Hi Everyone,

I am so excited to stock mixed media and other art books in the shop.  I plan to do a monthly book review of one of these books available in the shop at www.stencil-art.co.za

Today's book review is Water Marks by Monique Day-Wilde.  I am always so happy to support local artists!

Water Marks is the latest book by Monique Day-Wilde and is locally published by Metz Press and is also available in Afrikaans.

This is not just another book about muted, delicate and translucent watercolours.  Instead rich, vivid images, are created not only with watercolour on paper, but also with a mix of other media and materials in all kinds of unconventional ways.  All this while still retaining a watery feel and enhancing and expanding the possible textural effects. Although flowers are the central theme throughout the book, the focus is on the techniques that can easily be applied to any project.

The reader are eased into the book with an introduction to the materials, tools and techniques used in the projects with useful tips from this experienced artist-writer. All crafters and mixed media artists from the absolute beginner to the experienced will find something useful and exciting in this book! 

Learn a multitude of techniques in 28 step-by-step projects with media like Acrylic Inks, Watercolour paints, Fabric Dyes, Acrylic Paints, Watercolour pencils and many more.

The quotes at the beginning of each section are an added bonus! This book encourages you to experiment and play! To quote Monique Day-Wilde: “Finally, don’t be afraid to experiment – it’s just a piece of paper!”. There is even a section showing you how to incorporate your “happy accidents”!

I am sure you will enjoy this book just as much as I did. 

Watch the video:

Hi Everyone,

last time I posted a new tutorial I was still in short sleeves.  All of a sudden winter is here and I am sitting next to a heater and swaddled in layers of clothing!  The early mornings and late afternoons are quite cold here on the highveld, but luckily the sun is shining during the day!

I once again designed 2 new stencils and gives it a test drive on this art journal page - Star Flowers and Butterflies 3. 

Journal page - Butterfly by Sareana van As

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Strathmore 9x12 Visual Journal - Bristol Smooth Paper

Liquitex Clear Gesso

Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool

Distress Ink Pads -Festive Berries, Seedless Preserves, Ripe Persimmon, Mustard Seed & 

       Picked Raspberry

Heritage 3D Contour Paste Gel - Matte (Gel Medium)

Heritage Artist’s Acrylic - Pearl #06 & Brilliant Gold #M13

Stencil-Art Stencils - Star Flowers, Butterflies 1, Butterflies 3, Flowers Mixed & Dots Small

Mul-Tex Laminated Mulberry Fiber Sheet

Lindy Stampgang Starburst Sprays - Poinsettia Red Gold & Jazzy Jivin’ Purple

Lindy Stampgang Moon Shadow Mist - Smoky Sapphire

Ranger Multi Medium Matte

Distress Paint - Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door & Mowed Lawn

Zig 2-Way Glue Pen

Big Brush pens - Black #199, Permanent Green Olive #167, Deep Scarlet Red #219 &

      Cadmium Yellow #107

Lisa Pavelka Craft Foil Sheets - Rainbow

Faber-Castell Pitt Artists pens - black

Sharpie White Extra fine point paint marker

INSTRUCTIONS: 

