Dream Girl

I have been taking Christy Tomlinson's She Art Workshop #3 online class so I decided today was the perfect opportunity to apply what I'm learning. This is my first collaged canvas where I filled the entire background with torn sections of designer paper and the first time I have painted a face that I drew with my own little hand :) The substrate is an 8 x 10" canvas which I covered with papers from DCWV's Garden Tea Party stack using gel medium to adhere the pieces.

Next I added some colour using Rum Punch Glimmer Mist sprayed through plastic needlework canvas. Very Berry Fresco Finish paint was spread here and there, heavier around the outer edges. White gesso was applied to the canvas using the sole of a flip flop and crisscrossing the lines. Two different washi tapes were adhered in a few places with gel medium and were then embedded into the background by spreading Vintage Lace Fresco Finish over top with my finger. Vintage Photo Distress ink was applied over TCW's Mini Punchinella stencil. I also added some colour with Neocolor II crayons and a wet finger. Oh, I could have played forever...so much fun. However, it was time to block in the face...yikes!!

I sketched the shape of the face, neck, and shoulders and filled them in with craft paint (Fleshtone). I shaded around the face, under the neck, and down the shoulders and then sketched in her eyes and middle lip line. After that, I just painted and played. I did use a White Faber-Castell Big Brush pen (love these!) to highlight, blotting the wet ink with my finger to spread and soften it. I will be ordering some more Big Brush pens from the eP store since they are so awesome for shading and highlighting.

I used my Mini Mister to water down some hair colours (Dark Chocolate, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, and Haystack Fresco paint) and lined in her hair with a round brush. Extra shading was added with a brown Big Brush pen, softening with my finger. Again, I could have played and played :)

Next came her necklace and dress straps. I used a butterfly embellie from my stash which is an acrylic dome with an image behind it. To  finish Lucy's necklace, I used Glossy Accents to adhere lengths of bead chain to either side of the butterfly piece. The straps were created from pieces of wedding type stickers which I scuffed up with Very Berry paint on...you guessed it... my finger. Shading was done above and below the necklace, next to the straps, and dry brushed onto the neck..

Hmmm... finishing touches. The butterfly was fussy cut from the same paper as the background, glued in the middle only, and given an Idea=ology trinket pin which was scuffed with gesso to blend it in with the canvas. More gesso was applied through the Christy Tomlinson vintage doily mask to add more texture and break up the background. Christy Tomlinson rub ons (doodle art stitches) were placed here and there as was the Christy Tomlinson stamp Cooped Up Notes. The lettering is my go-to Idea-ology Alpha Parts. To emphasize it but also tie it in to the background, four lengths of jute were adhered, two to each side.  Finally some pinkpaislee zigzag fabric trim was adhered to the top and left side of the canvas. It was scuffed with Vintage Photo and faux stitched.

Whew, I did it! A totally paper collaged canvas with a hand drawn and painted face. I even got to use my new Christy Tomlinson goodies that I just got from the eP store. Thanks for making this journey with me today. It might have been my first of these but it won't be my last :) To check out some of the products I used click on the thumbnails below and you will land in exactly the right place in the eclectic Paperie store.

Now I need to go and scrub my hands, especially that one finger :) Enjoy the weekend.
Bonnie

Claudine Hellmuth Studio Gesso	Fabel Castell - Gel Medium	Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo	Faber Castell - Big Brush Pens - Neutral
Inkssesentials - Glossy Accents 2 oz.	Pink Paislee - She Art (Christy Tomlinson) - Vintage Doily Mask	Pink Paislee - She Art (Christy Tomlinson) - Doodle Art Stitches Rub Ons	Unity Stamp Co. - Cooped Up Notes
Idea-ology - Alpha Parts Signmaker	Inksessentials - Mini Mister 3-Pack