She Art

My New Year's resolution for 2013 was to do something- anything- crafty each day.  On New Year's Day, I started my first She Art canvas.  In case you haven't heard of She Art, check out Christy Tomlinson's blog.  She makes some of the most beautiful mixed media canvases!!!

Anyway, I was a little nervous to start, but my dear friend, Gloria (check out her blog here), inspired me to actually get going on a canvas.

My first step was to decide on what papers I wanted to use...THAT is really the hardest step!!  I chose to use some of Christy Tomlinson's She Art papers- beautiful designs and very bright colors.  I traced the shape of the girl and her clothing and cut her out.  The colors are much brighter than what's showing in the pictures!

Next I ripped and applied the background papers to the canvas using Studio Mixed Medium Matte gel.  I decided to use blue in the sky area and green in the grass area- go figure.  :)  I was having a really hard time being "random" with this!  It's more stressful than I thought it would be!!!

Once the gel was dry, I used a light blue acrylic paint and paint brush to brush some color along the edges and seams of the "sky" area.  Next, I used some bubble wrap brushed with some white acrylic paint and randomly "stamped" white dots on the canvas, followed by random stamping of numbers and diamonds in black ink (Dyan Revealey's Dylusions stamps).

Next I used a stencil and yellow acrylic paint to create a sun in the corner.  Once that was dry, I applied my She Art Girl using mixed medium matte gel.  Here's what she looks like at that point:

 

She's coming along!

 

The next step is to paint the girl's face and legs using a flesh-colored paint with a wet brush to make it more opaque, paint her hair and once that's dry, outline the body of the girl and her clothing.  I did learn that you don't want to try to have a single black line.  From watching Christy's tutorial videos, I've learned that you have to use short, choppy strokes to outline her and give her definition!  A few rub-ons strategically places, a little more color with acrylic paints and Voila!  Here is my first-ever completed She Art canvas.  What do you think???

 

 

 Stamps:  Dylusion's Basic Backgrounds

Ink: Archival Jet Black by Ranger

Papers:  She Art by Chisty Tomlinson, piece of book paper (from an old book)

Other supplies:  8 x 10" stretched canvas (Michael's value pack), Studio Mixed Medium Matte gel, bubble wrap, 12 x 12" "Zinnia" template (The Crafter's Workshop), foam paint brush, small paint brush, assorted acrylic paints (light blue, white, yellow, flesh, burnt umber), rub-ons, fine tip ball-point pen (I used Permaball Black Pen from Pilot which is available at Christy Tomlinson's store- Scarlet Lime)