Mixed Media

Put a Bird on It – Embroidering with Stamps

KalbachPutaBirdCollage

I have been doing some embroidery stitching samplers the past couple months and when I was talking to my friend Judi, she told me about the Erasable Fabric InkPad by ColorBox and I was hooked and I bought it right away so I could try it out with my Foam and Rubber stamps. I took a light canvas tote bag and my Bird Foam Stamp and stamped on top of the bag. And yes …I should have ironed the bag – but honestly- I just don’t like ironing ;)

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Next I stretched the fabric over an embroidery hoop -see – already less wrinkles- hehehe.

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I wanted to treat the bird image like a stitching sampler – so I used all kinds of different embroidery stitches and color. The grey thread is a done with a chain stitch, the yellow are two rows of split stitches, the magenta is a satin stitch , the light blue a seed stitch and the light green is a fly stitch.

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The dark purple is a blanket stitch, the dark blue and lighter blue over the eye is a laced running stitch, the grey and purple in the wing is  star stitch. Around the eye a backstitch and the yellow thread and the eye are french knots.

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I had so much fun – I am easily bored when I do things that are too repetitive and so this was a great way to keep me excited and interested and I could not stop.

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I used the stamped image sometimes to stitch right on top and sometimes just as a placement guideline for the stitches. It was super helpful and so easy.

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Here is a close up once I was finished

 

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And then I just washed the ink with cold water right off and all traces are gone .

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I cannot wait to do something similar with my Urban Scribble Foam Stamp and the Elephant Foam Stamp!

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Here are all the supplies I used – some of the links are affiliate links.

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Do you embroider? What have you embroidered and have you mixed it up with other art forms?

Nat

Comments (5)

  • Jean Goza

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    Love the bird. Inspires me to drag out my embroidery goodies and work on a new project. You are so inspirational. Thanks for sharing…

    Reply

  • Joi @RR

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    Heheheh – LOVE THIS Nat! I used to have so much fun embroidering. You have inspired me to play with it again. I still have a bag with thread and hoops!!! Your bird looks SPECTACULAR!!! What a great idea! SUPER FINE! Xj.

    Reply

  • Karen D

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    I love this idea of embroidering over the stamped image. I have used erasable marking pens before, but did not know about the erasable stamp pad. I used to do quite a lot of embroidery and have incorporated it with a painted background on some fabric. But lately I am working on an artwork and have embroidered over some of my daughter’s handwriting. Embroidery adds another dimension to your artwork and it can be very relaxing.

    Reply

  • judi kauffman

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    I knew you’d have fun with that ink, Nathalie, and I’m so glad you embroidered the bird. Is the bag big enough for a whole flock???

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    It’s been a number of years since I’ve embroidered but this looks great and I never would have thought of using stamps as a guide this way. Thanks for sharing Nat.

    Reply

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Urban Scribble Card AND The Shop is Open!

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Isn’t this Card by Janelle Stollfus using my new Urban Scribble Stamp Set –  just super cool! I love the gorgeous vibrant colors. Janelle used watercolors, and pencils and acrylic markers to create the background and color in the rubber stamp image included in the set! Thank you so much Janelle for sharing !

And – I have news – as so many people asked, where to get my stamps and other products – well hopefully your local craft and art store carries them…but if you do not have one close by or if they do not carry them…I just opened my own web store for you too and you can get my new stamp sets and some other items there :)

nStoreNat

If you live in the United States, you can order directly and immediately from this site. If you order several items the shipping rate is calculated automatically per item. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to set it up differently in the store. But if I can ship your total order for a cheaper price than the automatically calculated price (which is most of the time the case with several items), I will refund you the difference.

If you require international shipping, please email me in advance of your order at orders@nathaliesstudio to discuss shipping options as international shipping can be variable and expensive. I can look into the best option as soon as I know what you would like to order and give you a quote.

I hope you visit my new n*Store and if you use any of my stamps or stencils- please share with me – I love to see what you create with them!

Have a beautiful day!!!!

Nat

Comments (2)

  • Sue Clarke

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    Let’s hear it for your own store online!!! Woot.

