2015 Mixed Media Technique Calendar - July

I hope the week off has given everyone a chance to catch up some.  A few people asked for a breather because they felt like they were getting too far behind.  

So we're on to July and here in the US that's a very patriotic month so I am going with red, white and blue for my color scheme.  You of course can vary the colors to whatever suits your mood.

We're using Gesso, Acrylic Paint, inks and stamps for this months calendar.  It's all about texture.  I went with an organic type texture but you could choose to use any number of tools to create your texture.

Let's go!

Start off by applying a fairly thick layer of gesso.  I like a heavy body gesso that will hold it's shape.  I was going for the look of something that's been painted over and over for years and years.  I wanted to see layers, thick and thin areas and lots of brush strokes.  You can see I added just a bit of gesso near the center - I just wanted to highlight the texture of the cardboard in this area.

Of course you can use lots of things to create texture in gesso - all sorts of catalyst blades (store bought or home made); stencils, masks, etc.  The look below was exactly what I wanted.  It looks like it's been around a day or two.

Choose  a couple colors you want to work with then apply them to the surface.

Immediately spritz a couple coffee filters (or a baby wipe or paper towel) with a bit of water and dab it over the paint.  You'll notice I picked up more paint in some areas and less in others.  I was really trying to highlight the texture created in the gesso and of the cardboard.

Don't waste the paint - you can use the filters (or wipe/towel) to color up a tag or two before the paint dries.

Now you might be wondering why I used coffee filters?  Well they are WAY cheaper than baby wipes and once dry you have the start of a wicked cool project!

Continuing with the calendar arch - stamp desired relevant images over the entire piece.  I've used various patriotic images I had in my stash.

Optional - You can go back in with the gesso or white acrylic paint and add additional accents - I used stars for mine but you could use whatever fits your theme.

I trimmed the excess cardboard, mounted the calendar, inked the edges and added a couple hand drawn stars to the mix.  I wish you could feel/see this up close.  The texture really makes the arch a tactile joy.