Contrast Between Basic Mixed Media Mediums by DT Pavitra Chanchal

Hello My Dear Friends

 

Pavitra here, I am back with you guys and believe me, I am super excited and happy to be here!!!Lately I started doing lots of mixed media projects and there is so much that can be done. I love to work with different mediums and today I would like to share my bit of knowledge with you guys about the basic mixed media mediums.

 

Gesso – is the first and for most important medium that I start to play with when I start working on any projects. Gesso works as a primer for the surfaces and prepares the surface or the background for the next step without bleeding through. In simple work it let the sprays, inks, paints or crayon does the job in better way.

Depending upon the consistency there are light gesso or heavy gesso that available in the market. Further there are three variants of gesso available – white gesso, black gesso and clear gesso. One can choose from white or black gesso depending upon the final look one is aiming for.

Clear gesso is good to use on any image, pattern or sketch, so that a part of it remains visible while working with sprays, ink or paints.

There are many brands available I am naming few of them here – Prima marketing, Liquitex, DecoArt, Dustic Attic, Sakura etc.There is so much that can be done with gesso like priming the surface ( below pic)

Preparing the embellishments for coloring (below pic)

Gesso can also be used for stamping, it creates a resist effect as shown in below pic.

Modeling paste - is thick, dimensional paste, which can be worked with texture tool, spatula or stencil for creating various interesting textures. It dries permanent and somewhat semitransparent after drying. I usually first make the textures on base which i want to create and than after i apply paints on the textures. It can be sprayed with colors after drying. By mixing with pigments, inks or sprays one can create custom pastes out of it.

The best tool to apply modelling paste is Plastic Palette Knife as its very easy to apply with, its flexible to use and you can use the knife in any direction while working on Stencils or at any base. The cardstock i work with for Modelling paste is 270 GSM to 300 GSM as it gives good weight to hold the modelling paste.

Modelling Paste works great as an adhesive for embellishments. Few of the brand available in the market – dustic attic, liquitex , prima , golden etc.

In the above image, in first row, I applied modeling paste with Plastic Palette Knife;
Second row, I mixed it with distress ink and applied with texture tool;
In the last I applied modeling paste through stencil using Palette Knife.

Texture Paste - is as name suggests, It adds dimensional textures to painting or to mixed media art. It is like modeling paste. Texture paste is bit heavy than paints and modelling paste. With Texture paste you can create Impasto effects on the projects. Even one can shape or sculpt the texture paste in any way before drying using the palette knife. With using different texture tools, one can achieve unique textures on variety of the surfaces. 

Texture paste can also be mixed with paints, pigments or colors for creating custom pastes. In the market there are various brands available one of them is from Ranger’s and its comes in three different variants depending upon the final finish –

 

Texture paste (transparent gloss) – this one dries transparent with glossy finish

Texture paste (transparent matte) – this one also dries transparent with matte finish

Texture paste – this dries white with opaque finish.

Further texture paste also comes up with various other finishes such a crackle paste, graphite paste; sand paste etc.

The different brands available in the market prima marketing, dream weaver , ranger’s etc.

Sand paste through stencil

Texture crackle paste white and texture crackle paste mixed with distress ink (above pic)
Tip: I first pressed the distress ink pad on the craft sheet and than mixed it with texture paste.

By using the above mentioned uses and products I've created a tag, have a look

If you have any queries feel free to write me comments here.

All the Materials can be purchased from our Rainbow Craftykari Store or Pre-order us by sending mail at rainbowcraftykari@gmail.com

 

Supplies used –

Gesso

Modeling paste

Prima sand paste

Prima texture crackle paint white

Distress sprays – chipped sapphire , cracked pistachio , salty ocean , moved lawn

Inka gold

Distress ink – vintage photo

MDF

Tim holtz stencils – brick & floral

Thank you so much

Pavitra

Experiments with Gel Press by DT Aditi Mahajan

Hello Everyone,

Aditi here, Today we're here at the Rainbow Craftykari blog with an interesting post for you. Its an information packed post, with a lot of play and examples. 

We've heard a lot about Gel press, and seen videos, but our very first interaction was during Creativation 2017. We took up a class, saw demos and were fascinated with the power of this one tool.

Gel Press® is the original, superior monoprinting plate - permanent and reusable! Make stunning prints for use in your artwork: Mixed Media, Scrapbooks, Cards, Art Journaling, Home Décor and more! - https://gelpress.com/

As they suggested, gel press aids in making stunning prints to be used in any kind of project. Many of you might say, its the same, paint your background, stencil, stamp, etc. Well yes, but using this plate, life is so simple, you get faster prints, it's addictive so you keep going on and on. You can create intricate prints, with multiple patterns.

Here is a journal page we made using gel press prints.

This plate is a silicon transparent jelly like plate.

These come in varied sizes and shapes:

12"x12", 12"x14", 8"x10", 5"x7", 6"x6", 3"x5", 8" round, 6" round, Petites Set- Oval, hexagon, rectangle, triangle, square and circle (small).

The latest products are the Impressables. These come with certain patterns in the plate, so your first print has a self pattern.

This is the basic information. Now lets play with them and show you some results.

Firstly, always keep the plate on a craft mat or acrylic mat. Since it has baby oil any other surface will absorb it. The smaller ones can be used by removing only one acrylic sheet and leaving the other mounted. In between, if you want to clean your plate, use a baby wipe. You can work with acrylic paints, most brands work. And if  the paint dries up quickly you could use a retarder or acrylic glaze medium on your paint. We have tried working with inks and we got great results with distress inks and oxides. 

1. Add some paint on the plate, spread it with the brayer. Use bubble wrap and press onto the paint and lift it. Keep a sheet of paper and rub on the back to lift the print on the side touching the plate. 

2. Add a different colour on the plate and spread with the brayer. Using any texture comb, create a design and lift on your paper. On the left base, create some circles with a bottle cap and a contrasting colour and lift the print.

3. On a cleat plate, place the stencil and through the stencil add two colours and spread with the brayer. Lift the stencil and take a print on the paper from the plate. You could also take a print from the paint on the stencil by rubbing it on the sheet.

                       

4. Add two colour onto the plate and spread with the brayer. Place a stencil on the plate. Press a paper and lift the print. This will give you the print only through the stencil. Next take a print from the stencil. And third, press the paper onto the plate again once the stencil is lifted- this will give you a ghost print.                  

                 

5. We kept a plain sheet of paper next to us, and every time we used the brayer, we moved it on this sheet to clean the brayer before moving onto another colour. This gave us a great background, which we used for our journal page above. We had some prints to it with the small oval plate and stencil for more interest.  We cuts pieces from sheets show in technique 1 and 2 for our layers. 

6. Some play with oxides. We used the mini rectangle and hexagon plate. Added one colour of the oxide onto the plate directly from the ink pad. Next, we rubbed a darker colour onto the uprooted side of and embossing folder and pressed it on the plate. We then took a print onto our paper. We stamped from the folder directly on the paper, to take a print from the remaining ink as well.  In the last hexagon, after taking a print, we stamped another shaded using acrylic stamps and printed it over the first hexagon print for more interest. In the same way, you could add colour and stamp on the plate and take a print for a different background.

As you see above, stencils, stamps and found object work really well. Anything to create texture and patterns as with the plate all you're doing is lifting prints and getting some fabulous paper ready for your projects. Not just paper, your could print on fabric and other surfaces as well. We've only introduced this tool and there are many more techniques to explore.

We hope we've inspired you to play and explore :)

Regards,
Aditi
Dots To Lines