    Reply

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Winding Down the Year: My Top Ten Creative Results 2015

It has become a tradition of mine and other blogger friends to wind down the year with some  Top “insert number”- Lists of work , posts and photos, before the year ends. It makes me go back and look at what I have done and accomplished and it also makes me dwell in memories. Too often we forget about the things we did and accomplished throughout the year- often just bashing ourselves for not fulfilling all the wonderful new year’s resolutions from last year.  Maybe this makes you wanna do it too – if so – share :)

In no particular order here my personal faves of my art journal pages and paintings:

1. High Line – Mixed Media Painting

I fell in Love with the background a soon as I had it laid down, causing quite some struggle to let go and go ahead- but that is why I like it the more :) Not my usual color scheme, but one that I am glad I plaid with.

2. Good Bye – Art Journal Spread

I love the grungy yet romantic feeling of this page and I had a good time getting some journaling out in an obscured way.

3. Stay Out of The Drama – Art Journal Spread

I loved playing with different media and my Stampendous Stamps and Stencils and the drama of the red dress…the only drama which you might wanna get into ;)

4. Reality – Art Journaling Spread

Speaking of Red …This one is also one of my favorites, I did a lot of collaging in the background and I just love how this one came together.

5. The Real Weird Magical Person – Art Journaling Spread

I made my own building stencil and layered it and did positive and negative imagery with it – I love the bold black and the almost translucent magical person ;)

6. Girlfriends – Art Journal Spread

This is another page that I really like- I like the journaling in the middle of the spine – and the difference yet similarity of the pages. Also some white space…which I know, is unusual for me.

7. On My Way Home – Art Journal Spread

HA- I guess I really liked my building stencil…which btw is based on the Jersey City Powerhouse. I do love the background and how the building really is prominent in here.

8. Finally Be You – Art Journal Spread

It is kinda scary but kinda cool – and I love the texture and layers.

9. State of Mind – Art Journal Spread

hahaha- I know I am a weirdo, but this one just makes me laugh every time I see it. I guess…the title is fitting ;)

10. 2 Tallest – Mixed Media Painting

This is a bigger painting, so it doesn’t translate well as a photo on a blog. I like the colors and I achieved what I had in mind when I was going for only a small city skyline. I had a good time creating it.

What I learned:

I definitely took more of the things that I explored in my art journal onto a canvas. I also did more hidden or obscured journaling which I find a great exercise in the morning to start the day and also do something creative. I also learned that starting off with playing in the art journal before continuing painting on canvas, freed me up and made me ready to start. A good habit to keep.

My goal for 2016:

My goal for 2015 was working in general on way bigger surfaces- but that didn’t work out too well. I really want to make an effort to do that in 2016 …a bit hard in a small studio space, but I will figure it out. I also just want to paint more …when I looked at my work in 2015 I realized that I did pay less when I actually thought I had, not a big surprise given that I was traveling madly for workshops this year and an art journal is bit more handy to lug around ;) Cross fingers 2016 will be the year of bigger paintings

Hope you had fun joining me in winding down the year. If you did it too- share with me- I would love to see your best of list!

I hope I see you at Creative Jumpstart– starting tomorrow and wish you all a

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016!!!!!

love&hug

Nat

Comments (3)

  • chesley

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    Nathalie…do I see Stencil Girl in your future? As you designing stencils…buildings, in particular? I would love to have asset of these….very awesome work!

    Reply

  • Jenny Petricek

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    Beautiful, gorgeous pages–each and every one is so inspiring! I think it’s amazing to look at the pages of art journals, and to see the ways in which artists try new techniques, color palettes, and styles. Thanks for posting all of them!

    Reply

  • Joi@RR

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    HAPPY NEW YEAR Nat.

    Oh how I loved seeing all of these. Each one is special in a different way. My very favorite is the first one – the high line. You are so right – that background is spectacular. And the buildings – they just put me in a state of awe… I love everything about those buildings. But you know how much I love your buildings.. Your building stencil is sooo great – I so enjoy when you use it. And the large painting is stunning – WOW.

    So after we leave the buildings…. it gets harder but… I believe my next favorite – you won’t believe it…. is “state of mind”. It reminds me of me!!! I used to be so concerned about being “right” and “proper” when in reality – I never was… I am just so “weird”! BUT, I finally realized – that’s ok. It’s me and I can’t change it!! So – this journal creation really speaks to me. And… that’s one thing I love about you Nat – you are just YOU – and I like YOU too!!!

