I am here today to show you some testing I've been doing using Starlight paints. My intention is to find out whether these techniques could be used to make a Masterboard, she says hopefully Lol!
I warn you it is a rather long post so I should get a cuppa before you start reading.
You may have seen people doing acrylic pours and I have been looking into the various methods of doing this.
I had been interested for some time and it was when I attended the Sincerely Yours show at Newark showground that I got the chance to try it out.
And here are the other ladies that were there having fun too.
Acrylic Pours being demonstrated on the BJ crafts stand.
As you can see here it is a rather messy technique.
Surprisingly No Apron!
So maybe it's not so messy.... no I'm kidding myself Lol!
Notice the bottle of liquid, that is a mixture of washing up liquid and water so it needn't cost too much if you already have a collection of acrylic paints and some Gesso though this could be white acrylic paint, just use whatever you have available.
You do need to thin the paint down and an artists pouring medium is good for this but it is also possible to thin the paint with water.
What I have realised is that not everyone uses the same combination of mediums to do this or apply it to the canvas in the same way and the effects are slightly different.
Sometimes you may read 'Dirty Pour', 'Acrylic Pour', 'Swipe techniques', 'Cells', 'Puddling' and a multitude of mediums. On top of that depending on how you dry the pour you will get a different finish with that too.
So my plan is to try out some of the mediums and techniques on different substrates and we'll see what we end up with and whether it will work for a Masterboard.
The results are gorgeous and the cracks on these small canvases were created by drying the paint with a heat gun.
My initial effort ended here.
The canvas was an actual pour and the card and tag were used to swipe the remaining ink from the craft mat where it landed, definitely a possibility for a Masterboard I think.
It's also worth mentioning that the Starlight paints by Imagination Crafts have a lovely sheen to them so also different to some other acrylics.
For my first play at home I used the starlight paints, a good teaspoon full in a small cup and a mixture of washing up liquid and water.
(To make the mixture I used approx. One 3rd wash liquid to Two thirds water).
I mixed the water and the paint a little at a time until it was nice and runny so it will flow well, about the thickness of single cream.
Put a couple of teaspoons of Gesso in a pot and cover with blending solution, mix until it is a similar consistency to the paint.
Pour the colours a little at a time onto the Gesso until the pots are empty. You can cut into the paint a little with the spoon but don't mix the paint together or you will get sludge as the colours will blend together and become brown.
Place the canvas on top and hold it tightly while you flip it over then leave it for a while so that all the paint drops down. Not sure I held mine quite tight enough as the paint seeped out before it should but we all have to start somewhere.
Remove the cup carefully as there will be paint dripping. You may be able to see that I have an old cake rack under mine which I found really useful as the loose paint drips below it and you don't get covered in paint when you pick up the canvas.
Lift the canvas and tilt it to get the paint to move around the canvas until it covers it.
Of course there is nothing to say that you want to cover all the canvas.... now there's another idea to try! CAS maybe.
I dried this using a heat gun and did get some interesting cracks appearing.
Although the golden yellow shows it is not easy to see here but I used some of this around the edge of the canvas with a dry brush when everything was set.
As much as I like this I think I need more practise and I have a feeling that this canvas may re-appear again sometime as the background for something else but not sure yet.
Back soon with even more technique fun so just watch this space.
I would love to hear your comments.
Many thanks for stopping by and happy crafting,
Angela x
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