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Friday, February 15, 2013

Willing Heart

Good morning eP Nation!
I was extremely excited when eclectic Paperie announced the arrival of PanPastels.  I was first introduced to  PanPastels while taking an encaustic art class with Suze Weinberg.  I knew that these wonderful pastels were highly pigmented and look awesome over waxed project, and sometimes I would swipe a sponge of color over my card to “smudge” the edges and or background.  Of course this was long before I ever got into the mixed media.
When I received my PanPastel – Exploring Mixed Media Sets, I immediately turned to Donna Downey’s video tutorial which is included in the mixed media sets.    I’m a “Just Do It” kind of girl, probably because I tend to over analyze at times.   So I decided to follow the video tutorial while playing with these yummy PanPastels
I pulled out an old 16x24 canvas and  followed right along:
For a first attempt, not too bad.  However, I think my mind set of "go big, or go home" needs to be curbed a bit, lo.   Following the video,  I realized that I did not have tissue paper large enough to completely cover my canvas and still create the wrinkles.  If you look closely, you can see where the separation line is.  The sentiment was generated on my computer, printed onto copy paper and glued onto the canvas.  To create a little more depth, I used my fingers and the green Faber-Castell Gelatos.




At the time I was working on this canvas, it was extremely cold here in Kansas and using the Krylon Fixative spray would have required me going outside.  So I grabbed three household items to see if these would work as a fixative.  NOTE:  This is a quick solution if you're like me and create late at night or early in the morning and works in a pinch.


No, the vodka is not for me.  Because my husband does miniature models, he uses PanPastels all the time (who knew!) and he said to try alcohol.  I sprayed both the vodka and the rubbing alcohol, the hairspray and had my husband go outside and spray the Krylon on test canvases.  The winner was the hairspray.  Once dried, no pastel came off the canvas.  And I was able to spray it in the house.  So in a pinch, and you are out of a fixative, hairspray works!

As to my finished canvas, it's not as good as Donna's, but I love it.  Not to mention that my family was totally impressed :-).  I hope that you will give PanPastels a try.  I promise you will love them.







Supplies Used:

12 comments:

Redanne said...

I think your canvas is amazing. The heart looks three dimensional - I think Donna would be very impressed by this.

Inkypinkycraft said...

Love it! The texture and colour combination along with that gorgeous heart is fab! Trace x

Bonnie Irvine said...

Micki, I love it! The colours are gorgeous. The shading and highlighting on the heart does make it look 3D just like Anne said. Great use of the gelatos, too. I never would have thought to combine the two. Your tissue background turned out so cool. I think Pan Pastels are so fun and under-utilized. This will spark lots of interest!

Kim said...

Micki - This rocks! Oh my, I love it!!

Colleen said...

Micki,
I have the PanPastles and I'm now just learning how much I can do with them. Your canvas is beautiful.

Tracy said...

Mmmmmm looove it Micki...that heart is gorrrgeous!!
Got to love pan pastels.
xxxx

Kathy/NorthCarolina said...

I think it's beautiful...all that yummy texture and those vibrant colors. Thanks for the hairspray tip, too!

Words and Pictures said...

Fabulous canvas... and what a great tip about the hair spray - thank you!
Alison x

Marjie Kemper said...

It's just gorgeous, Micki! Love the texture and rich colors.

Rea' said...

Oh, I love this, the color combo is so awesome and that heart looks real !! No one would know that's a first for you !

Annette Green said...

Oh Micki, this is fabulous! Love that big giant heart. And I'm guessing, because of the Paul Mitchell spray, that it smells good too! I'm gonna have to give Pan Pastels a try myself.

Alexandra said...

Great canvas, I love those textures and bold colours. The 3D effect on the heart is fab!