Layers of Colour by Guest Artist Kate Crane
We are thrilled to welcome guest artist Kate Crane to Somerset Place today as she shares a painting technique for creating vibrant layered backgrounds.
Two things I love about mixed-media art are colour and layers; I can’t get enough of either! When working in my art journal I often build up busy backgrounds adding layer after layer, and I find that if I stick to one colour family, I can keep adding more layers so that the canvas looks busy but not cluttered. Ink sprays are one of my favourite mediums to work with; they are bright, colourful, and give you super-fast coverage.
Materials
Dylusions Ink Sprays in Vibrant Turquoise, Fresh Lime, London Blue, Lemon Zest
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads in Peacock Feathers, Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean
Number Jumble Dylusions Stencils by Ranger and The Crafter’s Workshop
Basic Background stamp by Ranger Dylusions
Journey Collage stamp by Stampotique Originals
Flourish stamp by Tuscan Rose
Wing stamp by Tim Holtz/Stampers’ Anonymous
Liquid Pearls
Instructions
On my first page, I used Dylusions Ink Sprays by Ranger, and an assortment of ink pads in a similar range of colours. When working in my vintage ledger journal, the inks stay really bright on the page and also react very well with water (this varies on the paper/card you are working on), so my first step was to spray shades of blue, turquoise, and green until they began to pool.
After blotting, I splashed some water onto the project, blotted again, then sprayed the same colour inks in random places through a number stencil.
This was just the beginning of the background! I added more patterns and textures to the background by stamping randomly all over the page with a variety of ink pads, using the Journey Collage stamp by Stampotique Originals, and the Basic Backgrounds stamp by Dylusions.
Gesso is an amazing medium to work with. Originally intended to be used as a base layer, mixed-media artists have embraced its possibilities. Here I used it as a top layer by scraping through a stencil and adding a few extra details with a fine line pen and an oil pastel.
Stamping a bold feature stamp in black really makes the other colours pop.
I created some elements for my page using the complementary colour so that they would really stand out.
A few touches of liquid pearls…
…and your background is complete!
A big “Thank you!” to Kate for this lovely tutorial. Kate is a mixed-media artist living in the north of England, with her husband and two children. Her work has been featured in several Stampington publications and is currently decorating the pages of the Summer ’12 issue of Art Journaling. To see more of her work, visit thekathrynwheel.blogspot.com.
Posted: Monday, July 16th, 2012 @ 9:15 am
Categories: Art Journaling, How-To Project Tutorials.
Tags: Art Journaling, Guest Artist, layering.
Subscribe to the comments feed if you like.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
I love spray I is as well for layering in color. Thanks so much for taking us layer by layer through your process, it is fun to see how you achieve such beautiful results!
Excuse my auto correct, that should have read spray inks!
That was a fun tutorial. Nice to see her process…a gorgeous end result too!
Beautiful work Kate, love all the layering and the bright pops of color!
wonderful vibrant piece and makes me remember the heat of sumer.EE
Thanx so much for the tutorial! I love the layered look of your journal pages. Your work is just beautiful. Thanx for the inspiration. :)
great tutorial! Love it!
Gorgeous!
Great easy-to-follow instructions for a newbie like me. Inspires me to finally make a housewarming present for a friend to just moved to a new location :) So nice of you to share, ta!
Canvas paintings are the perfect housewarming gift. I might make a set for a friend as well!
This is a fab piece and the step by step really shows how all the yummy layers are built up..loveit!trace. X
Love all that eye candy color! Great instructions and inspiration. Thanks
Love the vibrant colors and layers. thank you for sharing the step by step process!
This is utterly gorgeous-as usual Kate!!! I love the light spirals and dots of liquid pearls-such a special touch.Thanks so much for sharing!
Fantastic result!! Thanks for the tutorial.
Love , love, LOVE the layers!!
Love the randomness, love the colors!
Beautiful!
Beautiful!!! Thank you so much for sharing your layering tips Kate!
Lee Ann
Simply beautiful!! Thanks for sharing your art techniques!
I follow all your contents shared on web, they are most inspiring, creative and incredibly lovely to watch and read .. keep it on
I first saw Kate’s artwork in your Art Journal magazine. I am new to art journaling and Somerset introduced it to me. I love Kate’s work and have gone crazy making background pages for journals. My granddaughter and I recently spent a Saturday making background pages using paints, spray inks and stencils. I love to share this medium with her. Thank you, Kate, for a great tutorial!
I love all different processes layering and rich colors in this artwork! I