The other day I was driving through my neighborhood when a bright orange sign caught my attention. I slammed on the brakes (after quickly checking my rear view mirror – safety first!) pulled into a parking space and just sat staring at a new store. An art supply store. Cue dramatic music…
Although I live in a huge city, Toronto, our neighborhood was totally lacking in a good quality store to buy my favourite things in, art supplies of course! Before this lovely location opened I would go on an epic trek downtown, stock up on supplies and fight the traffic or hop on the subway home. This is a life changer for an arts and crafter like me. And it helped me gather the supplies I needed for my next ‘test project’.
I have been working my way through The Print and Stamp Lab by Traci Bunkers.
It’s a great book for beginners (like me) and shows you how to turn just about anything into a stamp tool or printing block. I scooped up a brayer and block printing ink at the art supply store and quickly got to work.
Gather your supplies:
- foam plate (this is a recycled meat tray)
- black paper, (use a good quality paper, I used Artagain)
- brayer
- block printing ink
- metallic pens
- ballpoint pen to carve the foam with your design
I have had a Gustav Klimt project on my to-do list for a few months. I found it at Panther’s Palette, a great blog by Pam, an art teacher.
I started by using a ball point pen to carve a whimsical tree onto the foam. I then squeezed out a dollop of printing ink onto the back of a baking tray and rolled my brayer across it. Then I rolled the brayer across my carved foam and tested it a few times to see how it worked.
I was disappointed with the foam tray I was using. It was quite uneven and it was difficult to smooth the paint across. The next time I try this project I might use a linoleum block and carve it or just try to find a smoother foam. Also, I tried regular acrylic ink and it was too runny and filled the carved lines.
And there you go:
I have fallen in love with my new brayer and can’t wait to try a million more projects. Kids from about the age of 6 onwards would be able to complete this project. There are so many variations to try.
Let me know what you think…comments totally make my day!
