A woolly textile picture

I recently gave a talk at a lovely knitting group about textile art. Inspired by this I had a go at making a textile piece using my vary limited knitting and crochet skills. I started at the top of the piece because I knew I wanted the sky to appear smooth and it would allow me to set the size of the finished article. I used the tension guide on the blue wool to work out how many stitches I would need to cast on for the size I wanted to make. I knitted a few rows and luckily my tension was the same so I could keep going.

I knitted the sky and the first layer of hills. I changed wool and needles and continued down the background using rib to make the appearance of rows of crops. Some sections were crocheted instead. For each new section of knitting I cast on stitches through the previous layer so the whole thing was all one piece. I used casting on or off here and there to make uneven edges to each block. Some of the wool was textured, like the pale green which is knitted. Later on I used little pieces of wool to stitch the details like trees, sheep, grass and hedges. When it was all finished I blocked it and then put it in this frame I made.

The  way I framed this is easy and something I have used before for textiles. After you have made the frame it is easy to use a few stitches through the canvas layer to hold your textile in place.  You can put your name and signature on the back too. My knitted piece was heavy so it is stitched all around the edge to hold it inside the frame.

 I start with an artist canvas. I turn the canvas over and use the back so I make sure my artwork will fit into the space on the back.  You can use any depth of frame but deep frames will suit bulky work better.

To cover the staples and edges of the canvas on the back and make it look neater I usually glue some thick card over the sides, back and down onto the canvas as there can be a gap between the canvas and the wooden frame. This hides the staples best but if you press hard they will be visible.

Next I like to cover the card with a decorative finish. I used texture paste on this sample. When I use a paste or gel I use it thickly to hide the edge of the cardboard on the canvas and the staples. Sometimes I use the paste all over the canvas layer too if it will be visible. When it is dry the whole frame can then be painted with acrylics in any colors you wish.

Another choice of finish is to cover the thick card with torn pieces of tissue paper. Like the texture paste this can be painted when dry or if you use colored tissue you wouldn't need to paint it. I don't usually put the tissue over texture paste (it's a waste!) like this sample where I changed my mind on the finish I wanted. 

Both the texture paste and tissue paper finish can be highlighted using metallic waxes like rub'n'buff or Viva Inka Gold.

On the frame above, I didn't use the card and just covered the edge of the frame with glued fabric. I glued the fabric to the sides and then covered the back and tucked it into the gap between the canvas and wood. 

This frame was covered with coarse texture gel or sand gel and painted black. It has been sprayed with green mica spray when dry. I painted the inside of the frame white to make a border between the black frame and the black textile. From a distance it gives the appearance of a matted picture.

 This is an old artwork where I used a deep frame for my mixed media work. I glued on chipboard scrolls from the scrapbooking industry and then painted the whole frame with a thick coat of gesso. Before the gesso dried I used a heat gun to make bubbles in it. It was later painted with metallic paints and wax.

The whole piece.

This is the first time I used the back of a frame for my artwork. It was simply covered with book paper and then tissue paper. You can still see the staples and folds of the canvas so that is why I started covering them up with card. Sometimes you may want to leave them exposed. The choice is yours.

Art Journal Basics - What is Gesso?

Today in my basics series I am talking about gesso and other mediums.  

Gesso: As a painter my first encounters with gesso were in preparing canvas to paint on. It is the white base that has already been applied when you buy a ready to paint canvas. Usually it is an acrylic binder with chalk added but it can be made of other similar things. It is used to seal and prime the page or canvas. Gesso stops the colors from one page in a journal going through to the next one if you apply it evenly over the page before you begin. It can also be used to cover something that you don't want seen, like when you use an old book as a base and need to cover the writing.

There is a wide range of difference in qualities between manufacturers of gesso. Some gessos are very fine and others very chalky. The gloss levels can be different too and this affects how they work on the page.  A chalky gesso will mean you can generally use any medium on top but glossy ones are harder to work on with waxy mediums like pencil. You need to experiment with gesso to find the one that you like best.

Liquitex gesso is very fine and fluid so it spreads easily with a paint brush or makes a very thin layer when spread with a credit card. It dries to a nice matte finish so is great as a base for colored pencils or any type of paint. It is the one I use the most.
The Derivan (an aussie company) is a thick gesso that has similar properties to the Liquitex but won't spread as easily with a brush.
The Mont Marte (another aussie brand) gesso I have here is almost empty. It is the cheapest gesso I have bought and also thick like the Derivan. It works just as well as the more expensive brands except that it dries with a slightly glossy finish. It doesn't like pencils on top but if I do a background of matte acrylic paint then I can use pencils on top of that.

