3 Dimensional Effects -- Real and Implied

Texture is one of several ways of achieving depth in artwork; and it can be actual texture, or it can be simply implied by coaxing the viewer's eye to "see" a raised surface when in fact there is none.

In a very similar way, there is visual flatness and its contrast of visual depth.  In the example below, a basic kind of visual depth emerged when I used one of my new ATC-sized masks, Ski Lift Works (from ATC Mixup 1--Swatton), to make three prints, one atop the other.  The first print is barely visible, having been covered in two acrylic paints, red and silver.  That silver print initially appeared as "foreground" because the first, mostly obscured, print was under it.  But it lost foreground status, and became middle ground, when the final black print was made over it.  This, in a very simple way, illustrates how layering creates an illusion of visual depth.

  

Swan, another of my just-released ATC-sized stencils (from ATC Mixup 2--Swatton), was used to make the below print on the photo-page of an old calendar.  The photographer perfectly captured the foggy background; and, in contrast, my stenciled print has crisp edges.  This contrast clues the viewer's eye to see the majority of the scene as background, while the silhouetted swan is visual foreground.  So the overall image below has visual depth.   

Something in the same vein happens when interference acrylic paints are used with a stencil or mask on a background that's black or dark in color.  Below is a print made with my ATC-sized stencil Unfurling Leaves, (from ATC Mixup 1--Swatton).  My photo can't fully capture the light-play quality of interference paint, but, regardless, an illusion of depth remains visible; the eye doesn't perceive the leaves and their background as both being on the same plane.  Instead, there is an illusion of the leaves being lighted from behind.  

It may be helpful to click on the image below, to enlarge it, to better see the subtle way shadows and highlights create the illusion of depth as well as raised areas.  The background paper is completely flat, and the Swan-printed blue foil paper is nearly flat, yet has a slightly embossed surface.  Both sets of shadows and highlights work together to keep the surface from appearing flat.

Moving forward to actual (as opposed to implied) 3-dimensional depth:

The ATC above, created with Sprigs from ATC Mixup 2--Swatton, was developed as I spread light modeling paste thru this mask; then, after it dried, I tinted the surface with with pale green watercolor and rubbed darker green paint across its raised areas.

The greeting card cover below offers an example of simple layering to create actual 3-dimensional depth.  The base is a pre-crumpled sheet of red plastic (a gift from my thoughtful daughter who found it among novelty papers in an art supply store.)  Over that I've glued a print made with Fern Fronds Silhouette, an ATC-sized mask (ATC Mixup 2--Swatton); and I added a final embellishment of an embossed Dresden foil decoration.  (These are available at AmazonSmile and from several Etsy vendors.  They aren't self-adhesive but gluesticks work fine with them.)

Today's final image is similar in that its depth was created thru the
layering of physical objects:

I used Sprigs from ATC Mixup 2--Swatton to make the blue-red-yellow print on a readymade tag.  Two papers, one silver and one gold, form layers under the tag.  Dimension is added thru the addition of another Dresden foil embellishment, as well as the ribbons that I tied thru the hole at the top of the tag.

ATC Mixup 1--Swatton

ATC Mixup 2--Swatton

Each 9" x 12" sheet contains 9 stencils (some with bonus masks); many of these ATC-sized art tools are derived from larger stencils and masks I've designed.  These include Ski Lift Works, Cats, Fantasia, Hot Air Balloons, Penguin Family, Sprigs, Ornamental Iron Curls, Thistles, Mikki's Flowers, Ginkgo, Fern Fronds Silhouette and Osprey Wings.  Altho derived from my larger stencils, they differ not only in size but also in additional ways.  However, there's enough similarity so that the ATC-sized stencils and masks work beautifully in combination with the original larger sized stencils and masks.

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

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Something for Everybody in ATC Size

My ATC Mixup 1 and ATC Mixup 2, each 9" x 12" and containing 9 images, are sized just right for making Artsit Trading Cards, but I've used them in a variety of ways, including bookmarks, gift-tags, greeting card covers, dangling ornaments, even refrigerator magnets!

These 18 images offer something for everyone.

The art sample below is destined to decorate the side of a white paper gift-bag.  It's printed with Desert Blooms from ATC Mixup 1, on a background of glossy black cardstock that had first been spattered with metallic bronze and blue acrylic paints.

From the hint of desert above, it can be a quick easy trip to Antarctica --

Penguin, from ATC Mixup 2, was inspired by my original 6" x 6" mask Penguin Family, which looks like this:

6" x 6" mask Penguin Family

Other ATC-sized designs of mine have been inspired by my earlier-released stencils and masks.  Among them --

Above:  Ornamental Iron Curls from ATC Mixup 2 was used to print the central image with red interference acrylic paint on glossy black cardstock.  This design was inspired by my 6" x 6" mask Ornamental Iron Curls, which is shown below and which was used to create  the print that serves as the background above.  Glued together, they're now on the cover of a 6" x 6" greeting card.

