Tech Trauma Wall Art

For this project I combined Andy's gorgeous Tech Trauma stamps with Stampendous

Embossing powders on a brayered background and made myself a little bit of wall art!

Below is a pic of the framed piece, another close up where I've tried to show the bling,

and a brief description of how it came together! 

 The finished artwork I've popped into an Ikea box frame.

I made my own mount as theirs was too small, full details and a few more pics here!

It's a bit moody but still sparkles!!! 

 First brayer a nice thick layer of DecoArt White Gesso - love this gesso as it is a fabulously

thick consistency so that gives all the layers to come a great, textured base. After the Gesso

I layered up all the paints listed below, going back in with more layers

until I was happy with the coverage and colours.

Once all the paint was dry I then did some random background stamping with my

'feature stamp' which I did upside down.

I can get away with it being that way up because this is such a textured piece;

the detailed writing part of the stamp kinda gets lost in the background and is not defined enough for you to see the text is upside down, (though the writing shows beautifully on less lumpy surfaces).

 I triple embossed with 3 types of powders from the Stampendous Encrusted Jewel set.

On the final layer I have my inked stamp ready and quickly press it into the melted

powders really firmly while they are still molten.

I hadn't let the paper fully dry when I heated the embossing powder, so

it buckled a bit. but once all the embossing powders were fully cooled

I just stuck it under some heavy books and it was fine!

That's it! Thanks for looking. Suz x

Products used:
Illusionary Artist Tech Trauma Stamp Set IAAS1004 by Andy Skinner
DecoArt Media paints:
White Gesso, and fluid acrylics: Primary Cyan, Prussian Blue Hue, Intrference Blue, Carbon Black and Titanium White
Stampendous Enamels from the Frantage Encrusted Jewel Blue Kit (colours used were Shabby Blue, Royal Blue and Silver Halo)
Other products used: Versamark and Archival ink pads, a mini brayer, card for the base and pearlised card for the mount

Faux printing block tutorial

Good afternoon,

I have put this tutorial together to show you how I made the faux wooden printers blocks that I have attached to the wooden candle holder pictured below, I hope it will give you more ideas in which to use some of the translucent colours in Decoart's Traditions range.

Using 2.25mm Tando Creative Chipboard the letters and numbers were die cut with the Tim Holtz Word Play die on my Big Shot.

Rectangles were then cut with scissors for the letters to be mounted onto.

The letters were given a coat of Decoart Gesso and once dry sanded
 for a more level surface.

Once sanded they were given a second goat of gesso and sanded again very lightly.


The mounting blocks were given a coat of Traditions Raw umber and left to dry.

With a round brush, Traditions Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide was applied using horizontal strokes, it's important to see the brush strokes and not blend the colour too much as this will give the illusion of wood grain once other transparent colours have been layered on top.

I wanted each letter to be individual, these two have been spattered with thinned Napthol Red and Carbon Black using a tooth brush.

The letter n had one coat of Traditions Sap Green applied and when just touch dry was wiped back in areas using a baby wipe.

The translucency of these colours allow every layer below to shine through, the letter a below was given one coat of Quinacridone Burnt Orange and the spattering is still highly visible.

The letter b was given a coat of Phthalo green (blue shade), you can see the Yellow iron oxide and Napthol Red beaming through.

Archival ink in Coffee was then used to shade the edges of the letters.

Here are all the letters with the Coffee archival ink shading.

Notice that on the Letters, especially visible on the b that the brush strokes from the Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide are now really starting to look like wood grain.

All the letters were then aged further, the letter k was first covered with Black archival ink.

It was then wiped back to reveal the colours underneath with a baby wipe.

Here are all the letters now antiqued with Black archival ink.

The mounting blocks were then shaded with Black archival ink around the edges.

The letters were then stuck onto the blocks with Matte Decoupage glue and given a protective coat of Duraclear Matte Varnish.

Here are the finished printing blocks, they can be used in so many projects as embellishments or as in the case of the candle holder to cover an object. 

Thanks for reading,

Andy

Give your journal cover a splash of colour!

Below is a gesso carved journal I worked on this morning for an upcoming workshop.
While on the subject of workshops I have just been informed that there has been a late cancelation on my Rock Book workshop at Paper Arts in Stroud this weekend… you can call 01453 886038 to book this last place or visit http://www.paperarts.co.uk/
The book incorporates the layering and glazing of Decoart Traditions acrylic paint, hope you like :)
I may even start journaling in it….. although I am so messy I can just see all the pages just sticking together in one big clump!!


