Have you ever done that?
This painting has been one of those experiences for me. It's like I can sense a subtle shift in my creative prowess. There is new understanding of my materials. There is more depth. There is growth. I am extremely proud of this piece and I feel like I am coming into my own as an artist.
Not only is this my Amazing Mold Putty® Design Team post, it is also my Sakura Design Team Submission piece. That’s right, I am applying for the Sakura Design Team and because the two companies products work so well together, I figured I would use one to showcase the other.
You can view both full video tutorials below. I used a TON of techniques and products on this painting so grab a cuppa, prop your feet up and snuggle in for this in depth tutorial.
The first thing I did was create my molds. My son collects fossils and he has a real starfish and a real seahorse in his collection, which I borrowed for this project. I decided to make two separate (half) molds for each item instead of fully encasing them because I needed my cast items to be able to face either direction and also have a flat bottom. I made a mold of both sides of the seahorse and two molds of each side of the starfish, because they are small.
Once my molds were set I used a small paint brush to paint the inside of the starfish molds with Terri Sproul’s Mixers - bronze. The mixers are mica powder and have a lot of shimmer! Next, I filled the molds with 3D Crystal Lacquer. Make sure, if you are using molds with small spaces, to spread the mold open a bit so your Lacquer can get down into all of the crevices.
While my starfish were drying, I worked on the seahorse. I mixed Alumilite dyes - blue, yellow and white to create the colors I wanted for my seahorse. I mixed the colors on a pallet then added 3D Crystal Lacquer to the dye and mixed it until there were no streaks. I then filled my seahorse mold with two different colors of dyed Crystal Lacquer. I made sure create one small streak of blended color in the middle so it looked more cohesive. I let my Crystal Lacquer molds set overnight, giving them a full 24 hours to dry. 3D Crystal Lacquer doesn’t stick to Amazing Mold Putty, so once my items were set I was able to pop them right out of the molds with no problem! Items cast with 3D Crystal Lacquer will remain flexible even after they are completely dry, which will allow you to bend and shape them as needed.
Next I began working on the background of my painting. I painted an 11 X 14 canvas with turquoise and ultramarine acrylic paint. While the paint was still wet I added some drops of water then blotted it with a paper towel. The next layer was drippage of Pearlescent Ink - silver moss, followed by some sponging of acrylic craft paint – mango, but only on the bottom 1/3 of the painting. I then applied white acrylic paint using large bubble wrap over the entire background.
Once I had the first layers of my background down, I started incorporating my mermaid. I had a sweet, little, mermaid-esque face already drawn in my sketchbook, so I tore her out and applied her to the canvas using matte medium. I sketched the outline of her tail and body using graphite, and then I painted in her flesh tone with acrylic paint – titan buff, and shadows with Neocolor II watercolor crayons. For her tail I mixed mango and red metallic craft paint with iridescent medium to get the color I wanted. Her hair was a darker mixture of the mango and metallic red, and then I added straight mango and white for highlights.
I needed to incorporate my mermaid into the background more, so I added some strips of sheet music stained with distress inks – peeled paint and broken china. I then painted over the sheet music with a wash of white acrylic and water.
I used a glitter gel pen – orange, to draw lines and scales on her tail and body. I worked in sections and while the ink was still wet I sprinkled on embossing powder – carnelian. I embossed the powder using my heat gun which also gave me some amazing bubbly texture where it super heated the paint!
It was FINALLY time to add my 3D Crystal Lacquer seahorse and starfish! I rubbed just the ridges of each item with a bit of Sennelier oil pastel – iridescent red gold, to give them a bit more shimmer, then I glued them in place using more Crystal Lacquer.
I applied more white acrylic paint using punchanella to the background just to blend things together a little more. I printed out my text “Hold a true friend with both your hands,” tore the words out, stained them with Distress Ink – tea dye, peeled paint and broken china, then I inked the edges using faded jeans. I attached the words using matte medium then added little bubbles and a few highlights using gel pen – blue glitter and white.
For the finishing touches I glued on some real seashells using 3D Crystal Lacquer and then I glued on mica flakes using matte medium. The mica flakes are one of my FAVORITE bits!!!
The very last thing I did was add a few spritzes of homemade glimmer mist all over the painting.
My glimmer mist recipe - mix gum Arabic, Terri Sproul Mixers – blue pearl, and two drops of golden fluid acrylic – phthalo blue (red shade,) in a mini mister, fill the mister with water and SHAKE.
And there you have it! My AMAZING Mold Putty/Sakura mermaid painting. I am so very proud of this piece and I hope you enjoyed it as well.
You can always find fantastic projects and tips on both the Amazing Mold Putty® blog and Sakura blog!
Keep scrolling to see BOTH tutorials!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf2B4JxG_vI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp4jbWG6sho
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