Another way, of course, to combine the new ATC versions with their namesake originals, is to make one print using them both....

Above:  the ATC-sized Mikki's Flowers mask from ATC Mixup 2 was printed on the same paper that I'd already printed with my 6" x 6" Mikki's Flowers mask, which also comes as a stencil:

my 6" x 6" stencil Mikki's Flowers 

my 6" x 6" Mikki's Flowers mask

Note:  Altho the new ATC-sized masks and stencils resemble the older larger versions, they are not exact duplicates.  In the case of Mikki's Flowers, for example, I changed the size, number and arrangement of the flowers.

Below are two prints made with ATC-sized Mikki's Flowers by itself.  Both were printed atop flower photos from old picture calendar pages.

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ATC MIXUP 1's DIAGONAL MANIA Used with 9" x 12" Mask PRAYER FLAGS

My new 9" x 12" ATC Mixup 1 set of 9 stencils includes 3 bonus masks as well as a design I've labeled Diagonal Mania.  It's the first image on the left, in the top row below --

Although not a direct derivative of my 9" x 12" mask Prayer Flags, the two designs have enough features in common that I wanted to use them together in making art samples for today's post.

9" x 12" mask Prayer Flags

For this project I wanted a limited palette of red-orange, pale pink and blue that's "muted" by a small amount of gray mixed in.

Today's art samples show that ATC-sized stencils and masks can be used for far more than Artist Trading Cards alone.  When large and small designs with similar features are used together in one artwork, the result is a pleasing complexity that entertains the viewer's eye everywhere as it travels across the surface.  At the same time, it provides a unity that makes the viewer say,  "Everything here is something that belongs here.  All of it 'fits.' "  These principles hold true regardless of whether the art is representative or (like my own art) abstract/non-representational

Clicking on any or all of the above photos to enlarge them, you may be able to see additional colors peeking thru the acrylics that I used.  This is because of the substrates I chose -- all of them were magazine pages and old calendar photos that had "busy" images -- multi-colored, with lots of small details.

My approach in creating each of the pieces was the same:  I covered each paper with a layer of muted blue (in the form of colored gesso, which is opaque.)  

While that gesso was still wet, I placed my 9" x 12" mask Prayer Flags onto the paper, held it down with one hand, and wiped away the wet gesso that showed thru the openings of the stencil.  A few times I needed to dampen the paper towel with water before rubbing away the gesso. 

I lifted my stencil and allowed the papers to dry.

Then I mixed acrylic matte gel with a couple of heavy-body acrylic paints.  These paints were in the colors I wanted -- pale pink and reddish-orange -- but they were opaque.  Mixing them with the gel made them translucent.  I wanted translucency because I wanted a little of the multi-colored backgrounds to show in the finished pieces.

Next, I came back to the papers with Diagonal Mania and a sponge brayer loaded with heavy-body acrylic paints. 

These sponge brayers are re-usable ... and good quality ones are getting hard to find!

The sponge brayers made it easy to create columns of color with both my pale pink and my red-orange paints.  The columns became key elements in my overall designs on all of today's art samples.  

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THISTLES Stencils Now Come in 3 Sizes -- It's Fun to Use Them Together!

Now that my two ATC Mixup stencils are released, I now have 3 sizes of this flower (that some consider a weed!)  

ATC Mixup 2 (9" x 12" before being cut up)

Thistle (9" x 12")

Small Thistles (6" x 6")

My newest Thistle is sized for use in making Artist Trading Cards, but other art-making opportunities abound.

The first 3 photos below show artwork that give rough ideas as to what these three stencils can produce when used together.  "Rough ideas" because in making these first few art samples, I didn't use the ATC-sized Thistles directly.  Instead, I started by making a print (dark green in this case) on sturdy paper using my ATC-sized Thistles, then I scanned that print and enlarged the print in Photoshop; printed it; and cut out that print-out size.  This allowed me to finish the art as a mixed-media collage. 

However, the ATC Thistles do indeed differ in size from the first two Thistles in my series.  The proportions of those differences may not be 100 per cent accurate in these first 3 photos below, but they do serve today's purpose -- they give a sample of exciting possibilities open to the artist when she/he uses the three sizes together.

Above:  In the upper right is a stencil-print made with Small Thistles (6" x 6").  The central area was printed with Thistle (9" x 12").  The dark green print in the lower left was made with my ATC sized stencil, but not directly, as explained above.

