Inspired by the works of Kelly Rae Roberts and Susie Blu, I spent this Sunday afternoon trying another face.
I was very patient this time. I started out with a piece of cardboard (OK, it's the back of a cereal box). I tried something that I saw in a video by Samantha Kira Harding. I put gesso on the cardboard, then wrote all over it with Prismacolor Premier markers (she used Copics, but I don't have any), then brushed gesso over the writing. It smeared some of the marker which looked really pretty and you could see a sort of ghost image through the gesso. Then I used stencils and spray ink, acrylic dabbers, and ink dabbers. I collaged some torn book pages, decorative tissue paper, and a lacy rice paper. I went over everything with watered down Golden Titan Buff to calm it down a little and make the papers more integrated.
I drew the girl with a charcoal pencil, then painted her face, arms and hair. After it dried I used a charcoal pencil, Pitt markers, and a white gel pen to draw her facial features. After I painted the dress, I stamped a butterfly on regular white paper, reduced it, then colored it with markers and glued it to the dress. I added the wings, some more stamping, and a little molding paste through a plastic grid.
I just need to brush a layer of gloss medium and it will be finished.
You know it's hard to develop one's own style. I watch a lot of tutorials on Youtube and am addicted to arts/crafts magazines. When someone is showing you how to do something, naturally, your piece is going to look quite a bit like theirs (just not as good, of course). I'm guessing that many people gain inspiration and technique from others, then eventually develop their own style.
I'm working on it!!
