Mixed Media Artist

The June/July issue of Quilting Arts had an article in it by Julie Booth on using dish soap as a resist on cloth.  I've done that before, and it suddenly occurred to me that it might work very nicely on paper as well, so I set off to experiment. Materials & Tools Dish soap (I used Dawn, because that's what I had!) Watercolor paper Stamps Black acrylic India ink Colored acrylics , Inktense pencils , etc 1. This first card was stamped all over, simply using my finger.  After allowing it to dry, I painted it with 1/2 India ink (left) and the other half thinned black acrylic. 2. After rinsing off the soap, you can see that both sides faded, but the ink side faded the most. 3. Because it's pretty faded, softer colors showed up really nicely when diluted and brushed over the piece. 4. In the spirit of experimenting, I made another piece that used undiluted black acrylic.  I really don't like the look of this one nearly as much, but i...

The pedigree of honey Does not concern the bee; A clover, any time, to him Is aristocracy. Emily Dickinson, 1924  Materials & Tools Painted background paper Various collage papers already painted, like " Lavender " from last week Vintage bee image from The Graphics Fairy Photoshop 1. Choose and scan all images and the background that you wish to use.  Scan at least at 300dpi if you are going to want to be able to print out your piece in the future. 2. Size and arrange digital collage pieces, and fade the edges.  Adjust colors as needed and play with the opacity of each. 3. Another way to integrate pieces that don't fade in nicely is to cover them with another transparent layer of the background, and erase as needed to allow the image to show. Copyright 2016 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided tha...

I was contacted by the folks at Canva recently to make sure that I knew about their free online photo editor (I did not), and did I want to try it out? (I did).   Canva uses a simple drag-and-drop method with pre-programmed filters and actions which allow you to add images to your blog or website with a minimum of fuss. Since it's online, if you are trying to do larger-sized files, say 300 dpi, you will lose some data.  Your photo will download as a 72 dpi image, and when you reconvert it to 300, it will be smaller than the original.   All the same, it's not meant to take the place of Photoshop, and it does a really nice job on quick resizes and special effects.  So try it out the next time you're looking for a quick drag-and-drop for your blog!

I like to make small pieces and images that interest me as they occur to me, and not to wait for a full-blown inspiration beforehand.  Often, making the smaller pieces will end up being just the inspiration I need to start on the larger piece.  I have found, personally, that if I sit around waiting for inspiration, it eludes me.  Get to work on something, and...bam!  There is the idea :-) Materials & Tools Watercolor paper Glazing medium Acrylic paints: Raw sienna Hansa yellow opaque Titian buff Spray bottles with water and rubbing alcohol Walnut ink, eucalyptus Bunch of lavender or other plant to use as mask Black Pitt pen , medium point 1. Wet the paper.  Sponge with raw sienna and yellow.  Spray with water and then with alcohol.  Glaze with Titian buff in glazing medium. 2. Spray with eucalyptus colored walnut ink, using a bunch of dried lavender as a mask. 3. Add a few details with a Pitt pen. 4. Save for a la...

I'm taking a week off to visit with these goofballs!  See you back here next week :-)