Shaving Cream and Spray Inks

In my Mandala magic course this month with Julie Gibbons, we made Mandalas with shaving cream. I had heard about this technique in another class but never tried it for some odd reason. It is messy but fun. In just minutes, you get some amazing backgrounds.

Supplies needed

*a paper plate,
*shaving cream, can't be gel. I bought the cheapest no brand shaving cream
* card stock or watercolor paper, I preferred the water color paper.
*spray inks, I used Dylusions brand.
Its messy have lots of paper towels to clean up.

I placed some paper towels on a tray and then put the plate on there. Spray Ink can travel far so make sure to cover your work surface. Cover with shaving cream and smooth it with a ruler or piece of wood.

Spray the ink on plate, use as many colors as you like.

Take a chopstick or a pencil and swirl the colors together. Put you paper on top and tap it so it connects with the foam and then draw towards you.  The ink will transfer to the paper.  Then wipe off the shaving cream.


Admire your work.  Add more ink and do the same for more prints.  You may need to add more shaving cream at some point.  Play and have fun.

I think this one looks like Jupiter.

Each one is different and so much fun to play with.  You don't have to do these as circles either. I made the Jupiter on a full sheet of paper and then cut it into the circle shape.

Connecting Writing And Art

I have these odd silhouettes that were given to me years ago.  I often pull them out to use and then decide I don't want to use them.  So this one was lying around my desk. I liked it over this background. Doesn't that blob on the left look like Africa? I see now I could have made a map out of this page.  Sometimes it seems like I don't see things in my pieces until a photo is taken.  I wonder why that is?

This is the second half of the ugly spray ink exploration I talked about in yesterday post. On this side I muted the page with gesso before I drew and painted the trees.  The stencils in the background look like a ghost image. I think I like it.  Happy accidents are fun to discover in your work. I am really loving these trees.

Wouldn't it be awesome to walk into a forest that had trees this color. It reminds me of something I am adding to my novel.  I have no title yet but I thought I might start sharing some little tidbits here on the blog. It's the idea of a feminine forest. One where men have a hard time traveling through and women gain something special from being there. I haven't decided how this forest will look yet, but this is a pretty good start. I like the idea of exploring some things I am writing about in my art journal.  It gives my ideas a little more life, to see them on the page.

Do you have more than one hobby?  Have you found a way to work on them at the same time like a collaboration?  I'd love to hear about it? Leave me a comment about it.

When Your Art Looks UGLY

I was playing with some spray ink and really overdid all the colors and use of stencils and I really didn't like it. All I could think is what am I going to do with this background. Nothing came to me besides cover it up with collage. But what a waste that seemed of the ink. So I went online for inspiration but no one posts their ugly pages.  I wish I had taken a picture of it so you could see what I mean.

So what did I do get to this portrait.  First I put some gesso on the page.  The ink always comes through gesso but I thought it could tone down the intense bright colors. So then I decided to paint a face and see what came next. I started with pencil and then marker. Then I painted the background pink several times but if you look close you can see the stencils underneath the color. Then I did the dress, and of course now I like this piece so much more.  So what do you do when you feel what you have created is ugly.  Just push on through, jump out of the box, try something new. Once I was ready to let go of my initial ideas, and be open to what it could be, then things began to flow again.

So what do you do when you don't like what you created?  Do you have a process you go through?Tell me in the comments.

Simple Play In My Journal

These two pages were started by using Panpastels and stencils. In this one, I then outlined the feathers and painted around the background.  Then I stamped other feathers on the page. So what else could go on here but a bird.

On this page panpastels were used to make the oval shapes.I first outlined them in black and then decided to paint the whole background with black gesso. I think it makes them look like a stained glass window behind her.

These two pages were created in a different journal.  I started out with paint on this page but it was so ugly I pulled out the stencils and spray ink and kept layering until I had a very detailed background. All this talk about rooted came from Lisa Sonora Beam's 30 day journal project which I am participating in. Its been fabulous.

I sprayed ink on this page too, I pulled the image from a day planner I use. It was such a peaceful image and she looked well with the colors on the page.  I printed the words on my printer and then added soft pastel to tone down the white of the paper. So I'll ask you the same question.

What does tending your roots look like to you?

Art Journal Play

I pulled out my old moleskine sketchbook recently. It was started in 2009 and I never finished it. I figured its time for some play, so I pulled out my favorite gelatos and just added color. Just pure play in my art journal is one of my favorite things to do.

I did the left side first and it felt like a womb to me so I took up the idea of birthing. Birthing new ideas, new directions to go in my art and creative life. I didn't know it was foreshadowing of events. I have something new I will announce in another post.

This one was created with spray ink and a stencil and gelatos.  I sprayed with hair spray but that wasn't enough to be able to write on well. Oh I would love the perfect pen that would write over oil pastel all the time.

I used some of Julie Balzers stencils over a spray inked background. It was all about play once more. When working in your journal do you always have a plan or do you just play and see where it takes you?

Time Spent in the Art Journal

I finished up some journal pages in the last couple days.

This was a greeting card from my cousin. I keep most things like that and eventually they end up in my journals.

I started with leftover paint on a page and kept building old papers and images.

Here I took one of my faces and added a spray ink background page.  I use her dress to journal on.  She was drawn on a page from an old book,

This page I've done over a few time.  I had the background done but I didn't like it so I added gelatos to the page.  Then I took a stencil I cut years ago and used a foam makeup sponge and black stamping ink to get the color down.

In this face I combined to images to make a third.  This is the first time I tried that and I liked the process.  The drawing really does become unique that way.

Envelope Swap

I've been working hard to get ready for two local events. I am having a booth for my coaching at a local psychic fair and a wellness expo. If you are local, make sure to come by and say hello. As a result there hasn't been much time for art, just bits and pieces.

This came in the mail yesterday.  I was part of an envelope swap.  It was made by my friend Lisa Bowlin.  I love all the color

This is the back, it has a lot of detail that you can't see. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of my own envelope.

I made this little sketch when I was in Oregon.

This is a little collage I've been working on. Lots of spray inks were used here, not sure if she is done yet.

 



















This is another work in progress, I loved the background which was made on newspaper and the image is a favorite, not sure what else I need to add so I am letting it percolate for awhile.

I've been working hard to get ready for two local events. I am having a booth for my coaching at a local psychic fair and a wellness expo. If you are local, make sure to come by and say hello.

I find even when I am busy with other things you have to grab those moments for art when you can.