Last Gelli before Christmas

Its time to put the paints and inks away, tidy my work area and start wrapping presents.... its harder said than done as I tend to be one of these people that once an idea comes, be it 3am in the morning I feel compelled to start there an then!

This will not be my last post before xmas but the last one with any artwork.... I hope :)

For those who have asked a new date has now been set in 2013 for The Evil Elixer Mixer Workshop on February 1st, details can be found here 
Also Timeworn and The book of secrets start again on January 5th 2013

The Gelli plate has now been put away :( but here are my last two prints.

Right..... back to the wrapping, I actually enjoy it :)

Andy

Fun with Gelli!

On Sunday I was up at the Stamp Attic in Wantage holding my techniques class, (a big hello to everyone there :) anyway.... I was lucky enough to receive an early xmas present from Wendy.... a Gelli Arts printing plate, I have had my eye on these for a while and could not wait to give it a go.

So here are my first attempts, colours on the first one are in this order,

1. Traditions Indian Yellow
2. " Quinacridrone Violet
3. Cyan Blue
4. Traditions Sapphire blue (thinned with glazing medium)

Finally.... a sneak peak... it was finished in Carbon Black with a couple of stencils from a range I am releasing early next year.

And some Pish!........

I can see me having lots of fun with this :)

Finally, this piece is not using the Gelli Plate but is acrylic on watercolour paper, with more new stencils.

Thanks for reading and hope you like the stencils thus far!

Andy

The Man in the Moon

The Man in the Moon took another mug,
and then rolled beneath his chair;
And there he dozed and dreamed of ale,
Till in the sky the stars were pale
and dawn was in the air.

Let me introduce you to my Man in the Moon, a kind of altered art mini assemblage.
This all started of with a plastic ball, a zip from a pair of jeans, an old box frame and a glass eye.

Of course I had to add a light somewhere... so I decided to illuminate the glass eye!

Lots of fun doing this one, hope you like it.

Lights off...

Lights on!

Thanks for taking the time to read,

Andy

Memories of London 2012

Those of you who have taken part in Timeworn will know all about colour washes. I have used a vey similar effect in the painting below called glazing used by the Renaissance painters.
A glaze is a thin transparent colour painted on top of another transparent layer. Using this method allows light to pass through and be reflected back from the underlying layers which gives the paint a more luminous quality.
Glazed colours transmit light from within whereas opaque colours transmit light from the surface only.
I have mixed Traditions glazing medium with my Traditions colours, you could just use water but I find the glazing medium gives better translucency.


When using this method, start with the lighter colours, I first added a glaze of Transparent yellow iron oxide for the warm areas and a mix of cobalt blue and quin violet for the cool areas.
The red t-shirt had  glaze layers of napthol Red Light applied, highlights where then added to the creases and a final glaze layer of quin burnt orange was added. The final red colour radiates light.

This is however a very slow way of painting, far quicker with acrylic rather than oil but still slow but if you are after that luminosity it has to be done.
These techniques can be used in your altered art also, the book below uses a similar technique.


Before I go a quick note to those on the last Timeworn, you're final piece pics have gone away for judging, I will email the winner when results are back and announce it on here.

Andy

Book Obsession

I seem to have a bit of an obsession with altering hardback book covers at the moment.
An arch was first cut into the cover using a sharp knife, the heart is made from epoxy putty and the wings from a Dr Who figurine called The Weeping Angel.
The face on the cover was made by first turning an image into a threshold image on the computer and printing on plain paper.
It was then stuck it to the book and Tripple Thick was used to fill in the black areas.
Modeling paste was applied to other areas and stamped into.

Once everything was dry Decoart Traditions acrylic paint was layered and a little gold leaf added.

Books are so cheap to buy in charity shops, they are just like mini canvases to experiment on..



Thanks for reading,

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