Hi everyone!
This is Karen, back with a Mixed Media page for September. This month, I decided to try out one of my assignments from the Life Book class I am taking.
The week's artist, Mika Diaz, taught a technique where we traced an image on tracing paper and then used it on our page.
I found an image in a catalog I had lying around and then traced over it with pencil.
I didn't worry too too much about getting it perfect.
I then started working on my background. I decided to collage a bunch of the 3x4 cards I love so much.
I glued them down using gel medium (I will note that gel medium and I don't get along well. I can never seem to use it without creating a lot of bubbles.] I really liked how it looked after I had the cards down. In fact, I liked it so much that I was tempted to just leave it like that. But then I got the idea to use one of the gold papers from the Necessities line and I kept worrying that it would "ruin" the whole thing.
Here's something I've learned: when you have an idea, you need to be brave enough to try it. Even if it turns out to be a disaster, you can always start from scratch or paint over it or even soldier on. If you start second guessing your ideas/whims, you will always find yourself doing the same things so as to not "ruin" anything.
But it's only when we venture out and try new things that we expand and discover.
So I urge you to give those little whispers some voice.
I decided to listen to mine and I glued down the gold page on top.
And then I immediately hated the results. I hated how much the page bubbled up. In some sections, it was so bad that I had to cut out parts of the paper which made me more upset. After ranting out loud for a few seconds about how I totally should not have ruined my page, I scolded the negative voice in my head and decided to move on and see where I could go next.
I put some paint down on my page and noticed that the paint hugged the bubbles and texture of the paper.
I was already liking this better. Next, I glued down my traced girl and traced over her again with my Stabilo All pencil (which can write over any surface and is awesome.) I then painted my girl lightly to match the colors in the background. And added a bit of text that says "You Can Choose Peace." A little more Stabilo All on the edges and my page was done:
I love that the cards all the way at the bottom show through in parts of my page. But what I love even more is that gold that comes through the layers and shines:
If I hadn't been willing to add that gold layer, I could have not achieved this lovely effect. Yet another proof that you have to be willing to try new things. And that when it looks like all is lost, you can just move through and remember that this is just another layer, it doesn't have to be finished until you say it is.
Thank you very much for letting me share my art and I look forward to seeing you next month!