1.  Apply Liquitex Clear Gesso with a paintbrush through the Star Flowers stencil.  As always I will let each layer dry (either with the heat tool or let it stand for a while) before adding any new layer of medium on top.
2. Use the mini ink blending tool to apply Distress Inks in a circular motion to the page. I used Festive Berries, Seedless Preserves, Ripe Persimmon, Mustard Seed and Picked Raspberry.
3. Distress Inks will always reactivate with liquid so I will seal this layer with Gel Medium so that I can add more layers of wet mediums on top. 
4. Dab some Pearly Acrylic paint with the mini ink blending tool through the Butterflies 1 stencil to add just a faint pearly shimmer of flying butterflies to the background.
5. Cut a piece of Mul-Tex large enough so that the butterfly from the Butterflies 3 stencil will fit in and stick it down to the craft sheet with some masking tape.
6. Colour the Piece of Mul-Tex with Lindy Stampgang Sprays and set aside to dry.   I used Starburst Poinsettia Red Gold, Starburst Jazzy Jivin’ Purple and Moon Shadow Smoky Sapphire.
7. I always clean my stencils and excess paints and inks in the local telephone directory.  I just love using this tissue paper for collage in my art journal. 
8. Choose some of the papers and draw flowers and leaves with the Flowers Mixed stencil with a white Sharpie paint marker.  I designed this stencil specifically with doodling in mind.  Then continue to cut out all the shapes.
9. Draw the butterfly with a Gold pen on the coloured Mul-Tex and cut it out.  The Mul-Tex kept on curling so I scrunched it up so that it can lay flat.
10. I moved my collage elements around until I was satisfied with the placement and adhered it with Multi Medium Matte by Ranger.
11. The red butterfly was standing out to much so I painted it with acrylic metallic paint in Brilliant Gold by Heritage to give it a more of an orangy colour.  This metallic paint is translucent so the bottom layers of colour will show trough.
12. I adhered the Butterflies 3 stencil with masking tape to the page and use the Dots Small stencil to add texture with Distress Paint dabbers in Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Barn Door, again drying in between each addition of colour.  Then add some dots of Mowed Lawn Distress paint to the bottom of the page.
13. Use a Zig 2-Way Glue Pen to add details to the butterfly.  While I wait for the glue to turn from blue to clear once sticky, I draw the stems with a Green Olive Big Brush pen and add the leaves with Multi Medium.
14. Gently adhere the Craft foil with a paint brush or you fingers to the butterfly.  The foil will adhere to the glue.  You’ll see that I waited too long and the glue started drying. For best results the glue must still be sticky. Use the glue and foil to add antennas to the butterfly.
15. Mark out the lines for the quote and write a rough outline for the words with a pencil.  Once I was happy with the layout of the words, I went over the outlines with a Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Brush pen and filled it in with the black Big Brush pen.
16. Use your white Sharpie Paint pen and black Pitt Artist pens to add details, outlines and doodles to the butterfly, flowers and leaves.  Use the Flowers Mixed stencils as necessary.
17. Add vines and tiny leaves to the words with the Green Olive Big Brush pen and outline the words with the white Sharpie paint pen.  Doodle a border around the page and then add tiny flowers to the words with the Deep Scarlet Red Big Brush pen.
18. Lastly shade around the butterfly, flowers and leaves with Big Brush pens in Deep Scarlet Red, Green Olive and Cadmium Yellow.
19. I always finish off my page with the date stamp!

Watch the video:

Wow, its been a long time since I posted on the blog! I have been busy stocking the shop with lots and lots of new goodies to play with!

I have also been really busy designing new stencils, and as always first play with the stencils myself before adding it to the shop.  I have been working on a template for houses for a while and came up with the "My Neighbourhood" stencil that includes a fun border as well as a picket fence and some pots and plants.  The cute buildings can be either houses or shops, like a bakery in my tutorial.

My "Sunshine Houses" Art Journal Page:

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Strathmore Visual Journal 9x12 Bristol Smooth Paper

Heritage Craft Products Gesso Paste

Acrylic Sprays

Stencil-Art stencils – My Neighbourhood STDS015, Cherry Blossoms STDS014 & 

                                    Sun Rays STBP024

Patterned Scrapbook and Text Paper

Heritage Craft Products 3D Crystal Acrylic Paint – Fire Engine

Tim Holtz Distress Paint – Spiced Marmalade, Mowed Lawn, Picket Fence & Mustard Seed

Sakura Glaze Pen – white

Faber-Castell Big Brush pens – Warm Grey 273, White 101, Skyblue 146, Orange Glaze 113,

                                                       Walnut Brown 177, Green Gold 268, Cold Grey 230

                                                       Deep Scarlet 219 & Permanent Green 167

Heritage Craft Products Free Flow Acrylic Paint – Carmine, Turquoise, Orange & Red Oxide

Portfolio Water-Soluble Oil Pastels – Orange, Red Orange, Yellow Orange, Yellow, Blue Green,

                                                                   Red, Green, Gray & Cerulean

Sharpie Extra Fine Point White Paint Marker

INSTRUCTIONS:

IT IS IMPORTANT TO ALWAYS LET ONE LAYER DRY BEFORE ADDING ANOTHER!

