Wisdom

Hello all!

This week I have some new mediums to play alongside my artistcellar stencils.

To start, I grabbed an 8 x 10 piece of hot-pressed Fabriano watercolor paper. This paper is nice in that it is both 140lb and hot pressed AND it doesn't break the bank. Good watercolor paper tends to be really expensive, and while worth it - I can't always afford it!

Next, I started auditioning some Artistcellar stencils on the page. Here, I'm using Tibet Series: Buddha Eyes, Cathedral Plans: Notre Dame and Cathedral Plans: Amiens Plan.  The Cathedral Plans series stencil is a longtime favorite of mine for backgrounds. They are so versatile and I've found use for them in many different paintings.

With a palette knife, I scraped Golden Glass Bead Gel through the stencil. Let me tell you -- this stuff is awesome! Glass beads inside the medium really shimmer and shine and it works beautifully with the stencils!

I let it dry completely, and then I started dripping strings of Golden Tar Gel throughout... the tar gel appears white, but it will dry pretty much clear and adds great texture (similar to creating lines with a hot glue gun). 

Next I used watercolors, mermaid markers and alcohol to add color and even more texture. To create the cell-like effect I simply dipped a brush in the alcohol and then stamped it on the page. Yum!

For extra accent, I used a bit of Inka Gold and some Dina Wakely acrylic paint as the finishing touches. 

This is a super texture rich page and it was such a fun way to experiment with new supplies and old favorites.