Bloom & Grow Your Artist's Soul - A Mixed Media Tutorial

Hello and Happy Day everyone!  It's me, Lynne here today to share my monthly tutorial post for STAMPlorations with all of you, (which is, as you know,  my very favorite thing to do!)  And hang onto your seats peeps because this month I am taking you a tiny bit deeper into the art side of the mixed media world as you Paint Your Own Flowers! 

As always I am going to walk you through each step of my process, with lots of photos along the way, which if you follow along with me, one tiny little step at a time, you too will create a piece of your own art that you can be proud of - so here goes...

Step #1 - Creating Your Background: Fill your page with lots of color.  The more vibrant and colorful your background, the more the white flowers will pop off the page.

As you can see in this photo I am using my Dylusion paints and a foam applicator and applying the colors how ever I want, without thinking too much about it.  Just get the page covered...

 

Now for the fun part, using a stencil, it can be any stencil with a pattern you like, I am going to "cut through" the background colors applying white paint where the colors are dark, and a contrasting darker paint where the colors are light.  You will want to make sure that this first layer of paint is dry before you add your stencil pattern.

I began with my stencil in a vertical pattern and then switched it to a horizontal pattern.  There is no wrong way to do this, just keep layering until your page is filled up with color and patterns. 
Step 1 is now done ... let this dry.

STEP #2 - Draw in your flowers:  I am using a Stabilo All pencil but use what you have on  hand.  It can be a charcol pencil or a black pencil crayon or a soft lead pencil like an HB.

You want to use something dark enough so that you can see it over top your background and don't worry about being too dark because you will be painting over top if these lines. 

 

I drew daisies because they are easy for me, but you can draw any flower you like, just keep the shape simple and very open... like the flowers you would draw when you were a child. 

 

Now the reason I am using the Stabilo All pencil is that the black lines turn to paint when they get wet, so when I add my white paint it immediately turns grey, and gives me shading without having to do too much.  This will happen if you use a charcole pencil or a soft-leaded pencil, but not if you use a pencil crayon.

I put a good amount of paint on my brush and either outline the petal or make one broad brush stroke to create a streak of paint going in the right direction. Clean your brush often so the paint does not become too black, and don't worry too much about what your flowers look like at this stage because you are going to paint over them a few more times.  You can see in this photo that my flowers look very child like, which is what I want. 

I let the first layer dry (you can use a heat gun to speed up the process) and then went over my petals several more times with my white paint until the  flowers really stood out against the background.  You will notice that the petal shapes are very child-like and imperfect, this is the look I am going for and I will clean up everything in the last step, so be gentle with yourself and let your inner child just paint some flowers. 

 

Next I added paint to the stems, and filled in the flower centres with a dark brown.  I used the same dark brown to add a bit of shading to the edges of my stems, but again I did not worry too much about the placement, I just wanted some color and some contrast.

 

And now I will create some shadows on the petals using a color that is darker than the white but still fairly light - I chose a warm yellow - and added strokes of color between the petals and I also dabbed the top of the flower centres with some yellow to show the direction the sun is shining.

Step#4 - Cleaning It All Up:  This is the step where everything changes from a very child-like look to a more purposefully whimsical look - or what I like to call Perfectly Imperfect - by outlining your images.

 

I like to use a fine-tipped paint brush and a very thin black paint, but you can use a paint pen or a waterproof marker any other tool that let's you easily outline the images.  

Again, there is no need to be perfect and and it is easier if you do not think too much.  You will see that I did not follow my brush strokes, but rather drew in the petal shapes I wanted, and I even let paint show outside the lines!  I also added a few lines on the petals... if you think about what the images look like in a coloring book you will be on the right track.

Step#5 - Add Your Sentiment:  When I am creating a page in my art journal I like to add words that mean something to me.  Even if I am doing this on a canvas, I like to add words, because that is what I do.   You do not have to do this.

