Using Multi-Layered Stencils in your Mixed Media artwork
Quick tutorial on using multi layered stencils designed by Andrea Matus deMeng
Many of you know that I have a line of stencils with StencilGirl and one of the questions I am asked often is how to use the multi-layered stencils in the line, so without further ado let's get to a quick tutorial to show you how I use them. We are going to use the Doris Light Plate & Dark Plate Stencils for this tutorial. The slide show below gives you a quick overview of the steps, if you want all the details you'll find them below.
Step One: Gather your supplies. You'll need:
a surface (I used a sheet of coldpress watercolour paper)
4 paint colours (light, midtone, dark and contrast colour)
sponge or stencil brush
paper towel (to remove excess paint from brush)
Easy Tac or some other removable spray adhesive
your stencils
Step Two: get a little fresh air, and while you are outside spray the back of your stencils with the Easy Tack. This is my secret for getting great results with stencils that have fairly complex and small cutouts so shhhhhh don't tell anybody.
Cover your surface with the midtone colour of your paint. Easy peasy.
Place your Dark Plate stencil on your surface, you'll want to pat it down with your hands to make sure it is fully stuck down. It's probably pretty obvious from the name, but just in case...this one will use your dark coloured paint. Notice the small cutouts in the top right hand corner and the bottom left and right hand side, these are registration marks, colour them in with a pencil to ensure that the next layer lines up perfectly.
Now taking your paint or stipple brush and using a "pouncing" motion apply the paint. Less is more here. You are better off doing a couple of coats of paint than to be heavy handed. Too much paint on your sponge or brush means that paint will seep through and create a pretty messy effect. StencilGirl has loads of videos demonstrating proper technique here if you are having trouble.
Now you are ready to add the light plate. Remember the registration marks when you place the second stencil. Now repeat the previous steps using your lightest colour paint.
A little fine-tuning. Painted in some details in the eyes and joined some of the stencil breaks with paint.
Add some paint to the background to really make the image pop. I used Pyrrole Red from Golden.
If you want to try it out yourself, or to see the other stencil combinations, you can find my stencils at StencilGirl, right here! A whole new batch of face stencils will be coming out very soon....stay tuned. ..
Product Links:
StencilGirl Doris, Dark Plate
StencilGirl Doris, Light Plate
Golden Paint (Indian Yellow Hue, Pyrrole Red, Anthraquinone Blue)
Kroma Artist Acrylics (Titanium White)
Pam Carriker Sheer Acrylics by Matisse (Mustard Seed)
The Queen of Cups Mixed Media Tarot
Within the context of the tarot deck, the Queen of Cups represents one of the most compassionate, gentle and loving archetypes. She a strong feminine energy and is Queen in the realm of emotions. The blue that is integrated into her garment represents water and is a symbol of the unconscious mind. She is deeply intuitive. The floral elements in both her headdress and garment represent her connection to the earth and her capacity for nurturing those around her. The enclosed shapes are the symbols for the cups (imagine two cups stacked top and bottom). The closed cup shape further illustrates her intuition. The negative space between the symbols forms a heart shape, a representation of her loving nature and the evolution between the Queen of Cups tarot card and the Queen of Hearts in modern card decks.
The High Priestess - Collage-Assemblage Tarot
I noticed that I have been rather remiss in posting all of the meanings behind the tarot cards that I have been working on....this one is from a couple of years ago...the High Priestess.
The High Priestess as a tarot card in many decks she is also known as Persephone, Isis, the Corn Maiden and Artemis. There is some folklore that suggests that once upon a time there was a secret female pope and that the high priestess card represents her existence.
The card number for the High Priestess is two, and balance and duality are strongly carried themes throughout the card. The two pillars she sits between emphasizes that she sits firmly between the darkness and the light, between the physical world and the world beyond, between the conscious and unconscious realms. The blue around her is a symbol of knowledge. She is wearing the crown of Isis symbolising the Triple Goddess. The juxtaposition of colors red and blue in the composition represent balance between male and female. Behind her a series of half-revealed and half-concealed text, representing the exoteric and esoteric teachings of higher knowledge. I've created my version of the High Priestess with the third eye (The third eye (also known as the inner eye) is a mystical and esoteric concept referring to a speculative invisible eye which provides perception beyond ordinary sight. The third eye refers to the gate that leads to inner realms and spaces of higher consciousness.) It seemed fitting for what the High Priestess represents. Because wisdom has no age, I have given a young woman the eyes and hands of a much older/wiser soul...encapsulating the concept of an "old soul". While the High Priestess has hands on either side of her face emphasizing again the duality and focus on knowledge, a third hand, much younger reaches down to her heart. A symbolic link between what she knows and what she feels.
