May Week Three

Last we took a look at watercolour (or water soluble) mediums. A word that you might see on product packaging is “Aquarelle” or “Aquarellable” which will tell you that it works with water.
Because I used them in my page this week, I just want to take a second to talk about Gel Pastels. Faber Castell have a well known product called Gelatos, which come in lots of yummy colours and can be diluted or activated with water, or used straight from the tube. Gelatos are great, but while they are really easy to get in the USA, some of us in other parts of the world have trouble getting them, and they are often expensive. If you want to try Gelatos, but can’t get them or can’t afford them, I suggest you check out the kids art section in big department stores and look for Crayola's Slick Stix, or any other product that says Gel Pastels or silky smooth pastels. All the ones I have found come in some kind of twisting, lipstick-style form. They will come in a limited palette of primary and secondary colours, but you can play with them and decide if you love them enough to invest the time, effort and money into getting the more gorgeous (and trendy) Gelato colours.

https://youtu.be/r915L4N5vL4

 

I drew the bird onto the foam from an image I found on Pinterest. I like this technique of stamp making, it reminds me of the lino-printing I did in high school art, but without the risk of injury from the sharp cutting tools. I think I will probably end up adding a little something to the bird stamp on the page, but I haven’t worked out what he needs yet. I don’t want to lose any of the translucence of the stamp, I love that I can see the background colours through the stamped image. 

Thank you to Jo Hardstaff and Maria Bozikis for the inspiration for the chevron stamp. It's my new favourite :)

The wording is what I decided I would do if I ruled the world. For me, joy comes from gratitude and is the perfect antidote to hate and jealousy. 

I'd probably give everyone a magic packet of Tim Tams as well, because arting requires energy:

And here is the best way to eat a Tim Tam (trust me):

 It's called the Tim Tam Slam. Aussie's get it.

Happy Arting!

May Week Two: Watercolours

Watercolours or Water-soluables are one of my favourite supplies for journalling because they dry quick and are easy to write and draw over with most pencils and pens.

Here are some different types of water-soluble media:

Watercolour paints in tubes, they have a similar consistency to heavy body acrylics

Watercolour paints in pans that you activate with water

Liquid watercolours are really concentrated and come in bottles, usually with a dropper

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Watercolour pencils are very versatile

Water soluble crayons (these may also be labelled as water soluble pastels)

Chalk pastels can be blended dry or wet

Gel pastels (the most well known are the Faber Castell Gelatos), look and feel like a lipstick

Gouache paint is opaque watercolour

 

Derwent Inktense are water activated, but permanent when dry.

You can use them in a number of fun techniques:

Watercolour Background
Yes, this is card tutorial, but the technique is exactly the same no matter what size your piece of watercolour paper is, and the instructor explains what she is doing and why really clearly:

Remember our lesson from last month on avoiding the dreaded Muddy colours? The same principles apply here, so remember purple loves blue but not orange.

Another background technique. This produces a pretty, soft background by combining water-soluble crayons and gesso:

Remember that just because the video shows watercolour crayons being used, doesn't mean you can't substitute other water-soluble medias. 

Want to paint an actual picture in watercolour? Try this pretty hummingbird, she makes it looks way easy:

GOUACHE (rhymes with SQUASH)
In this video, artist Jennibellie paints a picture using gouache.

 

I put this in this week's lesson as a bit of an extra because it includes a mini-tutorial on mixing a skin tone and also because Jennibellie is an awesome art journaller and recycle artist. If you are at all interested in making your own journals and art journalling on the cheap, I recommend you have a look at Jennibellie's YouTube Channel. I love her cereal box art journal tutorials in particular.

Happy Arting!
See you next week.

January Week Two: Resist Techniques Part II

Welcome to week 2 of January’s Roadtrip. How are you finding the Journey so far? There some amazing experiments being posted to the Facebook feed every day, so if you haven’t already, I encourage you join the Driver Reviver Group and check it all out for yourself. 

VIDEO LESSON

Resist techniques are so varied that I wanted to spend two weeks exploring them. This week’s lesson shows three resists: Clear Heat Embossing, Diamond Glaze, and Sakura Glaze pen demonstrated by Joggles: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDsOiWdDHdo

PRODUCT ALTERNATIVES

• Glossy Accents and Dimensional Magic are alternatives to look for if you can’t find Diamond Glaze in your locality.
• I have also used Glossy Mod Podge and a product by Atelier called Matte Varnish successfully. I pour the glue into an empty fine tip bottle to write and draw with. Look for suitable empty bottles in art and craft stores, discount shops or online.
• Watercolour paints can be used in place of spray inks.

LESSON NOTES

• I know that many of you probably already have heat embossing supplies. If you don’t, please don’t feel that you have to invest in these new products, you will make beautiful art with other methods.
•  If you want to know how to heat emboss, here is a video tutorial to start you off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igCA0WmM5gA
• If you are brand new to heat embossing and just want the bare essentials, I recommend you buy a Clear embossing ink pad and a Clear embossing powder.
• YOU CANNOT USE A HAIRDRYER TO MELT EMBOSSING POWDER. They don’t get hot enough. You need a heat gun (also known as heating tool, embossing tool, or embossing gun).
• You can buy heat tools for craft, or you may already have one in the garage: heat guns are also sold in hardware stores and are used to soften and remove paint and glue. They get a LOT hotter than the craft tools.

In last week’s lesson I suggested using tags to experiment with the new techniques. I wanted to share an idea that Lynne Tarrant showed in the Driver Reviver Group, in case you missed it:

Lynne is doing the technique on one side and writing the instructions for the technique on the back of the tag. Over the course of the Journey Lynne will create an entire reference library of mixed media techniques she can refer to whenever she wants. Great idea Lynne!