    And then….next fav – “stay out of the drama”. Sheer perfection there – the background – the gal – the sentiment – it’s just says it all in such a fabulous way.

    Each one of these is just wonderful in it’s own way… such a GREAT way to start my New Year – seeing your FANTASTIC creations. Thanks bunches. Wishing you a BLESSED, HAPPY, PROSPEROUS and BRIGHT 2016 with LUSCIOUS SURPRISES along the way!! Hugs. j.

    Reply

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designed by n*Studio features: Stampendous Design Team

One of the things that make me really giddy is when I spy someone using my stamps by Stampendous or also my stencils with StencilGirl Products :) So I thought once in a while I would feature the work of those wonderful talented people with a series called: designed by n*Studio features:…..

And today I feature: The Stampendous Design Team – and since it is a bigger design team …here a  couple :)

Janelle Stollfus

Janelle is part of the Design Team since 2011 and I spied this wonderful notebook she created, using my Fiesta Stamp Set for the flower .

Love how she stamped the flower on painted canvas and then cut it out and layered it for a dimensional book mark – so clever and beautiful!

Check out her blog post including a tutorial on how to create the notebook on her blog here.

Lea Fritts

Lea is part of the Stampendous DT since 2012 and I found this fun Garden Canvas she created using my Fiesta, Kaffee Klatsch, Mish Mash, Wired and Grunge Stampset.

I love how Lea used all the different stamps and created this whimsical garden – I also love the texture and the happy colors. Here is what she used and how she did it.

Wendy Price

Wendy is part of the Design Team since 2009. I love her darling scrapbooking layout using my Kaffee Klatsch Stamp Set on an acrylic sheet.

I love how the stamps look really lacy on the sheet- beautiful. You can see what she used and how she did it, here.

Pam Hornschu

Pam is part of the Design Team since 2002 – WOW! Given my obsessions with houses and cityscapes – I was delighted to spy this piece by Pam using my Mark Maker Stampset.

I love how she used some of the stamps in the set to mimic roads and how she used some others with embossing powder for the background. You can read what she used and how she created these happy houses here.

I love how all four of them incorporated the stamps in their own styles and so differently. Thank you to the Stampendous Design Team for using them and  doing such wonderful work- you girls rock!

Here are the stamp sets that they used:

nSupplies



;

Nat

Comments (4)

  • Joi@RR

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    What a great idea Nat – so fun to see how others have used your stamps and stencils. Love the first two – sooo great. But my fav is the house one because it really does remind me of you and your type of art. The way she used your stamps so uniquely is wonderful. Thanks bunches for sharing these really awesome pieces of art with us. Your products look WONDERFUL in all of these. X j

    Reply

  • Wendy

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    Thanks for the mention, Nat! I love using your stamp sets on layouts! They make the perfect background!

    Reply

  • Lea Fritts

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    Thank you, Nat, for sharing my art on your blog today! It’s such a thrill to see it here. By the way, I named my flower garden, “Nathalie’s Garden.” Don’t know if you saw that on my post or not but, I thought it was only fitting to name it after you! Thanks again, my friend!

    Reply

  • Janelle Stollfus

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    Oh thank you Nathalie for the mention. I so enjoyed creating that notebook with the Fiesta Stamp Set!

    Reply

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Must-Have Mixed Media Supplies – Gesso

GessoNatKalbach

Last month I talked about my absolute favorite and ultimate must-have mixed media supply: Acrylic Paint, but there is more :) Another must-have for me is Gesso. In fact my students know me referring to Gesso as Dumbledore because it is a versatile helper that can put magic spells on your art work, or under…or in between … In any event it is an mixed media ally you want to have in your stash!

