I decided to take a piece of heavy illustration board and
cut it to the 8”x10” size. Then I used a piece of brown scrapbooking paper and
tore it into odd pieces and glued them down for texture. I used Alene’s Tacky
Glue for this.
Tip: Adding matte medium, or gloss medium, to your
acrylic paint will lighten the color without breaking down the integrity of the
paint. You need less water to create a wash of transparent color by doing this.
Too much water can make it very difficult for the paint to adhere to your
background and the paint will lift when you apply your next layer, even if it
has dried.
I used the small bottles of craft acrylics because they are
already diluted and I could make washes with them much easier. At this point
this was just an abstract background to work from. I added a layer of paint
using a sea sponge to create a different textural look to the background.
Another coat of the matte medium was added to set the paint
so it wouldn’t be changed by the next layer.
The next step was to add some pieces of cream colored lace
fabric. My theme is time and a bit of Steampunk. A couple of layers of odd shapes were added
to add depth and texture. The lace was added using the matte medium as the
glue. It permeates the fabric and adheres to the previous layers of medium.
Then more paint. I laid in a wash of blue and purple.
The next thought was to use some molding paste to add some
more texture. I let this dry completely before moving on. This added some
really white areas giving new options for laying down colors.
Then a heavy layer of matte medium was added to give me a
more slick surface to work on. I wanted the thin paint to slide and run across
parts of the surface.
Then more blue and purple paints were added, along with some
raw umber for added dark areas.
The face was added and then more paint was put over the top.
More matte medium was added. I like to layer matte or gloss
medium between layers of thin washes. I feel that this separates some of the
paint layers and lets the light bounce between layers. I think this gives the
painting a higher level of transparency and creates a nice light effect.
At this point I had to stop and evaluate what to do next.
The lettering idea did not seem to want to fit into the design. I could see
that this was not the piece for the challenge. But it had some potential
anyway.
I wanted to use some pieces of copper mesh, but it took a
while to figure out how to add it.
Going through my collection of papers I found a piece of
glossy cardstock that I had used alcohol inks on. It turned out to be right for
putting under the copper mesh.
I got very involved in adding the rest of the pieces and
didn’t take any photos. It’s easy to do this when you really get inspired. I
just kept adding and gluing watch and jewelry parts.
I did add words and sayings that related to time (it’s only
a matter of time, just a moment, hour by hour, once upon a time, dreamtime,
time flies). Some were written right onto the background, others were written
on painted watercolor paper and glued on.
The end result turned out to be a fun piece of art. I even
put it into a frame.
Hope you have a great week.
Terri
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