Thanks to everyone who commented on my iPad cover as part of the Balzer Designs Stencil Blog Hop. It was so much fun and I hope you had a great time checking out all the wonderful artwork using Julie Fei Fan-Balzer’s neato face stencils.
Congrats to Margie H and Katalina Designs. You two won a 1 oz plunger of ICE Resin. Be sure to email me your address and I will get those sent out to you next week.
TGIF, right? Here’s wishing everyone a very Artful weekend!
Today is a very special day on my blog, as I’m participating in the phenomenally talented Julie Fei Fan-Balzer blog hop using her great new Crafter’s Workshop stencils.
I was pretty stoked when Julie emailed me and asked if I’d make a piece of art for the hop. Since I have a love for figurative work, I was thrilled when the Crafter’s Workshop folks sent me 3 Faces stencils and some cool patterned ones to play with. I was particularly drawn to Ava (the one I used in this project) because the bangs in her eyes reminds me of my daughter, who’s 2 and does not like her hair cut.
I knew what I wanted to make before I even saw the stencils. Since I justified all the ways in which I absolutely needed a new iPad as a work expense, I wanted to make an artsy cover for it. The only kink in the idea is that I can’t sew, not even one straight stitch on a machine. I pleaded my dear friend Tamara Morkin, a restaurateur and amazing quilter who lives in my little country town to make the case for me.
Poor thing, I had her work with thick white canvas and a plain black elastic strap. I needed a totally blank canvas to paint. She did such a wonderful job!
I then spent a lovely morning in my studio playing with my favorite new paint medium — Faber-Castell’s Gelato watercolor sticks. These have a luscious texture about them, like applying lipstick to your canvas. Some lines of color here and more color in a harmonious hue there, a wash of water on a paintbrush and I was able to lay down a lovely background in a few minutes.
I then put Julie’s fantastic face stencil down and traced it out with a pencil. Pulled the stencil off and added in the face color, lips, eyes and cheeks with various shades of Gelatos. I knew I wanted only 1/2 of the face to show on the iPad cover when its closed. Visually, I think it adds mystery and dimension to the work. I then began working with the back cover and the very funky Love Beads Crafter’s Workshop stencil to create more texture and pattern.
Of course, it wouldn’t be my work without words incorporated into the design. I grabbed one of my old French paperbacks and began tearing and collaging away. I liked the way the small bit of torn paper looks like a collaged headband.
My next to final step was to place the Ava stencil back over the background and draw in the thick black lines with Faber-Castell’s PITT artist big brush pen in black. A little water on a tiny paintbrush softened the hard lines. I also added some black details with the brush around the bubbles and hearts.
Finally, my favorite part of the entire project. After I let the iPad cover completely dry, I covered the entire thing in ICE Resin®, which is a non-toxic jeweler’s grade resin that stays crystal clear forever. ICE made the colors pop so beautifully on the canvas, as well as sealing and protecting my artwork forever.
All in all, I’m pretty pleased with my one-of-a-kind iPad artwork. I can’t wait to pull it out at art retreats and teaching gigs for people to see. I also want to thank Julie for giving me the perfect opportunity to do the hop and use her AMAZING stencil designs. Her easy-to-use Ava face made for a well executed figurative project. (If you like Ava, be sure to check out Edith and Maude and Summer too).
Be sure hop throughout the other talented participant’s blogs today. There is sure to be some great eye candy.
• Jill Sprott: http://wordplaywordwork.blogspot.com/
• Karen Grunberg: http://www.karenika.com/
• Paula Gilarde: http://scraptherefore.blogspot.com/
• Julie Fei-Fan Balzer:
http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/balzer_designs/2011/11/balzer-designs-stencil-hop-faces.html
Also, as a thank you to all of you for stopping by, I want to do a giveaway on my blog today. Leave a comment on my blog here and 2 lucky people will win a 1-oz size single syringe of ICE Resin. I will choose the winner by random number generator on Friday.
Here’s wishing all of you a truly Artful day!