Some of the other ways I have used gesso on a page are:
(you can click on the photos to go to the blog post about the technique)

1. Preparing paper that is not art paper.

2. Heating it to make a bubbled texture

3. Using it as a resist. Glossy gessos are best for this technique

4. Creating texture on a page

more texture

Clear gesso is a transparent binder with a more gritty substance added. When it dries the surface feels like fine sandpaper. It is great to use over a surface that other mediums won't stick too. If you have used glossy paints then a coat of clear gesso will allow pencils to work on them or soft pastels and chalk. I don't use it often.

Gel Mediums are another great product. They can be used as glue, for adding texture or changing the surface texture to either matte or glossy. It usually tells you on the bottle if it is matte or glossy. Some gel mediums have different additives like fiber, pumice, grit to create textured backgrounds. My favorite medium is the Liquitex matte medium because it goes on with a paint brush very smoothly and when it dries I can use anything on top like pencils or paint. I use it to glue papers to my page and if any leaks out the side or gets on top of the paper it doesn't matter because it won't show.

Thicker mediums can be used like the thicker gesso to add texture through a stencil or with a palette knife. Glossy gel medium doesn't color as easily as matte and can be used as a resist in areas that you don't want colored. Glossy medium also gives you a little time to wipe paint away if you want to create a distressed look because the paints take longer to dry over them. The main disadvantage of glossy mediums is that they can be easily seen on a page if you use them as glue. For a beginner journaler I would recommend getting a matte medium to start with.

A page that has gel medium on top

Modeling paste or texture paste/gel are another interesting product to experiment with. They stay in the shape you apply them as they dry, so if you push it through a stencil it will create a raised surface. Applying it with a palette knife looks a bit like a rough plaster. The Liquitex brand modeling paste I pictured here is extremely light on the page and doesn't add weight. It is great for journals. Different brands dry with a different finish, some can be quite glossy. Golden modeling paste is smoother than the Liquitex but a little heavier so I use it more on canvases. I used texture paste in the previous post.

Glues I like to use are varied. I used to use mod podge a lot but not so much these days. It tends to stick to itself if you use it on opposite pages. Sometimes I go over a page with wax if that happens but I try only to use it as a base layer these days. That is why I now use the matte medium as a glue because it doesn't make pages stick together. Another glue I like is UHU stick glue. It doesn't make the paper buckle. Yes paste is the same as the stick glue but in a tub so you can apply it with a credit card. I recently found it online and am impressed so far. A little really does go a long way and it covers so quickly.

I am back :-)

 Hello friends.  Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I had the arm/wrist surgery and recovery was a lot slower than I thought it would be. I didn't realize I would be so restricted in what I could do after I got the cast off. I had very little movement in my wrist and no strength at all, so sitting at the computer typing for any length of time was not something I could do. I did manage to do some art while I was relaxing, even a little bit when I was temporarily left handed.These pages are from the Life Book course.

This first page was taught by Connie Hozvicka who does fearless painting. It was a fun page to do and because I was doing it with one hand I had to tape the page down to keep it still while I worked on it. I applied molding paste to the page for texture then painted it with acrylics. I dipped my hand in paint then stamped that onto the page, filling in missed areas with a paint brush. I used a stencil and sprays to make the pattern. The background is lumiere metallic paints and a few simple daisies. I was very surprised how much I could do with one hand and it helped me see I should keep going.

This next Life Book page was a lesson with Guadalupe Cabal. It was drawing a mandala using rulers and compasses. Again it was a lesson I could do left handed, using weights to hold the ruler in place. I would probably do more shading if I did one with my right hand but I am happy with the way this one turned out.

The next lesson was with Tam who runs Life Book. I collaged paper and material onto the page then embellished it with some machine and hand stitching. The bird is a print of a watercolour I did a couple of years ago. I printed it onto the calico back of a piece of canvas. The flowers didn't stand out at first so I filled them in with pan pastels. It was a fun experimental page and the last one I had to do left handed because it was the week my plaster cast was changed to a plastic one that allowed me to start using my right hand.

ATCs my way

My ATCs this week may look a little plain to some. I often see them around the net with a lot of different elements on each card. I like to give my images a little breathing room, especially if the background is an interesting technique. 

This week I used molding paste or fiber paste to make a textured background. This was then painted when dry and rubbed with Inka Gold creams to highlight the texture. It is an interesting look.

Fiber paste applied with a stencil brush.

Molding paste applied with a stencil brush

Molding paste applied lightly with a paint brush then more applied through sequin waste to make the stars.

 The images were supplied by my atc teacher so I don't know where she got them from. They are lovely though.