Collage Project using Gel Printed papers with ArtFoamies Part 1 of 2

For my project I will need some gel printed papers to collage with. So, I will be working with my gel plate as well as with the following ArtFoamies by Cat Kerr:

• Cat Kerr | Twigs | Foam StampTwigs 
• Cat Kerr | Stem | Foam Stamp
• Cat Kerr | Leaf | Foam Stamp
• Cat Kerr | Totem | Foam Stamp

I will also be using some alcohol markers and gel sticks directly onto the gel plate for added interest and depth to my prints. I’ve chosen some bright acrylic paints to match the feel of these Cat Kerr fun and bold ArtFoamies.

To start off with I’m adding some doodling to my gel plate with the alcohol markers randomly across the plate. If you add acrylic paint to your plate and then go in with the alcohol markers try and stay away from the acrylic paint as it will ruin your markers.

I am interested in creating multiple layers on the plate, letting each layer dry then adding acrylic paint to pull the print. After I’ve added some doodling with the alcohol markers, I then load my ArtFoamies up with acrylic paint using my brayer or my smaller gel plate as a loading pad for the acrylic paint to then stamp the ArtFoamie onto the gel plate. Once I’m happy with layers I’ve created on the plate I allow it to dry and add a lighter color, such as a warm white or a titanium white for the background. This allows you to pull up everything that went onto the plate earlier.

I also experimented with some mixed media gel sticks. I dipped the stick into water then doodled directly onto the gel plate, allowed it to dry and then went in with my ArtFoamies. The Twigs and Totem ArtFoamies made awesome background texture in my prints.

You can really see all the layers, including some finger painting I did directly onto the plate in the print I pulled onto some text paper. The final pull was soft yet had lucious layers with Cat Kerrs bold images. It is this softness coupled with bold imagery that I am looking for.

Midway through the session I changed up the type of paint I used. I went from a basic acrylic paint to a chalk paint however, I used similar bright colors. I even used my brayer as a mark making tool and dabbed it onto my gel plate prior to stamping with the Totem ArtFoamie in the same color.

Next instead of adding the paint to the gel plate with the ArtFoamies I applied paint to the whole gel plate with my brayer and then removed the paint from the gel plate using the ArtFoamies. I took a risk and pulled out some infusion powders and sprinkled it all over the surface of the gel plate and misted it with water. I hoped a bit of the grunge would peek through where I had pulled up the acrylic paint with the ArtFoamies. I did have to be very patient to let it dry completely before I added the final acrylic paint to do the pull with.

The final print on text paper was super grungy and you really couldn’t see any definition from the ArtFoamie. However, I knew it maybe a yummy, grungy piece to play with on the final project. Here is an assortment of my final gel prints.

Please join me next month as we add some finishing touches to the gel prints and use them in a final piece.

You can find the part 1 video of the whole gel printing session over on my YouTube channel here - https://youtu.be/EaNJO4n1CpQ

If this has inspired, you to play with your ArtFoamies please tag your posts with #artfoamies and tag me @nina_fickett on Instagram. I’d love to see what you have created.

-Nina

www.ninafickettdesigns.com

Big Bold Marks in Combination with Soft Bokeh Style - Nina Fickett

Today I will be playing with one of my favorite big and bold images, designed by the wonderful Cat Kerr. If you haven’t seen her newest designs, they just came out in December, I encourage you to pop on over and check them out. They are incredible!

Today I will be working with the following ArtFoamie:

• Prickly Circles designed by Cat Kerr

I am working in the Dina Wakley Mixed Media Blue edition art journal. It is quite a challenge to overcome the fabric blue jeans pages. One thing I have learned over the past year of working in this journal is that it’s an easier page to work in if you stiffen it up and neutralize the color. I try to use gesso on it because the fabric soaks up the gesso and stiffens right up. Another method I’ve used is to collage on the page immediately.

First, I apply gesso to both sides of the layout then I add a bit of collage. I have chosen some pattern tissue paper that has bold dark lines on it. I love how bold images peek through soft muted bokeh type layers.

My next step is to add a bit of texture. Today I have chosen some home-made glass bead gel. Once it dries, I will apply some Payne’s Gray Acrylic paint using a brayer and gel plate as my palette to the Prickly Circles ArtFoamie. Then stamp it onto my layout.

Next, I go in with a water-soluble gel crayon in yellow and teal. These two colors mixed, is a new favorite discovery. I concentrated on adding it into the areas where I applied the glass bead gel texture. I have found two methods of working with the water-soluble gel crayons that fix it to the paper. One is to work gesso into it and the other is using gel medium. This time I am working with gesso. When it gets a bit too dry or concentrated in color, I apply a bit of water using a spritz bottle.