The crown she wears has wires reminiscent of old antenna that help her "tune in" to intuition. The planet associated with the High Priestess is the Moon. (Intuition and secrets revealed)
The High Priestess represents wisdom, serenity, knowledge and understanding. She is often described as the guardian of the unconscious. She sits in front of the thin veil of awareness, which is all that separates us from our inner selves. The High Priestess knows the secret of how to access these realms. She represents spiritual enlightenment and inner illumination, divine knowledge and wisdom. She has a deep, intuitive understanding of the Universe and uses this knowledge to teach rather than to try to control others. She generally appears in a Tarot reading when you need to listen to and trust your inner voice.
The High Priestess Tarot card represents a link to the subconscious mind, which cannot be accessed through the everyday world but only through dreams and symbols.
Essentially she reminds you to trust your intuition, to hone in on it and pay attention to what it is you need to do to keep yourself in balance.
A Rose by any other name - altered journal tutorial
Rose Book Tutorial using stencils.
Here's a little tutorial for you for a little journal I made using my "A Rose by any other name" Stencil (available at StencilGirl Products)
I know you're going to want to know where some of these goodies came from:
•the metal filigree on the left hand side was made using the Petite Monarch diecut and metal foil from Spellbinders
•the swirly rhinestones came from Prima Marketing, it was something I had picked up years ago and just lay in wait for the right time to be used - so I can't tell you if they still carry that product or not.
•the tattered fabric was just a piece of cheesecloth from the grocery store that I separated and tea stained. It was glued into the inside cover, which was then covered over with more decorative papers.
•the semi-translucent leaves I made by creating a resin paper from one of my favourite handmade papers, then cut it into leaf shapes and glued it under the rose. There's a tutorial for how to make resin papers from Susan Lenart Kazmer here
•the added accent on the rose that creates an almost enamelled look to the edges was created by using a bit of Glossy Accents by Ranger (dries clear but maintains some dimension)
Geek Speak Alert!
Styrene is also known as ethenylbenzene, vinyl benzene and phenylethene. Approximately 25 million tons (55 billion pounds) of styrene were produced in 2010. I have no idea how many roses you could make with 55 billion pounds of styrene. E6000 will "melt" polystyrene....this tends not to be a good thing.
Thanks for stopping by......I think I'll leave you with a song...
Yes, it's true I have Stencils! ...and a bloghop ...and a give away
It was an absolute thrill to be invited by Mary Beth Shaw to join her tremendous StencilGirl team of designers and today I’m delighted to share those designs with you!
You know I love lots of richly detailed layers….and especially layers over faces, so it was important for me to have stencils that work the way I work….in layers. With that in mind almost every stencil overlays and works with the faces. The stencils work in a myriad of ways, whether you are creating journal pages or large canvas compositions. If you scroll down you'll get a look at what I did with a few of them, of course I know some of you are anxious to get "hopping" along with the SGP Design Team blogs, so I've put those links for you next. I'll be blog hopping along with you because I can’t wait to see what everyone did and I thank them for their creativity and participation!! So without further ado….
StencilGirl has a giveaway!
THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!
Congratulations to Linda Storey and Terrie Purkey!
All comments left on the hop are eligible for the giveaway so
the more blogs you comment on, the more chances you will have to win.
Have fun and GOOD LUCK!
Blog Hop Order
StencilGirl Talk
Andrea Matus deMeng <<you are here>>
Mary Beth Shaw
Mary C. Nasser
Linda Kittmer
Carolyn Dube
Paula Phillips
Janet Joehlin
Kirsten Reed
Judy Shea
Julie Snidle
Maria McGuire
Here's a bit of what I did with the stencils.
Don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win! ...and thanks for stopping by :)
Coming Soon
Even though the Art Abandonment book project isn't officially released we've seen some copies hitting stores and apparently pre-orders are on there way to being delivered. With close to 11,000 members of the Art Abandonment group on fb now I am continually awed, humbled and inspired by the tremendous art that is being left around the globe for others to find. Keep up the great work!!!
...and in other news, well technically I'm not allowed to tell you just yet, but if you come back here on March 31st you'll see what else I've been very busy doing. In the meantime - Happy Spring!!
See you back here soon.....very soon!
