Handmade Stencils and Modeling Paste

I found some really cool blue sheets at the thrift store a while back.  A few years back actually.  I kept them because I thought I would love to use them to make stencils, but I never did.  Until I found them the other day.  I found them in some old files while looking for the title to my car, which I never found.  I was looking for the title because I locked the only set of keys we own to my car inside of my car.  Anyway, I came across these and I had seen a challenge on using modeling paste with stencils and thought I would love to give it a try but didn't have any good stencils.  Making my own would be a fine way to solve that problem.  I started by doodling on a piece of notebook paper.  

The sheets are very transparent, so I was able to place one on top of my drawing and follow the design with my X-Acto knife.  I had a bit of trouble at first, but things went a lot smoother when I changed the blade out.

My first stencil cut!  The edges are sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.  That's because I don't take enough time when I go around rounded edges, and I get bored turning my paper a fraction of a millimeter at a time.  So bored!

Tested out first on a messy piece of scrap paper.  I also applied the negative of the stencil by turning it face down and using the modeling paste that was left over from the first application.

Hearts too.  Hearts are fun.  

Fun, but curvy and hard to do!

I also did some circles.  Here's the sheet with all three patterns cut into it.  I saved the cuttings for use on my gelatin printing plate.  

I broke out the good watercolor paper and filled it up with modeling paste designs.  

I used several colors of my Dr Ph Martin's Hydrus Watercolors to color the page.  

Now where to go from here?

Wall Art - Huge Piece

I had a very large space on my wall to fill, so I took a couple of pieces of plywood I had around the house, primed them with white latex paint, and started painting them.  I used Folk Art and Apple Barrel paint by Plaid.  First step was to lay down a colorful background.  

I really wanted to do something playful and fun on this, similar to some of the pieces I have seen lately by Stephanie Corfee, so I kinda went wild with my brush.  And I hated it.  Hated. It.  

Not to worry, I covered it back up with more color.  I decided on some simple brush strokes to embellish the painting because I had so much room to cover (like 3 feet by 4 feet).

Here's a detailed shot.

And the finished piece on my wall.

Art Journal Pages - The Least of These

A few weeks ago I worked on a large painting for my dining room, and I mixed up a really cool color of blue; a really dark, deep, midnight blue that almost looks black.  I wanted to use it in my journal, so I made up a bit more of it today.  I covered a whole page with the color, then brushed a bit on the other page with a wide brush.  I added a bit of leaf green and sherbet green to it with a smaller brush.

Looking pretty good already, but this color begs for a bit of pink next to it, so I put some down with that same brush.  

I always end up with extra paint, so I have been using it up on loose pages.  These three are just about ready to use for a collage I think.

I thought some pink lettering would look nice, so I bought an acrylic paint pen.  This is one of my favorite scriptures, a reminder that while our love for Christ is important, we must never forget to love and serve others.