 

When you are adding journalling to a page that is this vibrant and busy you will need to create a place to write so the words will show up.  I like to use a watered-down white gesso for two reasons; 1. because pens seem to write better on the matte surface and 2. because I  want some of my background to show through and to keep the flowers as the focal point.  Otherwise the white and black journalling will overpower the page.

 

But this is not the case when you just fade back your background, as you can see in the finished spread.  You can practice this technique on paper, in your art journal or on a canvas  using whatever product you have on  hand - craft paint and pencil crayons will work just as well as acrylic paints and charcoal pencils.  The main thing is to allow yourself to paint some child-like flowers and then make them a little bit more grown  up!

So I do hope you enjoyed my tutorial this month and that I maybe inspired you to try a new technique and to play with your stencils in a different way.  And As always, Thank You for popping in today to see what I am up to ... and Please DO leave me a comment if you like what you see!!

Lynne  Mizera
For the STAMPlorations Mixed Media Design Team
 

STAMPLORATIONS PRODUCTS USED:

Other Products Used:

Ranger Dylusion paints (background)

Stabilo All Pencil - black

DecoArt Americana Chalky Finish (for the flowers)

Whisper (off white)

Delicate (yellow)

New Life (green) 
Liquitex White Gesso

ARTploration Stencil: Evolution

Love Yourself... A Mixed Media Art Journal Page

Happy Sunday everyone... today for Stencil Sunday over at STAMPlorations, I am sharing this wonderful mixed media page I created in my personal Art Journal. 

 

Now before I share all my photos, let me just say... I Love working in my Art Journal because this is where ANYTHING GOES. I have given myself permission to do whatever comes to me and even to make "ugly stuff", which takes off all the pressure to create that masterpiece every single time, because, let's face it, even Rembrandt painted a few pictures that he didn't like.  And usually, if I just start and keep adding to the page and don't over think what I am doing, it gets better and better.  So here is a photo of my finished page and and a few process photos along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like more details and a step-by-step tutorial showing you how I use my Art Journal and how I created these pages, got HERE to this post where I detail all the steps in my process...

 

So thank you for popping in again to see what I am up to, and if I have inspired you to go play with your stencils consider linking up to our monthly Mixed Media Challenge where it is ALWAYS Anything Goes Except a Card as long as you use a stencil, any stencil.  (And please do leave me a comment if you like what you are seeing.)

Lynne Mizera

for the STAMPlorations Mixed Media Design Team

 

STAMPlorations Products Used:

Bloom Silhouettes

Doodled Heart

Hidden Heart

Deconstructing An Art Journal Page - By Lynne Mizera

Hello Everyone, I hope you are having a lovely summer! I am wearing my STAMPLorations design team hat today  as I share this promised Special mixed media tutorial.  I am going to share all the steps I took to create this richly colored and textured mixed media page in my Art Journal.

Using only paint, stencils, a few die cuts, my gel pens and Ranger's Stickles and Liquid Pearls, I played uninhibitedly until I loved this vibrantly-colored two-page spread in my Art Journal.

I will demonstrate once again how you can take something that may look like a HOT MESS and turn it into a beautiful piece... because remember that quote from my tutorial post last month:

"If you hate it you are NOT finished yet!"

So go and get something to sip on because this is another one of my photo-heavy, step-by-step tutorials... Smile.

 

First Step - Add Background Color:

I am working in my 9x12 inch Dylusions Art Journal with Dylusions paint.  The paper is made to be able to take all the products we use in mixed media and is so smooth that the Dylusions paint goes on as easily as butter on warm toast.  Use any paint or ink in your favorite colors and just get blocks of color down on the page.

 

Second Step - Add a Bold Stencil Pattern:

This will be a focal point so I wanted something really Bold - I chose the ARTplorations Daisy Dance stencil and used my black gesso on a very vibrant part of my page.  Black is not a color I typically choose, but I wanted to do something really different for me.

