Get’n Arty: Frog Prints with Sgraffito and Crazing
Sunday’s Synopsis for June 11, 2023
Notes, links, spotlights, and highlights from the Live Stream with Patricia and Mariah of PM Artist Studio.
On Sunday, Patricia and Mariah hosted a soul-warming morning of special thoughts and followed it with a froggy fix to our art needs for the week!
Don’t Limit Yourself ~Mariah
Look for all the links shown or discussed in the video studio time below the video.
Take-Away Moments
- Sunday Surmises, they called them. Since Thursday Thoughts were delayed. Patricia shares poignant ways to keep our hearts whole, maybe especially when dealing with online comments.
- Forgiveness was the theme, and she shares introspective and healing advice from: Why Forgiving Someone Else Is Really About You
- Do it for yourself.
They’re Gettin’ Arty Next
There are brand new stencils at the PM Artist Studio shop:
- Memories of Japan is a set of 9 ATC sized stencils by Paulla Keen that will cover you with a fresh breath of Japanese culture and fresh air. You’ll be ready to create edgy art using your choice of mixed media stencils with rich visual clues from the East. The stencils inside the set are: Sun/Flower, Pagoda, Oriental Design Motif Medallion Seals, Stylized Waves, Classic Mark-making Pattern, a Character Glyph for “food”, Gingko leaf, Concentric Fan pattern, and Cherry blossoms.
- The Marrakesh stencil shows the intricacies of some ancient tile work. It’s an all-over repeating pattern by Rhonda Dohna and will look great as both a focal point and luscious backgrounds.
- A Perspective View is a very modern-looking new stencil mask from Fran Baker. This is evocative of a Vertigo movie poster, or perhaps a backdrop right out of The Matrix! Your imagination is the only limit when you use these geometric lines on your next projects. Remember to ask for the “outer bits”!
Gel Plate Tips and Prints
GEL PLATE TIP: When a paper gets really difficult to pull off a dried plate, it’s time to condition it!
I recognized the Woven Cross Stitch stencil on the first two plates she picked up to pull prints from. The stencil design reminds me of an industrial metal access cover, or metal tread.
GEL PLATE TIP: Keep. your gel plate on a piece of acrylic, Lexan, Perspex, or Plexiglass. It’ll help you handle it faster, and allow you to turn it over to see what is on the printing side if you need. You can even use it to line up and register subsequent prints by placing the plate upside down and applying it to another paper, print, or stencil, because it is see-through. Voila! Perfect placement every time.
We got to watch Patricia clean off the edges of one of the Gel Press plates before applying some mineral oil (food grade) to condition it.
GEL PLATE TIP: Use packaging tape to clear off pieces of paint stuck on your plate. Follow it with a generous rub-down of mineral oil.
Frogs Get Showcased
- Using frog stencils from both Susan DuFresne and Paulla Keen, Patricia places them carefully on some random textures dried on the gel plates.
- The Frogs and Lilies set includes a charming selection of froggy stencils and lily pads to perch them on. Susan DuFresne’s whimsical design work includes a fantastic scene stencil mask, too.
- Reptiles & Amphibians offer stencil masks of a frog and his friends, a snake, gecko, lizard, turtle, and salamander. Paulla’s line-centric stencils can move from tribal to contemporary styling.
Sgraffito Technique Demo on a Gel Plate
Patricia takes the time to demo how she made some of the random dried paint-splattered patterns she’s been using on the plates. It starts with loosely goosey paint, involves a few colors, a different paint viscosity if you like, and some non-piercing tools that won’t hurt the gel plate.
Sgraffito is the name of the game as she moves the wet paint around on the gel plate, encouraging it to craze (formation of cells, or beads) and fall into a great design base.
LIFE TIP: Never say anything on a social media video that you aren’t prepared for your precious granddaughter to hear!
Patricia proceeds to fill every empty plate within reach with a sgraffito basis for frogs to live on. You’ll love seeing her variations.
GEL PLATE TIP: Paint that has puddles and streaks like used with these sgraffito techniques, will need a long time to dry. Leave it overnight, or longer in more humid conditions.
Watch Patricia and Mariah of PM Artist Studio during live video streams on YouTube 4 times a week, or view the re-plays, they’re always saved.
- Sunday, 10am Central US Time (11 am Eastern)
- Monday, 10am Central US Time (11 am Eastern) it’s Mariah Makes
- Tuesday, 3pm Central US Time (4pm Eastern)
- Thursday, 3pm Central US Time (4pm Eastern)
