Playing in the Sketchbook

Posted on December 23, 2016 by ruthlane under sketch book

I have been playing around with some previously screen printed sketchbook pages. The first couple I added watercolor backgrounds.

This screen was one that Louise made up for deconstructed screen printing. She used a hairy yarn and it gave an interesting result.

This one I added some patterns with colored pencils. I haven’t used colored pencils all that much and I’m usually not happy with the result.

I figured out that the problem was I just needed to add at least two layers of colored pencil over white. The page on the right has only one layer but the page on the left had a different blue colored over the same blue used on the right. I like that result much better. It completely covers the white of the sketch page.

So that’s how I did these last three page spreads. So I have been playing with coloring books this week!

Thought you all might like this old photo from Christmas past. I’m the one with her hand always in her mouth. I think I’m about three and half in this photo. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Another Card and Sketchbook Update

Posted on August 26, 2016 by ruthlane under sketch book

I did actually do some felting today but I’m saving that post for over on The Felting and Fiber Studio next week. I also made a couple of greeting cards with the transfer process that I showed several weeks ago.

The background for the card was from deconstructed screen printing on paper. I think it works well with the birch tree transfer.

This is a sketch that I did when I was out of town last week. Looking at it in the photo, the leaf looks like it needs a bit more work but I like the lotus pod. Hope you have a good weekend.

Printing Stripes

Posted on July 8, 2016 by ruthlane under sketch book, surface design

I was playing around with foam stamps today and made a stripe roller.

Here’s the roller. It’s really simple to make and you can decorate the strips of foam in a variety of ways. You can also make your roller with randomly placed pieces of foam too. But this way you can print a fairly long piece before you run out of ink.

I just printed it on a some sketchbook paper that was already colored. Hopefully, next week I will get some felt printed and stenciled to show you. Have a good weekend.

Water Lily Stencils

Posted on July 1, 2016 by ruthlane under class, printing, sketch book

I made another stencil today. This one is of a water lily. I got the design from a photo I took at the Botanical Gardens in NYC. I turned the photo into a black and white rendition and played around a bit with it in Photoshop. Then I used it to design this stencil.

I made the stencil in two parts so it would be easier to use two different colors. I had some previously screen printed paper from a session of deconstructed screen printing. So I used that for the background.

And here’s my rendition of a water lily. I liked how it came out on the background as the blue tended to affect the white paint and give it more depth. So I cut it to fit into my sketch book and added it to a page that was already colored in my sketch book. It’s like I planned it 🙂

Layered Paper and New Stencil

Posted on June 3, 2016 by ruthlane under sketch book, surface design

I saw a video on Facebook this week using layering of stencils by Mary Beth Shaw of Stencil Girl. I decided to try the process out today. I already had some papers that could be used for backgrounds. I don’t have very many stencils that are just patterns though. So I had to make do with what I had.

The photo on the left is where I started and the photo on the right is finished. I used my stencil that is based on bark but actually always looks more like an animal print. It’s an easy technique. You just keep using the same stencil and different paint colors. You keep moving the stencil into different positions and layering paint.

The next one used a painted sketchbook page and then using a commercial flower stencil. I didn’t do as much layering on this one. It’s an interesting technique that I think makes some great paper for collage and art journal pages.

This is a wild geranium that grew in my flower bed. I decided to use this photo to create a stencil.

On the left, I added it to one of my already painted backgrounds. You can see the stencil on the right side of that photo. The photo on the right shows the stencil using ink from stamp pads on to scrap paper, very wrinkled scrap paper. Still working on my online stencil and print class if you couldn’t tell 🙂

Ruth Lane Art

Experimenting with Arts Endless Possibilities

Category Archives: sketch book