These days, I am busy making backgrounds for a little secret present I am making for my husband’s birthday. This one is an experiment in distressed image transfer.
I started out by gessoing watercolour paper on both sides, then painted one side with an Ivory White wash. After that I layered several washes in Sienna, light brown and Burnt Umber, wiping away some of the paint from each layer with baby wipes. then i splattered some Phtalo Blue and Burnt Umber on the paper and let it dry. After that, it was image transfer time.
The image in question was a page from an old newspaper, which I scanned and printed (reversed) with my laser printer. I coated it with a good layer of matte gel medium and placed it on top of the watercolour paper. But instead of burnishing it properly, I burnished it in some places and not in others. then I let it dry for a few hours.
Once dry, I took a wet rag and used it to dampen the back of the printout, then rubbed most of it off, revealing the transferred image. Some bits of printout are still attached to the watercolour paper, giving it a touch of white fuzz. My initial plan was to let the image dry and then repeat the process to remove the white fuzz. But now that I am looking at it, I rather like the additional distressed feel these white bits give to the background. So what do you think I should do—remove them or leave them?
4 comments
Hi Carla!
Thank YOU for stopping by, I so appreciate it!
Your background is VERY lovely….I say keep the fuzz!!!! I love the way you also give us a mini tutorial while you are describing your process of making it so gorgeous.
About Bella Marie, I want to thank you in advance for reading and caring. If you go to http://junksistas.blogspot.com you can read her story and see all the great prizes that about 48 bloggers donated. You can purchase a raffle ticket for $10 and you will be eligible to win. (ALL money will go to her medical bills) Or you can donate privately or whatever. As long as you have a PayPal account, you can do it online. If you don’t and you would like to donate in some other sort of way, please contact one of the Head Contributors at the bottom of the left side bar. I appreciate your willingness to help and most of all, aside from the money to help medical expenses…prayers are ALWAYS needed the most.
everything vintage
I’ve been reading through some of your posts. I really think I need a class in PhotoShop for Dummies. I can usually do something once I’m shown how, but I just find all of the instructions for PhotoShop (I actually have PhotoShop Elements) that are in their help files to be very confusing. Do you know of a website or a book that I could get that will just take me through it step by step from the beginning?
I think my problem is that I am impatient and I want to do a certain technique without having the basics down pat first.
Hi Carla, I too vote for keeping the fuzz
I was here earlier and discovered one of your tutorials. I decided to give it a try! Now I am an absolute beginner, but I am pretty pleased with the result…please come see when you have a chance, and I am anxious to see more of this project of yours!
Oh and I had to laugh at your comment about the Italian postal service…is it comforting to know there is someplace worse than France??
your work is fantastic! I am a working mother (of three wonderfull children) and I would like to use your ideas for my work. I am a graphic designer. Thank you for your ideas!!!