MAKING GREETING CARDS....

Can't have too many cards.  These cute cards with watercolored animals, trees, chairs, etc. were a result of the on-line class by Danielle Donaldson.  Interested? Go here: jeanneoliver.com.

Use your old tea bags, scraps of paper and ATC cards.

Stitch on the sewing machine or draw stitching with a pen.

How much fun is that?

Until next time...

Hugs,
Ginny

MORE ATC's (From magazine ads)

These were really fun to make!  I was looking through the Sunday paper when I came across a J.C. Penney's ad and something about the model's pose and facial expression struck me as unusual and perfect for using in my ATC's.  I don't know why I liked these better than the ones in fashion magazines... something about them!!!  Maybe an attitude???? 

The very first one that I made, the boy with the green tie, I hated and almost tore it to shreds but from past experience I learned that everything can be fixed with a little gesso and new paint.  At first the background was too dark so the gesso helped to lighten it up quite a bit...it was a plus that some of the underlying color bled through the gesso and tinted it so that I didn't need to recolor the background...I just doodled over the top with Gelly Roll pens.  I also didn't particularly like the painted tie but now I think that the tie is what really makes it interesting.

The backgrounds were left-overs from making stenciled inky journals or from failed art work and the doodles were made using Gelly Roll pens and my fave, a white Signo Unaball pen.

Until next time!
Hugs!!!
Ginny

ZETTI STYLE ATC's

I think that these are my favorite of all the ATC's that I have made recently.  I love how the  clip art images go with the stenciled inky paper and their over all quirkiness.  I know that human heads on animal bodies or vice versa is nothing new but the process for ME was really gratifying.  I NEED to vary from the norm..."step outside the box" every now and then.  I am a conservative type of gal and need to try something different.  You know what I mean???

Anyway, I hope that you like them. 

Until next time,
Hugs!
Ginny

MORE ATC's - LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE GUYS

I found these handsome fellows in my clip art collection and thought that they would be fun to use with my ATC's.  I especially love dressing them in PINK!  lol! Makes it more interesting...don't you think?

The backgrounds for these were made from left-over stenciled inky paper from journal making, failed art work and free papers from Summerset Studio Magazine.  The paper from Summerset Studio was a little thin for my liking so I backed them with heavy card-stock and then stitched by machine around the edge.  All the doodles were made using Gelly Roll pens, a black Pitt pen and a white Signo Uniball pen.

Until next time!
Hugs!!!
Ginny

MORE ATC'S

Do you have art supplies that you rarely use because you tried them and didn't like the result?  Maybe you need to give them another try.  That's what I did with my Gelly Roll pens and now I love them!!!   I bought mine ages ago and never used them until now because...well, I just didn't know what to use them for.  The size of the pen width is just perfect for a smaller projects like ATC's!

My favorite sets of Gelly Rolls are the Moonlight, Soufflés, and Metallics.  The Metallics are just that...beautiful metallic colors, the Souffles are beautiful light to medium matte colors and the Moonlight are bright, almost neon colors...all three sets write over black.  Yummy colors!!!!

I am finding that all the various kinds of pens: alcohol markers, watercolor Tombows, Gelly Rolls etc. all have a purpose...it's just a matter of determining which inks work with which surfaces.  Which pens work on the slick surface of acrylic paint or on water reactive paints and pencils, which write on light or dark colors, slick or textured surfaces.  It's a lot to think about but something that is worth knowing.

For the following ATC cards, I used mostly the Moonlight Gelly Roll pens and a few Gelly Roll Souffles.  The White and black ink lines were made using a white Signo Uniball and black Copic multi-liner pen.  These pens are wonderful when writing over watercolored backgrounds and dark colors but don't get them wet or use a water based varnish...the ink will smear!!!  (The Copic multi-liner is permanent and will not smear when used with water reactive paint or ink.)

This is how I made the ACT's:

Find a patterned paper to use for the background and cut it to size: 2.5" X 3.5."  I used an inky scrap of watercolor paper left over from a journal that I made.

Find a picture for the focal piece from the internet or clip art book.

Cut out the image and glue it to the card.

Determine where to frame the image with the outline detail.  Mark first with a white line and then very carefully mark with a parallel black line.

Now, doodle using Gelly Roll pens...draw spirals, dots, outlines, flowers, etc.

Use your imagination to make an ordinary image "over the top."

Tip:  If the paper that you used for the background is too thin, consider backing it with a piece of cardstock or thicker paper and machine stitching around the edge.

That's the gist of it!  Easy Peasy!!!!




