More Golden Play

This little piece was not quite dry when I took the photos of the other cards that I posted today. I used the same gesso techniques - but some used gold leaf rather than paint to emphasize the gessoed areas. I made this for a challenge - but unfortunately I no longer remember which place the challenge was! Ohhhh - this is bad when it was only a week or so ago and I have forgotten where the idea came from ! I remember that the blog owner said that she had contemplated not doing a challenge this month because everyone gets so busy - but she decided to post it anyway. You needed to use a recognizable part of the picture of the girl, which I chose to paint rathe than print,cut & glue. The prompt for this challenge was 'beginnings'. Anyone know where this challenge was?? Anyway, I think this card, larger than the others, turned ot well. and I like it I enjoyed doing the painting of the face and I liked the layers on the paper, the gesso and the gold leaf. I sure have been having fun lately...now I must need to buy some more Ginko for that memory lapse!

New Cards: Exploring Golden Mediums

I have been doing some playing - I know that seems hard to believe! - with some Golden mediums. After I had posted the first batch of these cards, a friend suggested that I try Golden Absorbent Ground as well - as it absorbs the paint better. I also had some Golden Clear Gesso on hand - so I though I would try them all together and see what result I came up with. I think that we tend to use brands that we are used to using - and that is probably one of the largest reasons that I prefer Golden products. I have used them for a long time & I like them. They never fail me & their products are always, in my mind, just a bit superior to other brands. There have been times when I could not afford them and have bought many other brands to use - but I always return to using Golden products as soon as I am able to. These cards were made in various ways using lots of layering techniques - I am still considering them part of my tree series. It is interesting to use the clear Gesso over colors for adding more texture. You can then color the clear gesso& layer more colors for more texture. I have to say that, after experimenting with the absorbant ground by itself, I did not like the way my cards were coming out. - too much color was being absorbed and I was losing some of the texture effects I was looking for. I like the way Gesso acts as a bit of a partial resist. The 'magic' happened when I layered some regular gesso on top of the absorbant ground - that yielded fabulous results! I am still in the midst of experimenting - and have several more, larger pieces in varying stages of drying & gesso layering. I had so much fun with these. It seems to be invariable that the ones that I consider tossing turn out to be the pieces that I end up liking the most. A good reason to keep layering and reworking a piece. Even my rag looks colorful and is more fun to use (after careful washing of course!) after these "Golden experiments"!! More to come ....

Oh yes ! I DID in fact start that new quilt too - and I think it is going to be a lot of fun to make. Simple, but effective & sleeping under it will, I think, create happy reveries !

The "Bud"

"Wind Tossed"

Tangled

"Banded"

GPP Street Team Crusade 25: Using Gesso

This is the simplest of the group and is also my favorite.
I painted gesso with thickened dyes & small stamps/ chops

Another in this tree series. Dye painted gesso, gold leaf & small stamps/chops

I always look forward to Michelle Ward's Green Pepper Press Crusades each month. I am have so much enjoyment & learning through her varied studies. This month Gesso way the key word. Using Gesso to achieve something other than just a prime on canvas. I had a great time making these ATC cards using Gesso as a textural element. Some of my textures looked like trees - & so this became my 'tree series'. I have some more in the works - the designs are more holiday oriented but I used the same sort of textural effects. I like the chalky whiteness of Gesso too - and this stark color can also be just as important a design element. I sure hope that Michelle keeps this up for another year - I cant imagine how lost I would feel without these fun things to learn about and try, Well, what do you think? Have you ever worked with Gesso as a fun tool? I'm rather partial to Golden brand Gesso - but that's strictly a personal preference. I also have a jar or two of Liquitex brand Gesso in my drawer full of primer goodies

Michelle is the wonderful, generous, talented woman who designed my new blog header. I would dearly love for her to do my web site someday ...I need help in that area and she is just the person to do it. I know - I need to win a lottery. Michelle is one of the most creative spirits I have had the pleasure to learn about in blog land. How lucky is that ?! Thanks Michelle - hope you're planning to keep cooking up these fun "Crusades" next year too!!! If anyone would like to trade an ATC -let me know. I like the way these turned out enough that I am going to make some regular greeting cards too.

More dye painted gesso combined with some gold leaf & acrylic paint

I almost threw this one out. After re-doing some of the dye painted areas with some thinned transparent
acrylic paint & the addition of a bit of gold leaf I decided that it was worth hanging on to.