I have lots of tutorials on painting papers for collage or for you to use as your art journal pages on my blog here, and I've been playing some more so I wanted to share. First one, using 110lb cardstock that I get at Staples--
I'm sure a lot of you who shop at Hobby Lobby now know that they had a massive clearance on their art supplies--FW inks (acrylic inks) being one of them. Well, I already had them, and after seeing all of the you tube videos up on these inks, it made me get out my neglected ones. This is such a fun technique--just put a few drops on a non-porous surface (I used wax paper), spray with water, put the paper down on it, smoosh it, and lift. I then sprayed some 91% alcohol on it while still wet, and let it do its own thing--a different result every time--and every time, I love the result.
Next I started playing with gesso--
I used my new stencil from
Crafter's Workshop--Crazy Waves. I know it's hard to see, but I put the entire stencil on the paper using the gesso and waited for it to dry (the hardest part)--but you can also use a heat gun if you're impatient like me. The result after adding a few paint colors--
I added some complimentary acrylic paint colors to the paper and then wiped some back to expose parts of the gesso--just kept doing it until I was happy with the result.
More playing with gesso--
On the one paper, I painted the paper first (with the orange paint) and then stenciled with gesso, and on the other paper I applied the gesso fairly heavy and then pulled a texture comb through it to make some swirls. And, the next step, making sure all was dry before going on--finished result--
Just lots of playing with paint and more stencils and mark -making--the gesso will always resist what you do to it, which is the best part about using it.
And the next, I'm sure everyone who likes to paint papers has done this. Get out those old scrapbook papers that have been laying around for years.
.....and paint over them....
And some you can use the original design to help make your completed paper--
And in the one case, I loved the end result painted paper so much, that I had to use it as the main focal theme--
This paper...
....turned into this art piece--
The paper helped me tell the story.
And also, when I paint my papers, I always put a sheet of white craft paper underneath to catch all of the extra paint. And then when I'm finished, I'll take the 'back splash' paper and add some more stencils or whatever to it for the finishing touch--
There's a lot going on here, but this is great for collage.
Painting papers is such a relaxing way of making art--no pressure--just play, and if you don't like the result--paint over it--it's just a piece of paper!
