Color Shaper Journal Painting

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I was messing around in my journal a couple of days ago and wanting to play a little differently I grabbed my Colour Shaper tools to paint this portrait without using brushes. Several people have asked about both the Colour Shapers and the method so I did another quick journal page in my Extra Large Moleskine Sketchbook (11.5 x 16.75″) and took some step out pictures to show the process.

Most important I think to using the Colour Shapers in this way is not to get bogged down by details, stay loose and go with the marks that they make!

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The Colour Shapers are some of my favorite art tools and I keep them handy by my work table on my Raskog cart from IKEA.

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Here are the sizes I like, and note that they come in both firm and soft tips and it’s good to have both as they will work differently with the paint.

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I’m using my Fluid Matt Sheer Acrylics in Mustard Seed, Barely Black and White Washed. You can see that these are very fluid and also carry a high pigment load. You can try any acrylic paint and you will get various results depending on the viscosity of the paint.

I love this color palette as the Mustard Seed and Barely Black mixed together make a really warm gray color.

FullSizeRender_3My model is my Asaro’s Head. This is such a wonderful tool for seeing how light hits on the different planes of the face. Here I just sketched the actual head, but you can use it to also sketch a more realistic face and get some great references to where shading and highlights should go.

FullSizeRender_2Using the larger 1″ and 2″  Colour Shapers, I start to block in the dark areas. Note all of the cool marks the tools leave in the paint-I don’t try to avoid them, this adds to the overall look.

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As I work I wipe off the tool onto the background to start that off. By adding small amounts of White Washed to the gray mix I get various tones of color that I add the planes of the head. Switch to smaller tools as needed.

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You can also wipe a bit of each of the tones you mix on the page somewhere to help document them. I do this a lot in my journal work.

(and yes, that’s a glass of wine in the background-keeps you loose while you paint😉

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Remember to stop! I am not at all going for some finely detailed painting, I want it raw, so remembering to stop is important. In all this took less than hour from sketch to finished painting. Now I’m going to let it dry and then add some journaling to the page. This is a fun journal exercise to help you loosen up and play with shading and tonal values.

 

 

Ring in the New Year with New Stencils!!!

I’m very excited to announce that my new line of stencils with Stencil Girl Products is now available! 

Gross Anatomy 6 x 6″ Stencils
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Inside My Head

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One Breath at a Time

S274-1Listen to Your Heart

These stencils reflect on personal struggles of the past year and will add powerful imagery to your art journaling and other mixed media work.

Here is a stepped out look at creating a journal spread with one of my new stencils

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This page started off on a partially stenciled background using my Acrylic Inks and a copy of a sketch adhered with Mixed Media Adhesive, to give a nice matte finish to the page. Then I traced the stencil design with a Pitt Artist Pen. Using a small sponge dauber I applied Liquid Frisket through the stencil. Let it dry. The Liquid Frisket will mask off the stencil design to preserve the colors underneath.

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I adhered more imagery using Mixed Media Adhesive and chose my color palette for the page. I’m using my Fluid Matt Sheer Acrylics in the following analogous color palette, Turquoise, Rain, Olive, Celedon and using a complementary color to Turquoise, Mustard Seed.

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Because I’ve masked off the stencil design I can freely paint over the top of it with layers of color.

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Using a Liquid Frisket removal tool, I can easily pull off the masking to reveal the page underneath.

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I love how it went slightly outside the lines of the stencil design. This gives more interest to the page.

DSC02187The completed journal page using paints to define the face and imagery.

Here are some more pages done using my new stencils

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My Favorite Paint Tools

I wanted to share with you some of my favorite tools that I use my Fluid Matt Sheer Acrylics and Acrylic Inks with.

First off, when using a new paint for the first time, I always like to do a a color wheel and or swatch test. This allows me to see the color full strength and what it looks like washed out.

Here is a color wheel and swatch test for my Acrylic Inks, using a Montana Marker.
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I love these markers! They come in a variety of marker tips and you can get them empty to refill yourself. I’ve yet to have one dry up on me using my Acrylic Inks! You do have to remember to cap them though because as with any marker it would dry up left uncapped. They also have a mixing ball in them perfect for mixing the heavy pigment load in these inks with the binders.

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These are Mini Misters by Ranger and I love them with my Acrylic Inks as well. I especially love that you can get these nifty ‘stadium seating’ type caddies for them that hold all of my colors in them. I bought an extra caddy for my Montana Markers (above) too! This keeps them on my work table with easy access.

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I’m using my Stencil Girl Color Wheel Stencil and I always have a little Pocket Color Wheel guide around to help with mixing and color combinations.

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The porcelain palette has 12 wells that can hold each of my colors of Fluid Matt Sheer Acrylics. It’s important to have a palette with wells for them as they are very fluid.

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Most of you that have taken past workshops from me or read my books know how I love to use Bingo Daubers with paint in them. I’ve been doing this since I taught pre school 20 years ago! These daubers are from Rock Art and are by far my favorite ones. They never clog up with my paints and believe me they have been put through major testing in workshops! For several years I mixed my own paints with the recipe I share in my book Creating Art at the Speed of Life, and it’s so excited to have my new paints available that were based off of that recipe and in my custom color palette. I spent several weeks mixing colors to get just the right ones to use in my line. My biggest goal was that the paint colors played well together and these really do.

DSC02138For those who’ve taken my workshops this past year and had a chance to play with these paints and inks first hand, you know that my go to color is Mustard Seed. It honestly goes with every other color on my palette! So if you’re looking to try out my line I would suggest getting one or two of your favorite colors and Mustard Seed. This will give you some gorgeous color play.

These journal page backgrounds were done on hot press watercolor paper prepped with gesso, using Stencil Girl stencils and my inks.

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From upper left to right:

Nightfall-Mustard Seed

Turquoise-Mustard Seed

Rain-Mustard Seed

Turquoise-Mustard Seed-Golden Rod

Celedon-Turquoise-Mustard Seed

Royal Purple-Mustard Seed

Nightfall-Mustard Seed

Magenta-Poppy-Mustard Seed