StencilGirl Talk - Featured Artist

Hello everyone! And if you're visiting from today's StencilGirl Talk blog post, welcome!

Mermaids are a popular theme and far as stencils go, StencilGirlProducts.com has a nice selection of them. I was particularly drawn to these two (designed by Jessica Sporn and June Pfaff Daley):

What I love about this stencil pair is how image-rich they are. Every real estate of the 9"x12" mylar surface was used! With such generous oceanic icons, textures, and figures to choose from, it was difficult to decide which image to use. But alas, the mermaids helped guide me on my art journey.


Please enjoy a tutorial video--my watercolor and mixed-media approach to using such beautiful stencils.



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Here's a re-cap of the major steps and techniques:


Step 1) Gather your art materials and mermaid stencils. For this exercise, you can use either light modeling paste (Golden) or watercolor ground (Daniel Smith).


Step 2) Make several sheets of stenciled pages by applying the paste or ground with a palette knife. Let dry and set aside. TIP: whatever stenciled images you don't use, you'll now have a convenient supply of marine-themed collage elements to use in a different project.

Step 3) With an x-acto knife, cut your signature pages to make several ocean wave flaps and begin painting a sunset sky with warm shades of watercolors. Let dry.

Step 4) Paint the ocean with several shades of cool blue-shade watercolors. Let dry.

Step 5) Paint directly onto stenciled mermaids with watercolor. TIP: pastes & grounds will readily absorb a lot of watercolor pigment at first; glaze and repeat coats to achieve the right color and saturation.

Step 6) Carefully cut out mermaids and glue all collage elements to finish your journal page.

OPTIONAL: Add any touches of shimmer like glitter or metallic paints as a final detail. I also glazed the sky one more time for a deeper, richer pink (as seen in my finished photo at the very beginning of this blog post).


I hope you enjoyed today’s art lesson as an easy watercolor approach to art journaling using stencils.

💜

Please stay tuned for more video tutorials using StencilGirl Products. I will announce them first via my instagram and will feature them here on my blog.

 Here’s a sneak peek for September’s tutorial video...

and here’s a sneak peek for October.


Thank you for stopping by!