Pandora Had No Restraint - Journal52

Hello Friends,

Today I am sharing my art journal page for this week with the prompt from Journal52. This was the first week this year that they featured a guest artist. Her name is Daniela Mellen. She challenged us to use restraint in our page...using one simple shape and one color to make our background layers. This brought to mind a technique I demonstrated at a manager's meeting for a stamp company. I have no idea what I called it back then...but it is a process of layering masks  to make a interesting background using sticky notes. I thought this technique might be fun for mixed media as well, so I gave it a try.


So for the nameless technique we shall now call BettySue...
  1. Start with small sticky notes and place them randomly over your paper. Mine is 7 1/2" X 12" cold pressed watercolor paper.
  2. Using a brayer and your lightest color of paint, go over the whole page and then let it dry a bit.
  3. Now take more sticky notes that are slightly larger (I just cut my biggest ones into rectangles using my blade cutter... you might add a bit of re positional glue to the unsticky areas) Put these around the page over lapping the first set. Go over the whole page using a slightly darker color.
  4. When that is dry enough...take even bigger sticky notes and place those all around the page. Use your darkest color to brayer over it all. Now it is a icky gooey mess but..when you take all the notes off.... 


TAH DAH! :) When you are using dye based ink pads and smooth paper...this looks much neater. But, for my purposes of a layer on my page with repeating patterns...it is PERFECT!


For my next layer I got out some stamps that were squares and rectangles and used white acrylic and black gesso to stamp all over..over lapping my other shapes. Craft paint works best for this as it is more opaque (see the apple barrel kind there) and I apply it using a sponge brush and tap tap tapping. Make sure to use a quick baby wipe or something to remove the paint from your stamps..or you will have a sticky mess.


Now that my background seemed done with all its purpleness and rectangleness..I needed a foreground image. I decided to go with a girl and with the theme of restraint I thought of Pandora and her box from Greek mythology...and her being not a fan of restraint..LOL So I sketched my figure and did a couple coats of gesso. Then painted her up with some acrylics and paint pens.


Finally for my title I again went with the repeated pattern of rectangles. I used a stamp set I have that looks like stencil letters. I stamped my words onto a scrap of deli paper using permanent ink and then painted the opposite with white gesso. I cut them out and glued them on the page using mod podge. Using the deli paper collage method rather then stamping directly on the page insured I might get the letters mostly straight :)


To finish up..of course out came the white and black Posca paint pens and my gold Sharpie fine line for doodles and lines...just 'cause I can.


I hope you enjoyed my page for Journal52  this week. I will be linking it over there as well.
<3 Shel


Comments

  1. So nice to use things from your past. Great project. C

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cool technique. The completed project is awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love it that you can take the word restraint, and rock it! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :) Win you and I know there really isn't any restraint in art!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comments. I read every one :)