Andy

Projects Underway…A Taste Of Morocco

Hi all,
Nothing actually completed to share with you today, but thought I would show you a project I am currently working on.

This is a toiletry box which measures 25cm x 16cm and is made of thick cardboard and ideal for this project.


I visited one of my favourite shops last week called EN ROUTE in Chesham, Its a little Moroccan emporium full of amazing goodies, If I get chance I will post some pictures of it on twitter later.
Anyway that's where the inspiration came from for this box.

Stage 1
Click On Images for A Larger View

First I cut the hole in the front of the box with a craft knife.
I then applied Decoart Stucco using a pallet knife to the surface, once dry I added a little Picket Fence Distress Crackle paint in random areas.
Script from my Simply Angelic stamp set was then stamped onto tissue paper and applied to the surface using Decoart Gesso.
Detail around the top of the arch was hand cut from Grunge paper and stuck with a strong glue.
The very very cool wrought Iron Gates are actually a Mask made by Tando Creative and available here at the Craft Barn.
I could not resist adding a battery operated LED light inside!

Here it is with the lights off.


Stage 2

The inside of the box had a brushed Silver effect (not very Moroccan) so I added Adirondack Alcohol Inks in Sunset Orange, Ginger and Rust.

Stage 3

I then added Decoart Glazing medium to Americana Yellow Ochre and Raw Umber, this gives the paint a very translucent quality, it was then painted over the Stucco with a brush and before it dried I gently wiped back the paint with a paper towel.
Here is a close-up of the effect and it also shows the Distress Crackle Paint.

The gates have been painted with Buttermilk,  aged and rusted.

Stage 4
Well this is far as I have got thus far, but I will post more when I have finished the outside and filled it with goodies!

Andy

Gesso and a Dry Brush Video

Hello!
Well I'm back from Edinburgh, had a day's rest and feeling very enthused again…so enthused that I have made another video tutorial!
More on the video in a moment but first I wanted to share with you this abstract painting I am working on using the string technique.
Click Pictures For a Larger View


I found this technique using gesso and string on a website called Loving Mixed Media, it's really worth checking out if you like experimenting with mediums, lots of inspiration and great tutorials.
Ok on to the video, I loved the colours I used in the abstract above so decided to use them on this project using gesso as a textured background and dry brushing acrylic paint on top.
I have decorated a tag and an old perfume box pictured below.


For the tag I stippled the gesso on with a sponge dabber and the box I applied the gesso with a fan brush to give a different texture as you can see in these close-ups.


The secret to achieving this effect is the lighter you go the dryer your brush needs to be, finishing off with hardly any paint in the brush whatsoever.
Note; You will need an acrylic paint with a good pigment like Americana for this to work and if using cardstock a good flexible smooth gesso.
Right I will stop babbling on….here's the video, be warned some of the longer text instructions disappear a bit too quick so have your pause button ready!…PS please give it the thumbs up if you find it of use, it helps with the ratings….thanks!

Light Relief Gesso Backgrounds

Hi everyone,
I have been working lots with gesso textures lately by applying it with a pallet knife and stamping into it. I wanted to attempt creating a stamped gesso background on card with a light relief so that when dry I could happily stamp onto it without loosing much detail in the stamped image due to the irregular surface.
Firstly I applied a thin layer of gesso onto the card stock with a flat paint brush and immediately stamped into it. Once dry I started to build up layers with acrylic paint, it may not look like it but there are 5 different colours on there! I finished off with a little Distress ink before stamping with Archival Black.

Here is the result!

This close up shows the delicate gesso texture in more detail.

The other great thing about this technique is that because the gesso is applied so thin it dries really quick, just be sure to wash your stamps immediately after use.

Andy

Mixed Media Tutorial PDF

I have uploaded a tutorial on mixed media backgrounds in the PDF Tutorials section of this blog located  on the tabs on the top menu of this blog.


Hope you like it!
Andy

Mixed Media Backgrounds

Below are a few test pieces using the watercolour, gesso and acrylic paint method mentioned in my last post inspired by Helga Strauss.
On the first piece of cardstock I have used a castle stamp from Lindsay Masons new designs along with the geese from my Nature set.


The Gesso gives fantastic texture to the cardstock as you can see in the close up picture below.
I"m currently working on a quick PDF tutorial for this technique which I will post here as soon as it is finished so don't forge t to check back!

Andy