1. Apply gesso paste to the background with a palette knife to create some texture.

1. Use home-made acrylic sprays to the background, move the page to create interesting patterns and to mix the colours a bit. (Watch the tutorial how to make your own acrylic sprays Click here).

1. I initially planned to paint the 3 houses using the “My Neighbourhood” stencil as a template, but changed my mind and used patterned scrapbook to cut out 3 houses.  I collaged the houses to the background with Ranger’s Multi Medium Matte.

1. I tore a page out of an old childrens book and cut out the shapes for the windows and doors and adhered it in place with the Multi Medium.

1. To get the paper houses to look like it was part of the page, I applied a wash of gesso to the whole page.

1. I used the Cherry Blossom stencil and Heritage 3D Crystal Acrylic Paint to add flowers in the foreground – almost as if you were looking at the houses from behind some flowers. I left it to dry over night – I found that the 3D Crystal Acrylic bubbles and burns and looses its transparency when dried with a heat tool.

1. I lined the stencil up over the flowers and applied Distress Paint in Spiced Marmalade, Mowed Lawn, Picket Fence and Mustard Seed to the flowers and leaves.

1. I used Faber-Castell Big Brush pens to add the pavement blocks and other details to the houses.

1. I applied Heritage Free Flow Acrylic Paint to the awnings and roofs of the houses.

1. Use the Sun Rays stencil to add sun rays behind the houses and lengthen the rays with a ruler. I made use of Portfolio Water-Soluble Oil Pastels for this – use the Inkssentials Craft Nib to blend the pastels as it fits in tight spaces where your fingers can’t. I also used the oil pastels to shade around the flowers.

1. I created some flowers on watercolour paper the same way as in step 6 & 7 and cut out the flowers and leaves.  Create some dimension on the flowers and leaves by rubbing and blending oil pastels to the edges.  Adhere to the page with Multi Medium Matte.

1. Colour in the pavement blocks with a Oil Pastel in Gray and blend with a water brush.  Shade around the houses with oil pastels.

1. Add some final details to the houses with Faber-Castell Big Brush pens.

1. Finally add the quote and the date with a Sharpie Extra Fine Point White Paint Marker.

Youtube video:

Hi Everyone,

I have a confession to make ...    I am a bit obsessed with sprays at the moment.  It is not always the easiest medium to use, as I more often than not cannot control where it ends up on my page.  I still love how easy and quick you can apply the colour.  

Today I am showing you how to make your own Acrylic Sprays! The advantages are that you can mix your own colours to coordinate exactly with your colour scheme  and that the Acrylic paint is permanent once dry.  Being a mixed media artist, this is a huge plus point for me as I always work in layers.  

I used some different Acrylic paint products in the shop (I try to stick to one colour so that I can compare the results) and the plastic bottles are also available in the shop at www.stencil-art.co.za.  This was the results once the sprays dried:

You can watch the Youtube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o08USAY9GFY

Hi Everyone,

As previously mentioned I released 4 new stencils featuring different angles of faces.  I have never tried an abstract painting before and decided to give it a go while I played with the new face stencils.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and vibrancy of the Heritage Craft Products' Artist's Acrylics as it is not expensive.  I have found that the Metallic Artist's Acrylics are however translucent.

