Thursday, September 5, 2013

Have a Little Guesso What the Difference is...

With the current mixed media / art journalling trend, I thought I'd have a play and see the difference a little gesso can make to your cards.

In the first sample using a base of Kaisercraft music paper, I stamped the Neat & Tangled My Heart Sings bird and sentiment in Versamark Watermark Ink and heat embossed with American Crafts Pewter. By embossing this layer, you create a barrier which will stop your watercolours from ending up where you don't want them. Next I dipped a water brush into my Gelatos to create the watercolour fill.  The heart was filled in red, and the bird was filled in turquoise, then I added the darker blue. I found the watercolours easy to blend on this card as they bleed and blend into each other and the paper.

The second sample was created in exactly the same manner, with one simple exception - the Kaisercraft music paper was first primed using white gesso, applied in a thin layer with a paintbrush.  This white gesso layer served to tone down the background layer, so the stamped images take centre stage.  When embossing directly onto the paper, the Watermark Ink and some of the Pewter embossing powder bled into the paper, so the result was not as crisp as when I stamped onto the gesso.  When you use the gesso as a base, as it is a primer, this means the colours sit on top of the gesso layer.  The advantage of having gesso as a base is that if you make a mistake, you can easily remove colour from where it is not wanted by gently wiping the area with a baby wipe.  White gesso is a simple way to tone down any patterned paper so you can stamp and colour over it.

Playing along with this weeks Catered Crop Sentiment-al Challenge

14 comments:

  1. Sooo pretty, I prefer the Gesso'd background, makes the bird stand out more.

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  2. Brilliant!! I didn't know that! Thanks, Lyndal for sharing.

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  3. So pretty! And thanks for the comparison - very interesting!

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  4. Both of these are beautiful! Thanks so much for playing along at CCCB!

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  5. this is fabulous...love seeing the side by side comparison...awesome work!

    Thanks for playing with us at Little Tangles:)

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  6. Music and bird- beutiful connection-lovely card : )

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  7. great way to show this difference, have to say I like the second version better-much more CAS for me! Thanks for joining us at ATCAS

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  8. Clever and fabulous! Thanks for playing along with us at CCCB!

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  9. Beautifully done and fabulous results!

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  10. Looks like you're having lot's of fun! Love both versions. I bought a new pot of gesso recently and haven't used it yet - must give it a try. hugs.

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  11. ok, yep! I'm sold on gesso...must get some! beautiful, Lyndal!

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  12. Congrats on the Little Tangles GD win!

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  13. Very cool project! Love the tips about the gesso!
    <3 Emily L.

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  14. The gesso really did wonders on this. what a great card. thanks for playing along with us at Little Tangles.

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