Thursday 2 March 2017

Chirpy, Chirpy, Cheep, Cheep! - Put a Bird On It...at Stamps and Stencils

Hi everyone, it's time for the very talented Toni to set our challenge over at Stamps and Stencils this month. Without further ado here's what she has to say about it. 

'One of the joys, at this time of year, is to wake up to the glorious sound of birdsong. The challenge this month is in celebration of our fine, feathered, friends. We would love to see your mixed media projects, that include at least one bird. Whether it's a  journal spread, an assemblage or card, just make sure that a little dickie bird or birds, feature somewhere. Please don't forget to include stamping, or stenciling or even both! Can't wait to see your creations!'

When I was looking around for ideas and inspiration I came across the artwork of  Karyn Fendley please follow this link Inspiration from a Karyn Fendley print 'Song Bird 1', I loved the red and cream and the idea of cutting my own stencil/mask to try and recreate this seemed like a good challenge for me. This is my very amateur take on it. 



To start, I used a copyright free image to cut my stencil with the idea that I would mask areas off before I painted out areas. I glued some watercolour paper to an 8 x 8 plywood panel.


First coat of vanilla, yellow submarine and tangerine twist fresco paints roughly blended. I wanted to start light and build up lots of layers.


Stenciling and stamping in archival ink and paint, quite liked this stage but I couldn't be deviated from my original plan.


I know, even more layers...the idea being that whatever sections were visible there would be detail


Then to bring it all together, I used london bus over the whole area which is translucent. 


Some metallic red foil and gold embossing and I think it takes on an almost oriental look 


Next masking fluid using the stencil, once dry a slightly watered down coat of vanilla and chalk fresco paint, a couple of coats of this as I wanted to be able to see the underlying detail.


I used a maskaway eraser to reveal the quirky tree and bird. 


Not bad for a first attempt at several techniques?


Please hop across and see what my other teamies have created for you, they are all so talented!  I hope you'll be inspired to join in with this months challenge and thanks for stopping by.

14 comments:

  1. Wow, Ruth, what a fantastic work, and techniques, I would never have guessed you erased to show the motive , so many beautiful layers- a beautiful bird piece. Hug from Dorthe

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  2. So great to follow your experimental journey. Lots of amazing inspiration here - from the depth of the layered background to the wonderful home-cut stencil.
    Alison x

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  3. Absolutely gorgeous! I do love your layering! xx

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  4. Totally fabulous Ruth. The outcome is just fantastic....tfs and best wishes
    Annie xx

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  5. You never cease to amaze me my friend ! This is fabulous ! Love the layers (pity to cover them ! ) Sue C x

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  6. Fabulous Ruth, love that you created your own stencil and what a gorgeous background, agree with Sue it was a pity to cover them but the result is beautiful! Deb xo

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  7. amazing work Ruth - amazing layering - love it! Hugs rachel x

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  8. Oh, Ruth,I am totally in love with this fabulous piece! You never stop to amaze me by your fantastic art! Brilliantly done! Big hugs! Branka xx

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  9. This is anything BUT an amateur attempt Ruth, it is quite stunning! Your stencil is beautiful and I just love that red background you created. Thanks for sharing such a great technique! Anne xx

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  10. What an amazing build up of layers, - so many clever and original ideas, the finished piece has so much depth!

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  11. Fascinating project Ruth, gorgeous background and fabulous original stencil. It's a beautiful work. xx

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  12. A great technique Ruth! Looks so beautiful!

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  13. Wow, how striking - I really enjoyed seeing how you built up the background. I love the contrast and simplicity of it, just beautiful.

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It would be lovely to read any comments left, I really appreciate them all. Thank you so much for taking the time to drop by.