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So now there are a couple different Gessoes on the market but before I get into that let’s talk about

What I love about Gesso:

  • It can be applied to many surfaces like canvas, fabric, wood etc. and creates a prepared surface that can be painted on
  • It gives  tooth. So you can paint also surfaces where usually paint would not grab on- for example metal. Or you can prepare it for Charcoal and Pastels
  • There is thicker Gesso and thinner Gesso. You can find white, black and clear Gesso – there are even other colored Gessoes but I would say these are the most used ones
  • You can add color to it
  • It seals absorbent surfaces so that paint does not bleed – most of the pre-stretched canvases you buy in store are already primed with Gesso. You can also use it to turn a thin book paper book into an art journal
  • It is an amazing medium to add texture with tools and household items, embedding supplies or by using it with stencils etc.
  • It is the cure whenever something went totally wrong…just paint over with gesso ….I told you…it’s Dumbledore :)
  • White Gesso is the cheapest white paint and is matte – sometimes I don’t want this super shiny bright white and so I use the matte chalky looking white gesso
  • It is amazing to tone down or change colors of your backgrounds for example in collage with a so called white wash
  • there is a huge amount of techniques including resist techniques with gesso that you can do -ahhh- happy mixed media land

Here are some examples using Gesso:

Canvas: White Gesso over a textured  and collaged background painted over with Acrylic Paints and Oil Bars

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Art Journal Spread: Super Heavy Gesso through the Stencil included in my Stampendous Kaffee Klatsch Stamp Set

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Canvas: nice texture through stencil on canvas with Super Heavy Gesso

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Art Journal – black gesso background with Derwent Art Bars (watersoluble wax bars) and my Stampendous Fiesta Stampset and Stencil

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Canvas: Gesso on canvas partly taken off then scratched into and painted partly over with acrylic ink

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Art Journal Spread- toning down areas in art journal with Gesso spread with hotel key card

Art Journal Spread: Texture created with Gesso and then painted over with Acrylic Paint

I could go on and on because I really use Gesso all the time and there are so many ways to incorporate it into your art work!

Now… Which Gesso do I use?

First off – Disclaimer: I am a Brand Ambassador for Liquitex so naturally I tend to recommend Liquitex products. But my love for Liquitex Brand acrylics began long before I began working with the company and it is a genuine love for their products. In fact I was playing with their paints and acrylic media back then in Germany and I was just having the best of times and I shared this with the world. And that is how the relationship with Liquitex many years ago began

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As always in this series- the answer to this question is based on my preferences, my style and my experiences – what is right for me, might not be right for you

  • I do use mostly white gesso
  • If I want to create a colored Gesso I add Acrylic Paint or Ink to clear Gesso as it does not tint my color
  • I use black Gesso if I want to make colors that I use on top pop especially when I use Pan Pastel or Derwent Art Bars (water-soluble wax bars) on top
  • I use Liquitex Professional Gessoes  because I love the consistency and coverage.
  • I use either the thin liquid Gesso or I go the total opposite and use the Super Heavy Gesso especially when I use it with Stencils or for sculptural texture
  • I used to buy big buckets of white Gesso – which makes sense if you use them up in a workshop right away with lot’s of students, but now I use the 946 ml/32 oz ones at home and when I travel I use the 118 ml/4oz bottle. I just refill the small bottle now from the big one.
  • When you start out and you just want to get a feel for Gesso – the Liquitex Basics Gesso is a good start, but the consistency is a bit more gritty and that might not what you like – if you don’t, I would rather recommend the Professional one.

How about a fun tutorial video where I use Gesso to create texture?

Playing with Gesso and Acrylic Ink

You can find the supply list for the video here .

Some useful tips when working with Gesso: 

  • Any tool from brushes to texture tools or else you use with Gesso, needs to be rinsed with water right away in case you want to reuse it. If you cannot do that, store the tools in a water container until you can clean it as dried gesso will ruin your tool.
  • The same applies for stencils also because the gesso will actually clog the bridges of your stencils – so here is an exception to my rule that I do not clean my stencils.
  • Don’t pour thick gesso water down the sink drain – it can clog your sink …maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow- but maybe Thanksgiving or any other holiday- been there….done that – trust me ;)
  • Clean your tools you used with gesso first into a rag or paper towel so that most will end up in your garbage. Better yet – clean them on not yet filled art journal pages and let the magic happen later.
  • You can water down gesso but you should not use more than 25% water– if you need to thin it more, use an equal amount of water and Liquitex Fluid Matte Medium. That way the gesso won’t be broken down by the water which can affect the gesso’s ability to stick to your surface.
  • If you use Clear Gesso for the first time…do not freak out :) It comes out of the jar milky white- but it dries clear

Here is a list of the supplies that I mentioned throughout this Must-Have Mixed Media Supplies – Gesso Post

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I hope you enjoyed the second installation of my Must-Have Mixed Media Supplies. See you next month for the third part!
Happy Creating

Nat

Comments (5)

  • ari

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    very interesting and useful, thank you!