Hope you enjoyed my ATC's and tutorial!

Until next time,
Hugs,
Ginny

FLOWER GIRL ATC

Something a little different...I decided to use collage on an ATC (Artist Trading Card) instead of painting girl faces using Prismacolor pencils or Tombow markers.  I really like the way that it turned out...although, the slick paper from my clip art book didn't take the black pen very well and could be a little neater. Oops, is that my perfectionist self coming out again?  I must stop doing that!!!!

I used Gelly Roll pens for coloring the doodles and once I find a pen that won't skip on a slick surface, I plan to make more.  Maybe even make a larger canvas or two to hang in my studio.  I need to fill those walls!!!

Until next time,
Hugs!
Ginny

PAINTED ARTIST TRADING CARDS

I have never made an ATC!!!  No never!!!!  I really don't know why...maybe because I see the small size as limiting or the thought of trading art work with other artists never occurred to me...or whatever was stopping me before...it is not stopping me now.

If you have been following my blog for very long you probably know that I have taken every single one of Joanne Sharpe's on-line classes.  Yes, all of them and I am not alone...so have many others.  And...after a while, you become pretty good friends with the other artists and become inspired and even influenced by them. That's how I became involved in ATC's.  One of the artists in Joanne's class started a closed FaceBook group to trade ATC's.  So....I thought that I would give it a try! "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

To get started I cut up scraps of watercolor paper to size, grabbed my Tombow markers and various other pens and pencils and got to work making ATC's. Whenever I get stumped for ideas of what to draw, I always turn to faces.  Faces are the most comforting to me, especially when you are not trying to draw anyone in particular.  And...because of the small size of the ATC's, I thought that I would draw just part of the face and feature the hair by painting it bright colors like blue, green or pink.  Here is the first of six that I made.

And this is how I made them.

I used:

Strathmore 300 Watercolor paper
Tombow watercolor markers
Prismacolor pencils
black Pitt pen, fine
Acrylic Paint marker, Painter's
Signo Uniball white pen
Koi waterbrush
White charcoal pencil


Lightly draw the girl in pencil.

Note:  Use a good quality watercolor paper because the Tombow markers will not blend on an inferior paper.

Using the Tombow markers, color areas of the paper.

Do not color the area solid as we are going to move the color around with water from a water brush or paintbrush. This will give it a nice watercolor look.

Be careful not to let the areas touch while wet unless you purposefully want the colors to blend.

I wanted the purple and turquoise to blend for the background but I did not want them to mix with the green hair. One way to avoid one color from bleeding into the adjacent color is  to let each section dry before you paint.

Blending the colors with a wet paintbrush or waterbrush.

Wet the areas of the Tombow paint until it starts to flow and then push it around to cover the desired area to be painted.  If you have to scrub with the paintbrush, you may not be using enough water. At the same time, be sure to get rid of the hard edges.

This may look a little watermarked or splotchy.  If you don't like the way it looks, re-wet the area and push the color some more.  This takes a little practice but also keep in mind that watercolor is supposed to be watermarked. Also, don't worry too much about a smooth background because it will be covered by the lettering.

See how the purple and turquoise is not completely mixed together?  I was striving to blend the hard lines but still allowing both the purple and turquiose to maintain their true color.  I was not trying to obtain a new color by mixing the two.

Leave some white paper showing in the area of her nose and chin...areas that you wish to come forward.  The areas to recede are darker in color.  This gives the face its rounded shape.

Now to add detail.

I used a medium purple Prismacolor pencil, Violet 1008, to start outlining the features of the face and to streak the hair.

I used a deeper green prismacolor pencil and a white Signo pen to add additional streaks to the hair.  I also added shading to areas of the hair that would appear under her face or scarf.

I added color to the eyes, lips and scarf with Tombow markers.  

In this step, I have deepened the shadows with prismacolor pencils and used a black Pitt pen for detail.

I used the Pitt pen to draw the stripes in the scarf,  accentuate the facial features and necklace, and draw a border around the edge of the card..

I added a dot of white highlight to the eyes and bottom lower lip and added more hair streaks with the Signo pen.

The red stripe on the scarf is Tombow marker.

The final step is to add the lettering.

I used a white charcoal pencil to draw the placement of the letters.  This later erases beautifully using a kneaded eraser.

Next, using a fine tip paint pen, draw the letters.

Once the paint is dry, outline the letters with a Signo pen.

Once all pen work is dry, erase any visible charcoal lines.

I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial and give it a try!!!  I welcome questions!


Hugs,
Ginny


Here are a few more ATC's using this technique.