Experimenting with ideas.

Firstly I have to apologize for not sharing the print making class yet. Life got in the way and then I was without a computer for a week. I will share next week the results of that class. In the meantime I have managed to do a couple of cards for the 52 Card challenge.

 
Week 9 - pouch. I used gesso to coat the card then when I was moving it out of the way to dry I dropped it. I liked the textured pattern on the gesso so I left it like that. When it was dry  I then embossed the grass stamps with clear embossing powder, sprinkling a little powder on top for a dotty look. I used blue and green sprays on top and when dry wiped them off the grasses. The kangaroo and joey were painted on watercolor paper, cut out and glued to the background.

halfway

Week 10 - intermingle.  I was watching a video this week about an artist who generously wet a canvas with water, then dropped in very wet acrylic paints and let them run and bleed together. He later added his images on top of this random background. I decided to try it on the card so the paints could intermingle.  I taped a gessoed card to a mat to hold it still and create a border. I wet the card, then dropped on green paint, rust colored paint and a shiny copper ink. I left them to mix together and when dry removed the tape along the border. Unfortunately the water bled under the tape but I could clean it up a little because of the gesso layer.

I then scanned my card so I could print out three copies of this first stage. I wanted to sketch over the paint but I wasn't sure if it would work out the way I thought so using 3 copies first allowed me to try different ideas out without ruining the original background that I liked.

finished

The landscape was the first idea I had and the one I ended up using on the card. In fact this is the finished card. I merely traced around areas that were in the paint to make the landscape.  I did two lines around everything for a sketchy look. I have not altered the painted areas but you could add shading if you wish.

For this version I turned the card upside down. The first thing I saw was a fish on the lower right and the rest grew from there. Sometimes it is hard to see anything in the paint but then I leave it for a while and come back the next day with fresh eyes.

In the final version I turned the card on its side. I couldn't stop seeing the trees on the left and the girl in the red dress so I went with those images. If I was going to use this design I probably would have added a little bit of shading to make the girls stand out more.

You can try this with any type of background, just look for images in the paint. It is a little like cloud gazing where you find hidden images. If you can't see anything just change the background and start again. Have fun with the idea, I do.