At this point in the layout, I realize that I need to draw the eye across the page. In order to accomplish this, I go in with some Cadmium Yellow acrylic paint and concentrate on applying it into the bold circles of the ArtFoamies stamped image. Muting the Cadmium Yellow down with some gesso I then apply some using my fingers to the background. This helps to bring the layout into a cohesive piece.

To accentuate the texture, I will do a bit of finger dry brushing using a contrasting color, Payne’s Gray in an Acrylic Paint, and then a bit using gesso. This pulls the highlighted areas forward to help give it dimension.

Next, I add a Maya Angelo quote, a vintage photo and some orange acrylic paint to bring the quote background color into the layout for a little pop. Lastly, I add a bit of Distress Archival Ink in Peeled Paint around the edges of the layout.

I love the dappled type of light that emanates from the layout. It reminds me of being a child, at the lake we lived near and peering up through the underbrush towards the sky. It felt like the entire world was right in front of me.

Check out THIS VIDEO to see the full creative process!

If this has inspired, you to play with your ArtFoamies please tag your posts with #artfoamies and tag me @nina_fickett on Instagram. I’d love to see what you have created.


-Nina

www.ninafickettdesigns.com

Oversized Magazine Mixed Media Art Journal Spread with ArtFoamies and a Technique Bonus - Nina Fickett

I’m excited to share with you one of my favorite ArtFoamies texture methods as well as an opportunity to play in one of my oversized magazine art journals.

Today I will be working with the following ArtFoamies:

• Mixed Up Numbers designed by Donna Downey
• Building Blocks Small designed by Donna Downey
• Gibberish designed by ArtFoamies

This mixed media art journal is huge. Each page is 10 1/2” x 13 7/8”. Its base is a magazine so the pages are semi-glossy and very light weight. As a result, I have pre-glued up to three pages together so it can withstand all my mixed media mediums. I always use gesso on the pages to ensure things adhere well to the surface and it also adds some strength.

After I’ve gessoed my pages I go in with collage elements. The collage fodder adds texture and is an easy way to break up the blank page. Today I’ve used some old color road maps as well as text papers. I’m feeling ready to travel with these pages.

Once my first layers are dry, I come in with my first ArtFoamies stamp: Mixed Up Numbers. I randomly stamp this over my layout using a Ranger archival ink in cobalt. I love to layer things up on the page before I make any final design decisions. As I layer the bottom layers will sometimes peek through telling a story.

I found that I kept seeing areas that interested me. Areas where the stamping converged with the text and map collage pieces. This led me to focus on these areas, so I pulled out a Stabilo All pencil in black and a circle template. I decided to trace different sized circles onto the layout, like a camera lens focusing on points on a map.

I activated the Stabilo All circle marks using a water saturated round brush and pulled the black into the circle.

At this point the circles began to feel like floating orbs, so I decided to ground them more. The orbs reminded me of the trees from Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax. I know it may seem like a big leap, but it’s the way my brain works when I’m arting. So using a Higgins brush pen loaded with black India ink mixed with shellac I created these “Dr. Seuss” like pedestals for my orbs.

My next step was to do a little technique I call a “foamie press”. You can watch the details of this technique over on my YouTube channel HERE.

Essentially you press your very water saturated ArtFoamies stamp into some TCW Light & Fluffy modeling paste.

It is important to clean the stamp immediately in warm sudsy water. For my layout I added the TCW Light & Fluffy to the inside of the pedestals and then did the “foamie press”. Here you can really see the texture I got from the Building Blocks small ArtFoamie.

Next, I applied some white gesso to the background. While applying I concentrated on pushing back some of the collage and highlighting the right side of the orb/pedestal shapes. I let the TCW Light & Fluffy dry fully while I added Cobalt acrylic paint using my fingers.

I concentrated on the left side of the orb/pedestal shapes, which created a shadow for them.

Using multiple shades of blues and oranges I began to color the foamie press modeling paste texture. I wanted the color to get down into the grooves and catch the texture. To achieve this, I first painted the areas. Then I went in with a slightly darker color that I had thinned down with water to catch in all the grooves.

Next, I went in again with more gesso to push more of the background back. Once the gesso dried, I went in with a Ranger Distress Archival ink in Black Soot and the ArtFoamies Gibberish stamp. I made sketchy circular marks around the orbs with more of the Stabilo All pencil and activated it. Then I went in with a white paint pen to create a highlight on the orbs.

Finally, it was time to create a focal point. I decided a quote from Dr. Seuss would be perfect here. As I worked, I used a piece of cheesecloth to sop up the extra paint and it ended up being a great layer for my focal point.

You can watch the full process in the video this video.

If this has inspired, you to play with your ArtFoamies please tag your posts with #artfoamies. If you have tried your hand using the foamie press technique, tag me @nina_fickett on Instagram. I’d love to see what you have created.


-Nina

www.ninafickettdesigns.com