Everything you can imagine is real....

“Everything you can imagine is real.” 
― Pablo Picasso

Hello friends and welcome back to a brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge! This week our theme is called PLAY WITH PAINT. There are so many different types of paint ~ acrylic, watercolour, chalk paints...the list is endless and there are so many ways you can use paint within your projects, whether it be on backgrounds, watercoloring stamped images or maybe using it to alter something for the home and whatever you choose to do, we hope you will join us and play along!

For my project this week, I was inspired by one of my favourites art quotes from Picasso and chose to create an art panel all about an artist, a mysterious man known only as HB and used Distress Paints to create my background, alter my paintbrushes, watercolour my stamped image and add colour to my metal and wooden embellishments!

So, let's get started and here's how I made my arty panel...

 

Starting with the background, I began by layering my colours using Distress Paints ~ I wanted to create quite a grungy, textural looking background for this piece and using some of my favourite colours, I started the layers by applying Antique Linen over the surface of my canvas board, which measures 24 x 18cm.

I always thoroughly dry the paint between each layer as this will give definition to each colour and stop the paints from becoming muddy and blending together. When dry, I then used a brayer to add the next layer of colour, Chipped Sapphire, heat dry and use the brayer to add Black Soot, heat dry and add some Peacock Feathers, finishing with a layer of Peeled Paint ~ each time just allowing the brayer to kiss the canvas in random areas, not create a solid block of colour.

Once I was happy and the paint was thoroughly dry, I then used Snow White Impasto Paint and scraped the paint over the painted surface. Again I dried the paint layer before flicking gold watercolour paint over the top, allowing some to drip and create runs. Finally, I splattered some Black Soot Paint across the entire surface of the canvas and added some Black Soot Distress Crayon around the edges of the canvas.

After adding some stamped text over the top of the painted surface, I now have my background ready to have all those layers built over the onto.

Starting with the stamped image and using one of my favourite new stamp set releases, The Professor from Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous, I inked up the stamp using Jet Black Archival Ink and stamped it onto the centre of a circle of canvas card. Usually stamping directly onto canvas card can be quite difficult but if you use Tim's Stamp Platform, then you shouldn't have a problem ~ just keep re-inking the stamp until you have a good image on the card.

You will notice that I have a decorative circle placed behind the image and for this, I created a mask by stamping the professor onto a separate piece of paper, fussy cut around the outline and then placed the image directly over the top of the image that is stamped on the circular card panel. I then inked up the circle stamp and stamped this centrally over the top of the mask. Peel away the mask to reveal the complete image with the circle now behind the professor. I watercolored the image with Distress Marker Pens before inking the edges and layering it onto gold metallic kraft card, followed by a circle of inked kraft card.

I then added four Hardware Heads, which I painted with Candied Apple Distress Paint to appear as if the circle is nailed onto the background. To create a rusty look around each of the Hardware Heads, I used a combination of Rusty Hinge, Black Soot and Vintage Photo Distress Paint.

Moving on, I stamped the Painter's Supplies banner which is from the Dapper Stamp Set. Once again, I stamped this onto canvas card and then fussy cut around the outside before adding some colour using watercolours. I then placed some foam pads on the back, building it up more in the centre and attached it so that sits below the professor, along the bottom edge of the circle.

Now to build up the layers in that central section and I used Matte Collage Medium to adhere some ephemera onto my background, taken from Keepsake Ephemera and Remnant Layers sets and also added some torn Designer Tape. I also applied a coat of medium over the top of the ephemera pieces, allowed it to dry before then outlining each of the pieces with the Black Soot Distress Crayon, smudging it around the edges of the paper pieces to soften any harsh lines.

I then took two paintbrushes which were brand new but after giving them a rusty look with some Rust and Pitch Black Alcohol Ink and adding lots of various colours of Distress Paints to the handles and bristles, they were perfect to attach to my canvas....

...and I placed these across the board at an angle, attaching them with a dab of Collage Medium.

I attached my stamped circular panel over the top, applying foam tape to the back to add some height and dimension to this piece, which you can see in the photo below, and then placed a ruler finding directly below ~ I altered the ruler with Ground Espresso Distress Ink to give the wood a darker colour.

For the initials, I used some Letterpress blocks, 'HB' ~ I wanted the blocks to be slightly darker in colour, so I painted them with Walnut Stain and Black Soot Distress Paints before adding some Gilding Wax over the top of each letter to accentuate but still keep them looking natural in appearance.

I attached the blocks to the canvas....

...and added a Quote Chip at the bottom of the arrangement!

Now, all that's needed to complete my panel is the metal embellishments and these have all been altered with paint to create the colours.

A combination of Antiqued Bronze and Evergreen Bough Distress paints on the star...

...the sprocket gears and the hinge clip, which I clipped onto the end of the ruler finding...

...I then added Candied Apple and Antique Bronze paint on the Nailhead Findings.

So, that completes this week's project and I hope you've loved looking around my art panel and all the tips and techniques I've used along the way!

Don't forget, you can find more inspiration from my talented teamies over on the challenge blog and every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in and good luck....

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by today and hope to see you again soon, love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Stamps: The Professor, Dapper

Distress Inks: Ground Espresso, Walnut Stain, Antique Linen
Distress Paint: Black Soot, Candied Apple, Antiqued Bronze, Evergreen Bough, Chipped Sapphire, Antique Linen, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo, peeled Paint
Distress Crayons: Black Soot
Distress Marker Pens

Idea-ology: Ruler Findings, Hardware Heads, Keepsake Ephemera, Remnants, Letterpress, Star Adornments, Sprocket Gears, Hinge Clip, Nailhead Findings, Quote Chips

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Crackle Texture Paste, Vintage Gold Alchemy Wax, Snow White Impasto Paint, Jet Black Archival Ink, Rust Alcohol Ink, Pitch Black Alcohol Ink

Surfaces: Media Board, Metallic Kraft Stash, Kraft Card

Tim Holtz Media Glass Mat

Heat Gun
Splatter Brush
Stamp Platform
Palette Knife
Paintbrushes and canvas paper from my own stash