Sunday, March 17, 2013

PAINTED VILLAGE


Sometimes I like to work small!  In this case a  6" x 6" gallery canvas.  Something that I can complete in a day or two and and then sit back and admire as it hangs on the wall of my studio.  You see, my studio except for all the art supplies neatly arranged on my drawing table or on shelves, doesn't really look like an art studio at all.  There are no drawings or paintings created by yours truly to identify the artist who lives here.  Well....I decided that had to quickly change and I started painting canvases instead of painting in my journals.  Now, at last, it is beginning to reflect me...the artist...and who I am!

With that said, I purchased a package of four small canvases, thinking that they would look great lined up in a row above the closet doors.  I have always wanted to paint a collage of a village and do it in the four seasons.....trumpet fanfare...an idea was born.

This is a summary of how I painted a village in the four seasons:

Materials used:

6"x6" gallery canvas
gesso
acrylic paint (Two colors for the ground and sky, two different colors to accent and distress the buildings and white paint for the snow, clouds and fence.  In addition, each painting except for Winter had painted flowers and tree leaves.)
Bubble wrap
Ephemera: book pages, scrapbook paper, envelope liners, used postage stamps, etc.
Paper dinner napkins for the sunflower sun.
Archival ink or StazOn ink. I used black or brown for the tree.  Black for the fence.
Stamps:  I used a stamp for the tree and fence.
Deli paper
Black Pitt pen, medium.
White paint pen, fine
Mod Podge or Mat Medium for gluing.


First, paint the canvas with a coat of gesso.  This will prime the canvas and help to shrink the canvas if it has any slack to it.  After the gesso is thoroughly dry, paint the bottom 1/4 of the canvas with the the ground color and the remainder of the canvas with a sky color.  Except for the Winter canvas, I chose not to be traditional with the colors but at the same time I chose colors that would evolk the feeling of the season.

Next, I painted the clouds and snow (Winter) with white acrylic paint and bubble wrap.  Then I started gluing the paper napkin sunflowers for the sun (Fall and Summer) and cutting and gluing rectangles from ephemera and scrapbook paper for the buildings.  Note: Paper napkins are usually three layers and must be separated before gluing.  Using only the top layer gives a transparent quality.  The roofs were cut from envelope liners or scrapbook paper and the gingerbread looking roof was made by using a Martha Stewart decorative punch.  I pretty much used what I had in my scrap box.


Now the real fun begins...this is where you start to embellish and add personality to the buildings.  Not that it doesn't start to have personality by the choice of paper and patterns but this is where you decide if the building is going to be single or two story, the location and style of doors and windows...if it is going to have a porch, steps, be whimsical or realistic.  This is where the village starts to come to life!

Don't forget to wrap the village scene around the sides of the canvas.


Before the windows and doors are drawn, distress the buildings and ground by smearing with your finger a contrasting paint color.  Not too much but just a little accent to give the buildings depth.  Now it is time to outline the buildings with a black Pitt pen or fine paint pen and draw the doors, windows, porch, etc.  Next, use a white paint pen to paint the window molding, highlight the roof scallops, tree leaves, etc.
SUMMER

SPRING

FALL

WINTER
To add the tree and fence, I first stamped directly onto the canvas but that was like stamping on a trampoline so I decided to first stamp on deli paper and then cut, glue and paint the leaves, flowers,  grass, etc.  This worked perfectly and in some instances, the background color showed through well enough that it didn't need to be touched up with paint.

The last step is to paint the leaves, flowers, or snow on the tree and fence and sign your work!

There you have it...the four season village scenes.  Hope that you enjoyed this tutorial!

 


Until next time!
Hugs!
Ginny

LIEBSTER BLOG AWARD


Valerie Sjodin from http://visualblessings.blogspot.com kindly gave me a blog award that's about discovering new blogs.

Thank you so much Valerie for thinking of me.  You have touched my heart greatly by including me in your five choices and it is an honor that I hope to pass on to five other very deserving artists.





ABOUT THE AWARD 

This award was designed to be a blog award in the pay it forward fashion. Once you've been nominated, you award it to five blogs that you like that have fewer than 200 followers, to encourage new visitors to visit these blogs. 

RULES FOR ACCEPTANCE 

Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to their blog. Post the award onto your blog. Give the award to five bloggers who you appreciate that have fewer than 200 followers. Leave a comment on their blog letting them know that you have given them this awesome award! 

PAY IT FORWARD

There are so many bloggers who have inspired and helped me to date and to limit my choices to just five was a very hard task...anyway, here are my choices of art blogs that have less than 200 followers and that I know you will enjoy:  

Johanna Banana Design Original's - http://joannabananadesignoriginals.blogspot.com
Lori Bradford's Art - http://loribradfordsart.blogspot.com
Kim's Kreative Corner - http://kimmerbe.wordpress.com
Zoe Ford - http://www.topfloortreasures.com
Lula Pomme - http://lulapomme.blogspot.com

(I may have included a blog with over 200 followers as the number of followers was not always listed but I still felt that these individuals were very deserving.)

Recipients, you may copy and paste to your blog and change the introduction and the list of blog awards.  I hope that you decide to participate and award some other very deserving artists.  Make their day!!!

Hugs,
Ginny