Learning Curve

Yesterday I took my box o'stuff and trooped outside to start spraying. First of all, putting the respirator mask on was a must, but all kinds of claustrophobia kicked in and for the first few moments, I couldn't breathe. I didn't like it much, but decided I really wasn't going to suffocate and got on with the spraying. The upside of wearing the mask is that I couldn't smell the fumes, at all as long as I had it on.

I chose to "make over" a few pieces of ugly scrapbook papers to start with, since I wouldn't be too heavily invested if they didn't turn out. It was a good choice, as I like what I have so far. The one shown above had moments of "whoops" or "eww" but I just let it dry and then went over the parts that I didn't care for. If anything, this process is pretty forgiving.

This one I sprayed sparingly. I want to do more acrylic paint on it than anything. My friend Penn gave me a chunk of rubber waste and it actually "prints" really well. If you look closely, you will see that this paper had crowns printed on it before I got spraying.

This one I used a scrapbook paper that was all cut work as a stencil. I think the high contrast is interesting. Underneath are printed scraps of text which shows through.

This was an embossed print, that looked like vintage tin ceiling tiles. Problem was, the colour of the original paper was fugly. So I lay the cut work paper and stenciled it over top, then lay the scalloped circle in the middle and sprayed over with red. I got an interesting layered effect.

The one downside is of course, the papers end up being pretty fumy. I hung mine outside on the clothes line all afternoon and I can still smell them. I think I am going to try some spray inks next time and see which I prefer.

On another note, Indy says thanks to everyone who has gone and voted for him! If you haven't, there's still plenty of time.

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