homemade stencil

i am going to share how i made my woman stencil. to demonstrate the process i made a bird (which turned out cute!).....i first simply grabbed some scrapbook paper and cut out my shape. if you are not comfortable drawing and cutting your shape- journal girl had a great idea of how to get that shape you want- check this out!

 and if you look close on my stencil- you will notice some tape on his back....i did not like my first shape. he was too skinny- i like a little plumper bird- so i added a little fatness and taped that into place. and his one leg was a bit skinny; so i added just a bit to the leg to reenforce just a bit, i added some tape there too.

 you may ask why i used it before i was completely done with the process?....i wanted to verify that the shape i had cut, looked good on paper. so i did  paint around him just to verify that i did like his shape. once i knew the shape was good- i added playing cards to him to provide strength and durability.

 to add my playing cards, i used a gloss gel, but, you could use a heavier matte medium to do this step as well. it just needs to bind the cards to your paper shape. this is what i had on hand.

 once i have applied the gel, i put the cards onto the shape completely covering the shape and placing the cards as closely together as possible. i did brayer my cards once on to verify good contact and if you are worried about a sensitive area- use a clip to hold while drying.

 once dried, cut around the shape with your scissors....

some areas may be a little tight to use your scissors so i did use an exacto knife to cut out the area between his legs and to clean up the space by his beak.

 once he was completely cut out- i flipped him over and did use that same gloss gel on the back to provide a barrier on that side as well. i did not cover both sides in cards because i felt like otherwise, the stencil gets too thick- but, if you like that, feel free.....

 this was the bird painting i made then using my new stencil. he is looking very dapper!

 the background is from my gelli plate and a few layers then in between. if you give this a try- let me know! what can you make?

one more woman- gelli plate background

here is one more woman i painted with my own woman-stencil i made on friday. the background is from friday too, when my mom and i used the gelli plate......

i really liked the bright colors peeking through the dark. did you get a chance to play this weekend? leave me a comment so i can come and visit.

gelli plate printed backgrounds

yesterday, my mom and i got to hang out and play for a bit.

she had not seen a gelli plate before, and i am still trying to figure mine out. we played and dripped paint many times. it is amazing to me how many prints you can make from one plate- we printed so many before lunch that we had boxed us in my studio space basically to the counter we were working at with papers of wet paint on the floor.

 

i started with this background of purple, iridescent, and white. i added the book paper, ink and the orange ink around the circle. my mom had brought her sketch book and we used the duds to print on- which was perfect. the book was watercolor sheets that were 6"x12".

 i made my own stencil of a woman. i had used paper circles and some heavy gel and a stencil to add to the background. i used black spray paint to outline her. i took this first pic before i outlined the girl with an ink pen. with the spray paint it was a bit more difficult to get crisp edges and i felt i needed to outline her for a better finish.

this was my second woman yesterday. again, the main back ground is from our gelli plate printing. i added a few paper circles; the red is a scrapbooking paper circle i made. this one i used acrylic paint to outline my stencil. the edges were crisper and i could control the "dark" myself a little better. 

if you are interested in how i made woman stencil- stop back. i will take pics and explain my process.

a woman with a plan....

i was a woman with a plan- and it actually turned out relatively close to how i envisioned it! do you understand how rare that is?....let me tell you- usually somewhere in the midst of my painting what i think is my plan- it usually takes a hard left turn and finishes nothing quite like what i had envisioned...... i will still like it, but, it will not be what i had originally envisioned.....

this was my plan.... and i had drawn a woman's figure off to the side. the only piece i veered off on was that originally- i was going to paint 3- 30x30 canvases, but, i had only gesso'd 2 for some reason when i went to start- so 2 it was..... and 2 was good.

 i did the black/ grey wash first and allowed that to dry. i knew what i wanted for words- as i was taking those from a previous collage of mine- almost as much as words imagining all sorts of beautiful.....

 i used quinacrodone magenta and yellow and used those for a wash as well.....i had already added the words.

 i drew my shape onto the canvas with pencil....i like that you can still see the sketch.

 i love the shoulder- the mix of the colors, the light and dark, and the drips and runs....

 i love how the words are there but, that overall the painting is distressed and textured

here is a little bit closer view of the colors and washes at work....i know i am close to being done with this one, but, need to let it cook for a bit, just to be sure.....

woman or man?....

IMG_2760, a photo by alteredstatesstudio on Flickr.

i apparently have been really sick this past week and finally went to the doctor on sunday to find out the good news was that i did not have pneumonia- only bronchitis with a pleural rub (which means when i breathe, and my lung moves, it sounds like sandpaper rubbing together....).

physically, of course, i am the woman; however, after 22 years of marriage, it is clear that i am the man in the relationship. my husband reminded me that he started insisting that i go to the doctor on thursday or friday for sure (this basically started on monday.....), and when he is sick, he lets it go only about 2 days, and then, he is into acute care to see what is going on and get checked on- not almost a week of being sick and just now thinking the only reason i am going to the doctor is because my chest is killing me and i can't breathe. oh, and not to mention the fact that my mom had also called sunday morning to see what was up, and when i said that i had not been feeling good and my chest hurt....my mom said, "get off the phone, and get to the doctor! i will call you later to see what you have!" so, with a husband and a mom telling this woMAN to get to the doctor.....off i went.

now on the couch today for a second day, not feeling too horrible, except my chest still hurts, and heaven help me if i have a coughing fit (oh, my aching back- my chest explodes with pain with that), but, hopefully getting better (i don't have time to just sit on the couch). 

are you the woman or the man in your relationship? i am the woMAN, and i am too busy to be sick, if i just keep plugging away and am still upright, then, i must still be ok; i am more the overall picture- but not really wanting the fine details and to get caught up in those; i don't like talking about feeling (cuz i am sure, i don't really have too many feelings anyway, so what is the big deal?!- and who wants to talk about them anyway!); and i like pretties, but, not too damn many....woman, man?