Above:  In the background is a stencil-print made with with Thistle (9" x 12"). In the upper middle is a blue print made using  Small Thistles (6" x 6").  
The purple print in the lower right was made with my ATC sized stencil, in the indirect way explained above.

Above:  In the background is a stencil-print made with with Thistle (9" x 12"). In the center is a green print made using  Small Thistles (6" x 6").  
The pinkish-purple print in the lower right was made with my ATC sized stencil, in the indirect way explained above.

And of course the ATC-sized Thistle can be used independently:

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Emboss Papers with StencilGirl Stencils and Masks

Do you love embossed papers and want a quick, easy way to make your own?

I wrote today's how-to article at StencilGirlTalk -- check it out here, where you can read my detailed how-to.  My write-up gives step-by-step directions, with photos, for creating pseudo embossed papers using stencils, masks and a product called Solvy.

The above issue of StencilGirlTalk shows papers embossed with Solvy in tandem with StencilGirl stencils and masks.  Most of today's posts show ways I've used pieces of my own embossed papers in art projects.  In addition, this post shows an embossed paper created with StencilGirl's Circle Tile Stencil, designed by Mary Beth Shaw.

To get the full effect of these embossed papers, it's necessary to run your fingertips across them, to better appreciate the depressed areas and the raised areas.  My photos can't bring that tactile sensation across, but it's one of my favorite things about embossed papers -- they are as much perceived by touch as they are by eyesight.

Above:  a collage greeting card cover.  The background centerpiece is embossed Solvy.  The mask used for the embossing was my 6" x 6" Trivet A....

Below is a photo of a stretched canvas that I'm using as a base for building this collage-in-progress.  You can click on the image to enlarge it.  Outlined in red is a piece of Solvy that I've embossed using StencilGirl's Circle Tile Stencil, designed by Mary Beth Shaw.

The piece shown above was cut from a full-size sheet of stencil-embossed Solvy.  The rest of that piece is below:

I was still learning when I embossed this sheet using Mary Beth's stencil, so it has holes where I added too much water.  But in this case, I think the holes add to the character of the piece, and I can't wait to use it in a future collage!

Below are more art samples created with Solvy embossed papers and my own StencilGirl stencils and masks --

Above:  The embossed lines created with my 9" x 12" Mimosa Stencil begged me to cut part of this green embossed paper into a Christmas tree shape.

9" x 12" Mimosa Stencil

Above and below are two greeting card covers decorated with cut-outs from my Solvy paper embossed with my 9" x 12" mask Garden Montage.

9" x 12" mask Garden Montage

General tip for today:  I'm wildly in favor of everything that makes art-adventuring easier and more fun.  Why do everything the hard way, when tools are within grabbing distance?  Stencils and masks are art-making tools; they're short-cuts.  No time to make your own?  You can buy ready-made stencils and masks -- then cut them up to make your art uniquely yours.  After they're paint-stained, cut them up some more and turn them into collage elements. 

Thanks for taking time to stroll thru my blog today!  To follow my blog by email, please use that option in the upper right sidebar.  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl masks and stencils, please start here.

ATC-Sized Masks and Stencils Used with Originally-Sized Stencils that Inspired Them

Today's post returns to my theme of an ATC-sized stencil or mask working beautifully with its originally-sized inspirational stencil or mask.  (Size is not the only difference between my originals and my ATCs, but the similarities are enough so as to be easily recognizable.)

ATC-sized Ski Lift Works is one of the nine stencils and masks in ATC Mixup 1 --

ATC Mixup 1

-- and I used this ATC version with its 6" x 6" original inspiration, Sprigs, in the first 3 art samples of this post.

ATC-sized Ski Lift Works and 6" x 6" Ski Lift Works 

ATC-sized Ski Lift Works and 6" x 6" Ski Lift Works

ATC-sized Ski Lift Works and 6" x 6" Ski Lift Works

ATC-sized Sprigs is one of the 9 stencils and masks in ATC Mixup 2 --

ATC Mixup 2

-- and it was used with its 6" x 6" original inspiration Sprigs in the next 5 art samples here today.

ATC-sized Sprigs & 6" x 6" Sprigs

ATC-sized Sprigs & 6" x 6" Sprigs

ATC-sized Sprigs & 6" x 6" Sprigs

ATC-sized Sprigs & 6" x 6" Sprigs

ATC-sized Sprigs & 6" x 6" Sprigs

I'm hoping today's 8 samples illustrate the overall harmony achieved when ATC-sized masks or stencils are used with the bigger, original stencils and masks that inspired them.

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