The daisy pattern in this stencil is so large it is almost a mask and allows a lot of the background color to show through which is what I want. This pattern is too strong to apply to the entire layout, so I decided to keep it to the one page only.

Third Step - Add A Masking Stencil Pattern Or Words:

Here is where I use masks to cover my favorite bits of this background because in the next step I will be changing the look of the page completely.  The masked image will keep the original colors and patterns beneath it free from all the layers of paint and patterns to follow.  These large word masks from ARTplorations are my very favorite because they are so big that lots of my background will show through.  I use a good painters tape to stick these to my pages, because it holds firmly but releases easily, and I use lots of it underneath my masks to make sure they will not move during all the layers that will follow.  

A few things to keep in mind when deciding where to place your masks; look for brighter areas and look for lots of contrast.  Bold color transitions show up better when you are done.  I now choose a color of paint that compliments most of the colors in my background, purple in this case, and using my small round foam blending tool I cover the pages in a light layer of paint leaving spaces with the original colors.  You can continue adding paint colors over top of everything, always leaving some spots of the previous color to show.  I added some yellow-green over top the purple - which promptly turned to an icky yellowish brown. GROAN!  But I am not too worried because I know I can fix this.  Just Do Not remove the masks yet.

 

Fourth Step - Add A 2nd And 3rd Smaller Stencil Pattern:

This is where I can fix my icky background colors.  I choose a stencil pattern that compliments the original Daisy Dance but is a smaller pattern, I am using the ARTploration  Daisy Play stencil. And now I will break up all the places where I am not loving the background by pouncing paint through the stencil at random all over the page.

 

and I do not stop at one color but keep layering more colors through the same stencil at random all over the page.  next I added bright green.

 

And kept adding colors through the stencil until I liked my background.   I even added a third stencil pattern, ARTplorations Oh My Stars, down the centre of the page, just because!

 

As you can see, now the background does not look anything like the original pattern that is underneath my masks, which is what you want so when the masks are removed the images will stand out.

 

I continued to add colors where ever I didn't like the background and when I removed the masks, I ended up with THIS:

 

Fifth Step - Use A Gel Pen To Pull Out The Details

Next I use a gel pen to outline and highlight the areas to which I want to draw attention.  Because the overall layout was so dark I used a white gel pen and that made my words really pop.

Look at the difference once you choose where you want the eye to focus.  Notice that I chose to outline only a few strategically placed flowers in the path I wanted the eye to follow.  Keep this in mind when outlining and that less is more and too many outlines will make your piece look confusing or busy.

 

Last Step - Add Embellishments:

I used the CUTplorations Dragonfly Layering Dies to add die cuts in black paper to the left bottom corner of the page to help balance the heavy black pattern on the top right of the page.  I then filled the wings with sparkly Stickles and then really enhanced the flowers I outlined by filling the petals with Liquid Pearls in Cream.

 

 

 

 

Well I hope you enjoyed my tutorial this month and that it has inspired you to go and play with some of your stencils and paints. As always thank you for popping to see what I am up to today and please do leave me a comment if you like what you are seeing!

Lynne Mizera, Mixed Media Artist

for the STAMPlorations Mixed Media Design Team

 

Remember to use my personal discount code STAMPGIRLLYNNE to receive 20% off your entire order at STAMPlorations, even sale items!

STAMPlorations products used on this project:

ART HAPPENS MASK

INSPIRE MASK

LIFE IS GOOD MASK

DAISY DANCE STENCIL

DAISY PLAY STENCIL

OH MY STARS STENCIL

 

 

 

DRAGONFLY LAYERING DIES

OTHER PRODUCTS USED ON THIS PROJECT:

Ranger Dylusions Journal

Ranger Dylusions Paint

Ranger Stickles

Ranger Liquid Pearls

Uni-ball Signo White Gel Pen

Sharpie White Water Based Paint Pen