Pods L344I like the visual complexity of one and shape size of bulb or pod with another.

The paper below was first printed with both Dangled Pods L490 and Tangled Pods L344, in warm reds, yellows and oranges.  The topmost layer was made with green acrylic paint, a cool color that sits across the color wheel from those warm colors of the earlier layers.  For this print I used translucent acrylic paint (so the bottom layers would remain somewhat visible) and I used 9" x 12" L963 Kelp Forest....






Above:  In this multi-layer print, the original layers continue to dominate, despite having been covered with a blue kelp print.  The blue print is most visible in the upper left. Elsewhere across this piece, it timidly hides.










Above: A large sheet of watercolor paper, initially printed with my 6" x 6" Abstract Composition Backbones Masks, has now been covered with translucent yellow acrylic paint applied thru L963 Kelp Forest.

Below:  A sturdy sheet of silver foil had been printed using my 9" x 12" Boxed Vines L247 in dark green acrylic paint.  (The paper shown here has been cropped so that only part of the Boxed Vines L247 print shows.) Atop that I used L963 Kelp ForestThis time, as before, I paired a layer of a cool color (green) across the color wheel from the warm color orange. I did this to create high contrast, with the goal of visual drama.



Above:  This print appears here and in another post, to help illustrate two points that I see as important.


My go-to method of print-making is to use a sponge brayer loaded with heavy-body acrylic paint, as detailed in earlier posts over the past several days, starting April 27. Somewhat similar results can happen with Gelli Plate prints.  

Featured in today's post--


Abstract Composition Backbones Mask 1 s864 (6" x 6")


Abstract Composition Backbones Mask 2 s865 (6" x 6")


Abstract Composition Backbones Mask 3 s866 (6" x 6")


Abstract Composition Backbones Mask 4 s867




Dangled Pods L490 (9" x 12")


Tangled Pods L344 (9" x 12")




9" x 12" Boxed Vines L247


Thank you for coming to see my blog today! To scroll thru the pages of my stencils and masks at StencilGirlProducts.com, please start here. 

No comments:

Post a Comment