Monday, July 14, 2014

The "NO PLAN" Mixed Media Layout

Today I thought I would share with you a mixed media layout that I did today.  I have to be honest with you.  I selected my picture but I had no idea or plan on how to do my layout.  I decided to just go for it.  If I made a huge mistake, I figured I could cover it up somehow.  Below is the layout.

  I knew I wanted lots of texture on the background.  I first chose two pieces of patterned paper which I had in my "stuff" for a long, long time.  I tore the one paper in half but curved it.  I then inked the edges and adhered it to the left side of the background paper.  To blend the papers together I painted a thin layer of watered down gesso over the entire surface.

I then selected stencils that I wanted to use for background texture.  

The leaf stencil I applied with Tim Holtz crushed olive distress ink.   Using moulding paste I placed the stencil below the leaf one at the centre of the leaf vines.  The other stencil I applied here and there with moulding paste.  When the paste was dry I sprayed with a light brown spray, then a taupe spray (which had red in it) then I dripped a turquoise spray here and there.  Here is a closeup to show you the different textures that I achieved.

I decided that I wanted a bit more texture so I selected another of my favourite stencils and inked it here and there using a a brown distress ink.

For the picture placement, I took a random piece of patterned paper and cut out a piece for the back of the picture which comes out from the top left corner of the picture.  I also tore a few pieces from the other half of the background paper that I tore off.  I heavily inked the edges and adhered them around the picture.
I had wood gears in my stash so I pulled out a few painted them with gesso, sprayed with the turquoise spray I used on the background then stamped them with a random stamp using black ink.  I also took a wood frame, cut it in half, and adhered them to the right side of the picture by layering one on top of the other and off-setting the one piece.   I pulled apart a few pieces of burlap and tucked them under the two upper corners and bottom left corner.  I felt that the background needed some black.  So I took a stamp, inked it with black ink, and randomly stamped it here and there.  I also drew around the leaves of the leaf vine stencil using a black scrapbooking pen.   And the final thing, I splattered white gesso here and there using a paint brush.  Very easy to do and adds to the texture.   Here is a closeup of a couple of sections of the completed layout.


Given the fact that I did not know what I was going to do, I was quite pleased with how it turned out.  I realize that with mixed media anything goes.  Don't think - just do what you like.

Until next time, this is Donna reminding you to continue being a
HAPPY SCRAPPER!!!!!
and remember
"Life is a great big canvas, 
and you should throw all the paint on it you can." 
                                                                                       Danny Kaye

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