Inspired by nature

Nature is probably my biggest source for inspiration. I love going out for walks in the woods, taking pictures, and just simply enjoy the colours, the stillness, the smells, the sounds. In this piece, I wanted to use the inspiration by using some of my photographs, to turn it into some kind of mixed media collage painting. It does not only remind me of precious moments in my local wood, my favourite seasons of the year (autum and winter), and an inspiring and creative trip abroad. But it also brings nature into my home so that I can enjoy the memories while I'm staying in.

I played around again with image transfer, this time not only using gel medium, but also transering on paint and gesso. Transering on gesso seems to give the best result, but it also means that the layer underneath is going go be white. In this case, it was not really a problem at all. Some of the images I just glued on the canvas rather than transfering it. I used acrylics and all kinds of things that gave texture reminding me of nature.

Unfortunately, I don't have any step by step images this time, as I did this last Saturday, in my painting teacher's studio, and I didn't bring my camera. We had class morning and afternoon, "free painting", i.e. everyone working for themselves, using their own ideas. I really enjoyed creating this canvas without the interruptions I'd have had at home, in a large, bright studio, with lots of inspiration around, and most of all, the good company of my fellow painter friends.

I painted this on a piece of left over canvas, about 37x67cm. Now I'll have to buy some strips of wood to stretch it on, and a frame to frame it in. And then find a place on the wall to hang it on. Which most likely will be the most difficult bit of it all.

Unfortunately, I broke one of my favourite brushes. Which was pretty new on top of it, which makes it even more annoying. Luckily, I had another one which is almost the same size. And now I'm thinking about turning my broken brush into some kind of necklace or key ring or something. Can't waste a good brush now, can you :)

It's Friday, and therefore time to party! 

Happy Paint Party Friday!

Playing around with image transfer

Still nursing a very persistent cold, but getting better slowly. But I didn't want to miss another Paint Part Friday, so I dragged myself off the sofa and into my studio to experiment a little in my art journal. I really like the technique of image transfer. I've learnt different techniques in different e-courses, and even bought a whole book just about image transfer. But my first attempts weren't really very successful. So today, I decided to give it another tr.

This is the image I chose for the transfer. I took this during a glorious winter morning walk. Well, I admit, it wasn't actually snowing that day. I added that later in Photoshop, but never mind...

I wanted to create an earthy, natural page matching th colours in the image. And what's more earthy and natural than Raw Umber, Raw Sienna, Burtn Sienna.

And in addition some Payne's Grey and of course Titanium White.

For the image transfer, I used gel medium. The first attempt didn't work at all. Although admittedly that was because I applied the gel medium to the wrong side of the image. Always remember: the gel medium goes on the printed side, NOT the backside... I decided to use the image after all and just pasted it on to the page.

The second attempt was much better. It actually worked! Okay, I admit, it does not look that great. But compared with my former attempts, this is actually very good indeed. Choosing similar colours for the painted layer underneath probably also wasn't such a good idea after all.

 At the bottom, I tried some image transfer using book paper. And that really worked very well.

I really like the book paper transfer. Though I'm never really 100 % sure when and if I've managed to remove all of the paper. It's delicate, this image transfer thing. If you rub too much, the whole printed part starts coming off too.

I decided to try and add some words. When transferring words, remember to invert them before printing them out, otherwise you won't be able to read them properly. That's obviously what happens when you transfer book paper, although I think it doesn't really matter much here, as you're not really going to read the text. But with words, it's another matter. It's also a good idea to cut off as much of the paper as possible. Less paper means less rubbing.

Patience isn't really one of my strenghts, but with image transfer, you have to be patient. When transfering on to a painted surface, you'll have to let it dry completely before you can wet it again and start rubbing the paper off. But also when you print out images, or words, you'll have to let the ink dry first before attempting to transfer them.

So I decided to play around with some photos in the meantime. I used an old photo of some English castle, cut it to a square format, and just painted over it with acrylic paint. I have a whole pile of old photos I meant to throw away, but now I'll hang on to them for experimental purposes. This is really fun :)

Of course I needed to extend my palette for this: some beautiful Cerulean Blue to transform that dull grey English sky into a bright blue summer's day.

When I was done with that, the ink was sufficiently dry, and I transfered the words on to the page to finish it off. I didn't manage to get all of the paper off at the end. The ink started to smudge when it got too wet. But I'm not too bothered about it. I think it works well enough. Maybe a laser printer would be better for this?

All in all, I'm quite pleased with this morning's image transfering. Not perfect yet, but I'll keep on experimenting.

My palette is getting a bit messy. Maybe I should give it a good clean. It doesn't bother me to work with it like this, but it doesn't really look so good on the photos, with all these layers...

Happy Paint Party Friday! Do hop over and have a look at all the talented and inspiring artists there!

Everything got into one long post this week, so I'm also linking this up with Palette & Paint. Do go and visit and see what everyone else has on their palette!

Image transfer

I was so excited when I learnt about the technique of image transfer. Transfering images on to a page without having to stick the whole paper on. Just transfering the ink on to the page. The effects looked so great. I couldn't wait to get started. There are different methods to achieve the transfer. Glues, gel medium, paint, gesso... Christy explains different techniques in the She Had Three Hearts workshop. In a book, I found detailed descriptions about two different techniques. I didn't try all of them yet, but I tried one or two. It sort of worked, but the results weren't quite too exciting yet.

Last week, I found this post on Donna Downey's blog, and I was so impressed. My goodness, she just peeled the paper off, without even having to wait until the whole thing's completely dry, and there it was, a perfect image transfered to the page! Magic. Of course, I just wanted to try it out myself immediately. Well, the result didn't look at all like in her post. In fact, it was even worse than the ones I've tried before.

I tried it twice, with equally bad results. The few details you can actually see on the right side (my favourite café in London, at Kenwood House, Hampstead Heath) are in fact the paper, which I hadn't removed fully yet. At the end, I actually didn't bother, I just left it where it was, stuck on, and put some ModPodge over it to make it a water resistant, workable surface... The other image is just a complete mess. Although, if you try really hard, and have enough imagination, you can just about see the outline of the branches of the beautiful old tree.

Maybe I've got the "wrong" kind of gel medium, maybe I should have let the printout dry longer. Well, I'll just have to go on practising, trying out all the different methods, using different mediums, until I find the one(s) that work for me. I still am fascinated by the process.

The image transfer desaster didn't mean that I didn't want to go on painting though. After all, there are so many more fun techniques with mixed media, so that when something goes wrong, well, just cover it up and work with it :). Most of all, I wanted to try out all my new script and other stamps I bought in London. My, I just love them! I've only discovered the world of stamping last autumn, but I'm a complete stamp addict now :)

Oh I just love these new stamps!! But note to self: next time, do try not to put it on upside down... Also try to be more patient and let the surface dry properly before attempting to write on it with ink...

I like using techniques with painting that have an element of surprise, beyond control. One of the ink splashes turned into this funny face shape, which reminds me of those early Pacman games back in the 80s. Well, it's certainly been some journey from there till now, in many ways, both personally and generally.

I really enjoyed creating this art journal page, which turned out to be about "journey". It looks a bit messy, but that's life's journey, full of details and surprises and  imperfections. Not always going according to plan, needing to be patched up and adjusted at times, accepting mistakes and making the best of it to get a satisfying result in the end. It's what makes it interesting, I guess :).

As to the image transfer business, I've actually ordered a book that's all and only about image transfer techniques. I am determined :)