Spread Your WIngs Academy vol. 5

Dear mixed media Fans,

welcome again to our Spread Your Wings Academy! Have you missed it? :)

We're back to share our clever tricks & tips but most of all, we'd like to make you feel more confident, give you some encouragement and make you feel you can easily create an exceptional artwork!

This month we have a very special issue we'd like to talk about. Many of you will surely sigh and say you know the problem too well -

- How To Break A Blank Page? -

What to do? Where to start? How to fight this intimidating whiteness?

Well, our Teamies are here, ready to help!

Here's how our Creative Team decided to attack the issue. ;) Enjoy! Feel inspired! Create with us!

Feeling strained when deciding what to do with an untouched blank page staring at you on your desk? No need to. Here I come with a super easy tutorial how to get started. All you need is your unlimited imagination, gesso, a heat gun and of course the paper!

I used this wonderful technique for the box lid makeover.

As I said before it´s a piece of cake and the effect you achieve is pretty awesome. We´re going for the texture! Here´s how to:

1. First get yourself a solid paper (mixed media or watercolor one). This step is crucial to avoid the paper from rippling. With a palette knife (an ordinary kitchen knife will do, too!) apply a thick uneven layer of gesso. What we´re going for is not a smooth perfect surface. Try to tap the knife on the gesso several times.

2. Now´s the right time to start the fun part. Turn on your heat tool and start drying the gesso holding the heat gun very close to the paper (about 3-4cm). In a while you´re going to wittness a miracle.

The gesso starts boiling, baking, dancing  and super cool wrinkles and bubbles of all shapes and sizes begin to appear. You get a perfect kind a moon surface texture without any use of modelling paste or a stencil. A quick and cheap trick worth trying out.

3. Now let it cool down. To make the texture stand out even more we´re going to add some colours. You can use sprays, inks, watercolours…

Do not forget to dry every single colour applied. And here we go!

I added some stamping, inking and a bit of embellishing. I couldn´t do without my fave vintage character. This time it´s this miserable looking lady who I had been bewitched with.
Here's a detail shot:

 

What a daunting thing the “white page” can be, so pure and empty.and yet - so full of possibilities.

For me, colour is always my starting point. This could come from many sources: coloured papers, mists, inks, paint, pastels, coloured pencils.

Today, I’m going to use acrylic paint and I’m going to apply it in 4 different ways. Each method can be used alone as a great starting point for a blank page, or they can be combined, one on top of the other as I’ve done.

The reason I like to start with acrylic paint is that 1) it’s waterproof once dry, and  2) it creates quite “random effects” that you have only limited control over. This somehow takes the pressure off making the “perfect” mark on a clean page.

Also acrylic paint watered down in a mister bottle is a “gentle” start and if you really don’t like it, a baby wipe and paper towel can remove it ( while it’s still wet of course) and I always work on gessoed paper, pages or canvas.

Here's my empty page and my ingredients for adding colour:

Method 1. Using a palette knife, apply gesso and thick acrylic paint down your page, letting them randomly mix together. Before the paint dries, wipe some of it off with a baby wipe to blend and soften the look. Dry.

Method 2. Mix a small amount of acrylic paint in a mister bottle and spray onto your page. You could use any mists you like as long as they are waterproof once dry. Distress Spray Stains are great.

Method 3. Mist your page or parts of your page with water. Dribble on watered down acrylic paint onto these wet areas and watch the colour spread out and run. You do have some control over where it goes by tilting your page.

Method 4. Using a sea sponge, dip it into thick acrylic paint, then pat most of the paint off onto a scrap of paper. Now use the sponge to apply the paint through a stencil.

You could of course use mists or ink to do this but I want to use exactly the same colours I have used already on my previous layers. I think this creates continuity and is more subtle than if I introduced a different medium or shade of colour.

Here's how my finished page turned out.

I hope some of these simple techniques will inspire you to face the “white page” with confidence and courage.

Remind yourself that the first marks you make are usually not all that visible anyway by the time you finish. Happy creating!

I want to show you how to break a blank page with texture and color.

This is really a very quick and easy way and I think you should give it a try.

Here's my finished project:

and here are some tips about how I created my background.

1. Cover the whole page with Clear Gesso. Gesso prepares the surface for paints and mists, without it, the paint would soak into the page, and we wouldn't get this amazing stains effect.
Next - use your favorite stencil and Modeling Paste to make an interesting texture.

2. Add colors with mists. I made sprays using Mica Powders. Dry with a heat tool to get amazing stains.

3. Add more details with stamps, use permanent ink.

Try to prepare your own background, white page gives you so many possibilities.
If you are afraid of unpredictable effect - try the light, soft colors, they are easier to control.

Hi everyone,
Breaking blank page is one of the biggest problem of every creative person. How to start ?
Common question asked by everyone.
My answer :) STICK SOMETHING !
It can be anything... Today I will show you three random examples but there is more than this !

1.Masking tape

2. Book pages

3. Leftover craft papers

Simple, isn't it ? My next step would be to add some white gesso to blend in my paper elements.
And then ? Simply add some colour... your basic background is ready !

Tear some paper and just have fun !

Feeling inspired? We hope we managed to make all the blank pages (canvases & papers) less scary and more inviting.
We also hope you will share your projects in our Open Studio facebook group. We love seeing your art there!
Happy creating!