Have spray, will paint

I gave in and conveniently forgot that I promised not to spend any more money on art supplies until the drawers of stuff loose some of their content. This time, it was spray paint. And an awful mess on the living room floor. For one, this is not exactly the activity to entertain indoor in the winter at -30C. Ventilation is essential, this stuff is toxic. Wearing a mask is essential too. And gloves. The paint does not come off easily. Not that the ugly is out of the way, let's get to the bad. There isn't too much of it. Reading the instructions always helps, especially when it comes to the distance between the can and the paper. The first times, I sprayed from too close andthe result was a mess. Using repositional adhesive helps a lot. I sprayed it on the paper, then i layered stencils and colors. The good - the colors are sharp and the result has a graffitti look to it that I like. I sprayed on some old background papers as well as on some of the faces I made, some of the ones that looked unfinished of sorts.

Burned the midnight oil...

...two days ago, watching the videos from Teesha Moore's blog. Very interesting and a lot of fun to watch. She used only paper from magazines. I used images as a whole, but they can be cut up! Duh ....Makes sense. So I did a trip to the recycling box and salvaged more paper. Never know when it will come in handy! Looking forward to the lettering videos.

Big mistakes

I recently found these at the dollar store. You have to admit, they are quite funny. Unfortunately, they do not erase past mistakes. Instead, they make a good carving material for stamps. I made these two watching House the other day. The erasers are thick enough so both sides can be carved. I think I'll buy few more and have them handy when inspiration strikes.

It is good to have ...

... an office assistant to keep thinks on track in my work/art studio. This morning, he woke me up on time as as he displayed his football skills. Pardon, soccer skills. He was too busy chasing a pompom under the bathroom vanity to pay attention to walls and doors. His might could not be stopped by these nuisances ..until ...goooooooaaaaaaaalllllll! Needless to say, the raucous noise woke me up. Did I tell you his name is Napoleon? Now you understand why he can't be bother with any kind of geographical limitations.

Here are some new journal spreads.
I did not planned to have the Pierrot face here, but one stroke at the time, he emerged. Or she ?!

For the background here, I used craft paint in reds and oranges. Mixed on the page and scraped around. Then I looked for a face and whatever other creatures cared to emerge. On the right side, I wanted to play with the stencil, but then again one thing led to another and I have a half-face showing up.

More faces

These are two other faces I painted lately. I keep trying different things, as there are few little details that I am not crazy about. For the second one, I did some "cloud gazing" and came up with other creatures from the paint spots in the background. I think I might become adicted to finding critters and creatures in the paint!

Carbon paper and pen nibs

Today, I found carbon paper! Not an easy task it seems as most people confuse it with tracing paper. I find it handy when I want to transfer a design for carving or cutting up. So of I course I had to test it and I cut stencils from cardboard and craft foam. I decided to do a test run with the spray paint - in the laundry room of all places. No ventilation in that room, but I figured what harm can that be, right? I only had 3 stencils. Wrong! That stuff is toxic XXXL. I have a mask, but I suspect I will need one of those contraptions that look like they are coming straight from the WWII and keep the fumes at bay. The stencils worked quite good - the birds will be soon glued in the journal.

I also managed to pull out from a stack or writing paraphernalia a pen and its nib!
These writing implements date from oh, maybe 8-10 years ago when I wanted to learn calligraphy. I did, just not enough. But now I started to use the pen to write in the journal or whenever I do writing exercises and such. And I love it! Now of course I will need some of those acrylic inks in gorgeous colors! But I am putting my foot down in the expense department!

Oh, and I finally found the Sharpie poster paint markers! Water based and oil based. I sould get a few as I ended up with a bunch of various markers and 3/4 of them don't work. I will not .. yet (see above). If I do, I will stick to white, black and red. Maybe one grey ... later.

Now, I'd better go do something ...

Paint splotches

Few days ago, I took painting splotches to a new level. I used a paper doily to print out on my background pages, then I printed splotches of left over color on the pages of my altered book. And then I saw them - the faces. The left one reminds me of the faces on the roman frescoes from Pompeii.