Friday, September 20, 2013

Fingerpainting Friday

Sometimes I wonder what people in public think about the way my hands look when I go shopping or to Starbucks.

I don't think about it, because to me, it's normal to have my fingertips a deep blue, or black, or yellow. It's normal to have paint or alcohol ink under my fingernails that doesn't come off for weeks.

But I'm pretty sure that people who don't paint or stamp probably don't think it's normal. They might just think I'm dirty.

I wonder if I should just play into their fears by growling and making clawing motions at them with my blue/red/yellow claws. I bet I'd get my coffee faster, anyway.

Grrr!

Today is Mix-Ability Friday, and I have to say, this is one of my favorite cards I've ever made for this challenge.

The challenge is to use two different kinds of paint. That's it. Simple!

I knew I'd do watercolor and acrylic, but I didn't know what I'd do until I picked up what I didn't know was an open ink pad and had to clean my fingers on my paper mat. Then I knew - it was going to be fingerpainting Friday!

Jeanne taught me her simple, fingerpainted cloud technique, so I thought I would use that.

First, I watercolored the background with Tempting Turquoise and Pacific Point reinkers and an aquapainter. In a random moment of experimenty-ness, I closed up my aquapainter while the painted paper was still wet and I scratched the wet pigment with the lid of the aquapainter - and I LIKED IT!! Those are the scratches you see in the sky. To me it gives sort of an old world look.

But then again, I'm the sort of crazy person you see at Starbucks growling and clawing you with blue hands.

The clouds were the most fun. I put white and black acrylic paint on my little silicone mat. My friend Lisa bought me a giant set of these teeny tubes of acrylics at Dick Blick in California - we don't have Dick Blick here, so it was awesome to get tiny tubes of tons of colors for really cheap. I mixed a little dark grey up, and finger painted the bottom part of the clouds by just swooshing in a circular motion. Then I came back and swooshed with white for the top of the clouds. I love how real they look. I took a Bob Ross class where we learned to paint realistic clouds and I loved that technique, but this is faster! Also, I don't remember how to do the Bob Ross technique.

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The ground was made with Golden Fluid Acrylic - Green Gold. I fingerpainted it on under the tree, and then mixed a bit of it with black, and went back over it.

I stamped the fir in black, but since I was using watercolor paper, I had to fill it in with a marker. Then I added white paint for snow. I'm not sure if I was too impatient and didn't wait until everything was dry to add the white paint, but I ended up liking how it soaked into the tree and wasn't so stark white.

The greeting is from Pursuit of Happiness.

Which we are all entitled to.

Dirty paws and all.

(growl)

Loveyameanitbye.


9 comments:

  1. The last time Emma and I spray painted I was sitting cross-legged in the carport, and didn't realize that all my backspray was spraying in between my toes and up my leg... 2 weeks later I still look like I have a bruise up my foot and shin, and there are a few spots on my thighs that will not come off...

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  2. Totally worth getting those fingers stained! LOVe this!

    I go to the store with dirty fingers, hold out my hand for the change and just as she is putting it in my hand, she notices my hands and jerks back away from them....dropping change everywhere, LMBO! I just said, 'yea, it's contagious ya know' :D

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  3. May we never grow up! There is something very freeing about using our fingers and hands, whether it's art, gardening, or even cooking. This is a wonderful piece, Lydia. I love the tree <3 And I love the creative spirit that is an artist with hands and words.

    Hugs,
    Susie ~

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  4. Thanks for sharing your techniques Lydia - That sentiment is awesome! as well as the clouds, the tree, the ground.........

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  5. Beautiful!!! The colors are so rich and saturated. Absolutely gorgeous. You need to get painty every day. This is awesome. <3 And the sentiment? Wow.

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  6. Gorgeous card!! And I tell all my ladies that if they don't have ink on their fingers when they are done stamping, then they haven't done it right!

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  7. I actually like getting painty, it makes me feel like a legitimate artist if anybody sees it I just say loftily I'm an artist, and they shake their heads knowingly and indulgently

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  8. LOVE the fingerpainting!! Awesome card - how creative you are!

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  9. I don't think those look quite like "happy little clouds"! They do look awesome on that cvard, though!!!

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