Instructions:

1. Cut a mask of the whole stencil with Wax Paper (Deli Paper) and adhere to the background paper with Adhesive Spray. (I use wax paper from Checkers - it works great on the Gelli-Arts Plate as well!)
2. Make a wash with Black Acrylic Paint and water and cover the background.
3. Use Cosmetic sponges or a stencil brush to create some texture with Metallic Acrylic paints and stencils. Dry each layer of paint before adding more paint. I used Heritage Craft Products Metallic Artist's Acrylics in Regal Red, Sapphire Blue, Brilliant Gold, Emerald Green & Amethyst and Stencil-Art stencils (Crazy Arrows, Crazy Triangles, Bent Squares). I have cut some of my stencils in circles so that it does not leave such a straight border when I use it in my art projects).
4. Add more texture with white Acrylic paint (Heritage) and Stencil-Art Scrambled Letters stencil. Repeat with Dark Gold Artist's Acrylic and Spiral Burst stencil.
5. Remove the wax paper mask and spread some black Texture Paste (Heritage Craft 3D Contour Paste) through the stencil to create a raised outline for the image. Dry before adding colour.
6. I used Heritage Craft Products Artist's Acrylics in Red, Blue and Yellow to "colour in" the face.  It was quite fun to just add and mix the colours.  I did, however try to create highlights and shadows with the lighter and darker colours. 
7. I used White and Black paint to add details to the face.
8. I used the 3 primary colours and Black and White to cover the too busy background. 
9. You are more than welcome to e-mail me if you need some more information at sareana@stencil-art.co.za.

Youtube video:

Hi Everyone,

I have been working hard at designing a series of stencils of different face angles.  My daughter, Danelle was my model for all the designs. 

All 4 stencils were released today and is available at www.stencil-art.co.za.  I will be posting some ideas on how to create the following artwork using the stencils in the next couple of weeks on Youtube and Facebook.

Classy Girl - Heritage Craft Products Acrylics

Sporty Girl - Heritage Craft Products Acrylics

Preppy Girl - Derwent Pastel Pencils

Flower Girl - Dylusions Ink Sprays

Hi Everyone,

Today I am playing with one of the Donna Downey's stamps.  Unity Stamp Company released a series of  "face" stamps by Donna Downey.  Some are available in the shop at www.stencil-art.co.za.

1. I applied Heritage Craft Gesso Paste to the background with a paintbrush.  I spread it quite thickly as I wanted to add texture with a cake decorating roller I bought from the Chinese Market in Randburg at R40 each. (If you like to negotiate I'm sure you could pay cheaper).  I also use these rollers on my Gelli-Arts plate.
2. I am using Gelatos in warm colours to create my background. Donna Downey recently demonstrated this technique on the Design Memory Craft Youtube channel (http://youtu.be/4KvatjVacag). 
3. After finishing my background, I coloured in the face on the stamp with Design Memory Craft Stampers Big Brush pens.  As this pens are filled with the India Ink, it stays wet for a while and dries permanent. I layed the tissue paper over the stamp and gently rubbed with my fingers and a soft Speedball Brayer to transfer the ink.
4. I stamped the sentiments with Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black on plain copy paper.
5. I tore some pages of women out of magazines and chose one that will fit in with my colours and the stamped face. 
6. I painted the spot where the face will be with white Gesso as I planned to colour in the face with Gelatos.
7. I used Gel Medium to adhere the body and the stamped face to my page.  I used an old Gift Card to flatten the paper and to make sure that there was no air bubbles or wrinkles in the paper.
8. I used Gelatos to colour in the face and added highlights, shadows and details with the Big Brush pens.  I love the fact that the Big Brush pens does not dry immediately, there is always time to blend the ink or even wipe it off if you do not like the effect.
9. I used the Gelatos in the same colours I used for the background wanted the body to "disappear" into the background.
10. I sprayed Fixative Spray  over the Gelatos before I stamped the texture around the face of the stamp on the background of my page with Jet Black Archival ink by Ranger.
11. I stamped the face randomly in the background with the Archival Ink
12. I decided which sentiment to use and adhered it with Gel Medium to the page, again making sure that there is no wrinkles.
13. I used the Champagne Gold Gelato to add some colour around the face to draw attention to my focal point.
14. I used the Big Brush pen in warm grey around the sentiments as the white copy paper was to bright and distracting attention from my focal point (the coloured face).
15. Lastly I stamped the date.

Video on Youtube: