I’ve spent a very enjoyable few hours this morning creating a plethora of gloriously coloured and distressed backgrounds for use with my drawings and art. I will be scanning them in to create digital backgrounds too, but only when I’m going to draw on one. I’d get overwhelmed if I tried to do that task all in one go!
How I created the backgrounds.
The papers I used are all mixed media – either ClaireFontine or Daler-Rowney. They were cut to sizes that would be suitable for mounting on cards.
They’re a mixture of the following approximate sizes:
9″ x 3″; 8″ x 2″; 4″ x 4″; 3″ x 5″; 2.5″ x 4.5″; 4.5″ x 2″; 3″ x 4″; 4.5″ x 1.5″
just in case you’re curious.
They are all coloured with Distress Oxide Inks. I only have the first two collections released by Ranger; I do intend to complete the collection in the future.
For some, I used a soft Brayer roller to add the Distress Oxide to a gel printing plate. I then either sprayed water on the plate in a fine spray, or I splattered drops of water colour on to it before pulling the print with a piece of paper.
I tried brayer-ing the Ink directly to paper, but wasn’t all that happy with the results until I sprayed them with water.
My favourite way of adding colour, however, was to use a piece of Cut and Dry foam to add the ink. I tapped the black, denser foam side onto the ink pad and used that to spread the colour around the paper. I then sprayed with water.
Sometimes I’d go back and add another layer of colour, and then spray with water.
I used a heat gun to dry the paper after spraying with water or colour, which helps the distress oxide inks to ‘bleach’.
I’d add some more colour if I thought the background needed it, and then spray again, until I was happy with the end product.
My final task was to frame the backgrounds by adding a black edging. I used a foam finger dauber and black soot Distress Ink to do this, spraying the papers once more to let the edging ‘bleed’ a little.
I’m really happy with most of the backgrounds I’ve made and I’m looking forward to using them to create little pieces of art, and adding to my library of digital backgrounds I can use for my digital art. These are a little small, maybe. However, Now I’ve found out how I like to create a background with the cut and dry foam I’ll be making some A4 sized backgrounds.
Update on my back and other things.
My back is feeling a lot better today. However, I still get stiff all too easily and I still have pain down the sides of my thighs.
My mosaic crochet wrap is coming along – it’s all I’ve been focusing on while my back has been too painful to sit and draw.
The world is greening quickly. I’ve not spent much time at my studio area while my back has been sore, so I’m surprised to see the trees that were bare just a couple of days ago are now clothed in spring hues. That cheers my heart!
I’m coping quite well with the ‘lock-down’. I am trying not to get sucked into the whirling maelstrom of news and views about Coronavirus and other events going on in the world.
The virus crisis is happening, even though it’s not touched me personally. It will occur whether I pay attention to it or not. I know being stressed, anxious, fearful will have a negative impact on my immune system, so the calmer I can stay, the better. That doesn’t mean I don’t care. I do. Deeply. The only thing I can do is to stay home and not be a vehicle for transmission of the virus from person to person.
I now need a fresh mug of tea, so that’s all the words I have…for now.
Angela Porter 