Share the LOVE of ART

A while ago I was asked to do an artsy project for a bachelorette party, that would be reasonably priced and would suit someone who had not painted before or very little. Something to have fun together. I decided to incorporate mixed media elements into the piece and use stencils and scrapbook paper for the basic shapes. The project went well and everyone was happy with their ART. Many were amazed at themselves…what a fun way to introduce others to the LOVE of ART.

Since doing this my painting chapter is going to be doing a similar project for Ronald McDonald house and I will be leading a workshop at my church’s woman’s retreat. I thought you might also like to share this project with others.

There is no set way to do this project, you can add or eliminate steps. I will share with you my process. I started with a 9×12 canvas. Using Matt Medium or Deco-Page glued paper to the canvas. Using an old gift card I pushed the wrinkles out of the paper and then allowed it to dry. (to speed things up I like to have a hairdryer handy), I used Tim Holtz tissue papers on the background, but you could use book pages, sheet music or scrapbook papers. When working on this project adding a coat of medium between layers will make it easier to wipe away any mistakes.

You can put down one piece of paper or tear and place elements on paper as desired, especially if you would like elements to show through in certain areas of the finished project.

Place a dot of paint on the canvas and move it over the surface with the edge of the card leaving it heavy in some areas and lighter in others. Continue adding paint until the surface is covered. If an element gets cover with more paint than desired wipe back with a damp paper towel.

While your canvas is drying fold a piece of paper in half. Draw a shape for a vase and then cut out. Lay on canvas to see if you are pleased with the shape and size of the base. Using the pattern trace vase and cut out of scrapbook paper. Position vase on canvas and glue in place with medium.

Stencil flowers on canvas beginning with larger flowers and filling in with smaller ones. Have some of the flowers go over the edge of the vase.

If desired print out words or stamp words on paper, cut out and glue to background. You can stamp directly on the canvas. If you do you will need to put something hard behind the canvas to ensure a good stamp. Another alternative is to stamp on tissue paper and then glue the tissue paper to the background.

You can now begin adding details to the picture by lining around flowers, stenciling over centers, adding dots around centers and over-stroking some of the flowers and centers with dots. You can also wash color over areas like the lettering and filling in stamps.

Cut leaves out of scrapbook paper and position in place. When happy with the placement glue in place with medium.

Fill in any open areas with finger flowers (thank you Share Reiner) by dipping flat of finger in paint and bringing down on canvas. You can create them different sizes depending on your finger and pressure. You can also add little strokes around them for petals or paint a wavy edge on them.

Paint stems on flowers and line veins on leaves. Place centers in finger flowers. Add a little stenciling under vase to ground and in background if needed.

Evaluate and add any additional details that are needed.

I hope this post will inspire you to share the love of art with others…and in turn they will be inspired…and who know what could happen.

My inspiration for this project was my friend Glenda Payne, she had done a similar type project with her woman’s group at her church. Even though she did not use the mixed media background, she had used buttons for flower center..so one more thing to think about. I hope your creative juices are flowing. If you are inspired, I would love to see and hear your results.

Happy Sharing the Love,

Jane

PS. Here are a few other pictures done similarly:

This one I stenciled words in the background, outlined flowers with a marker, and hand wrote text in the background.

I used a stencil for the bird shape then over-stroke it with paint. I also used little groups of dots to look like baby’s breath.

The upper left flowers (pink centers) are finger flowers with petals painted around the edges. The center white flowers are also finger flowers with a wavy line painted around the edges.