Papers for class

Last Wednesday, we began making papers that we will use in the new collages we'll be making this session.  One of my favorites is "paper towel" art papers.  We had painted them in class and, now that they dried, I continued with stamping on them yesterday.

Laying a sheet of plastic or freezer paper (shiny side up) on your working surface, you begin by putting lines of acrylic paints or inks on that surface.  Spritz with water.  Then soak your sheet of paper towel with water, wring it out and lay it down flat on top of the paint lines to allow the colors to absorb into the paper towel.

Next, roll over that paper towel with a brayer in all directions.  Lay another sheet of paper towel on top of that, either again wetting first or spritz when you have it down and roll the brayer over that one.  Repeat again until no more paint seeps through or until you have the desired effect.

Separate the paper towels (most have two layers and that is the kind you want to use) and allow to dry.  Then using foam and/or rubber stamps, stamp columns of images in between the lines of paint.  Continue as desired.  The depth of the design will come from multiple rows and layers of images.

We also made some Paste Paper with "Elmer's Art Paste", a fast and easy way!  Just make sure, after stirring it with water, that you do leave it sit for a while, as it says, and your remaining lumps will go away.

Making distressed papers today and I'll be ready to begin my collage for this Wednesday!