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Nice summary. I found out about gesso either from you or Julie and it is a must have supply for me now. The variety packs are a nice way to try the different kinds without a huge investment.

    Reply

  • JoAnn Campisi

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    Thanks for the info – didn’t know about Professional Liquitex Gesso – I have always used the regular. Will definitely try it out.

    Reply

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Must-Have Mixed Media Supplies – Acrylic Paint

AcrylicPaint

Hands Down – my absolute favorite and ultimate must-have mixed media supply is: Acrylic Paint! For many years Acrylic Paint is a companion of mine and I feel as if there is never a moment where I feel that this buddy and I might part. If I wasn’t too scared of needles, I might actually get an acrylic paint tube tattoo …maybe ;)

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What I love about Acrylic Paints is:

  • well – they look beautiful
  • they are fast drying
  • if stored and used right they last long
  • they stick to almost anything (yes…that includes your clothes, if you are not careful) – giving lot’s of wonderful possibilities of substrates you can use acrylic paints on
  • they have a plastic like surface (due to the acrylic polymer emulsion)
  • they can be thinned with medium and that can make them almost look like water-color in some cases
  • they can be thickened with medium and that leads to a lot of texture
  • they are permanent once dried
  • they are water-soluble while wet.
  • they cover surfaces if opaque
  • you can use other paint media on top of acrylic paints
  • you can use some fun media with them for amazing backgrounds and textures
  • you can create amazing backgrounds and texture with solely acrylic paints and different techniques and tools
  • they are easy to clean up and off

 

Here are some examples using Acrylic Paint:

Acrylic Paint on Canvas – painted, brayered, stamped, stenciled, scraped

Acrylic Paint on Canvas – abstract background, collage elements and urban elements

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Acrylic Paint in an Art Journal Spread – brushed on, mixed with other acrylic media and stamped

Acrylic Paint used for mono prints

Acrylic Paint used in different viscosities to create texture and dimension

Acrylic Paint on clay revealing stamped texture

Acrylic Paint on canvas used in different viscosities, with different acrylic media

Acrylic Paint used in mark making on art journal spread

Acrylic Paint Skins used in art journal spread – stamping with acrylic paint

Pretty amazing the different things and looks you can achieve with acrylic paints, don’t you think? And there is way more because I only showed examples on how I personally like to use acrylic paint!!! So yes – just because of it’s versatility it knocks me off my socks and is my all time favorite must-have supply.

Which acrylic paints I use:

First off – Disclaimer: I am a Brand Ambassador for Liquitex so naturally I tend to recommend Liquitex products. But my love for Liquitex Brand paints began long before I began working with the company and it is a genuine love for their products. In fact I was playing with their paints back then in Germany and I was just having the best of times and I shared this with the world. And that is how the relationship with Liquitex many years ago began :)

I used a lot of acrylic paints in my artist endeavors. And over the last couple years I learned what I like and what I do not like. What I like, doesn’t have to be necessary what you like.  So just take it as my thoughts and my preferences, ok?

  • So first of all let’s state that I like good quality artist paints. Because I learned over the years that especially when working in an art journal for example that they aren’t as tacky as a lot of the cheaper non artist ones. I also learned the hard way that good quality paints give your paintings a longer vibrantly colored life. Nothing worse than a wonderful canvas you created where the colors fade significantly after a year or so.
  • I also love good quality artist paints because the color shift between wet and dry is not that high. I love to see how my work might look like when it is dry while I’m still working with my paints. I had many disappointments in the past where I was thinking a nice bright red was rocking my socks and then it was dry and a dark bloody mess as the paint shifted a lot when it dried.
  • Highly pigmented colors go a longer way and they are usually also more beautiful and intense.
  • I love texture and I love to create texture with paints – so especially when painting on a canvas I prefer thicker paints like Liquitex Heavy Body Paints – more about this below
  • I do love thinner paints in my art journals and use Liquitex Soft Body mostly when working in a book – also more below about viscosity

I would start slow with just a couple colors and add up as you go. You can always start with some Liquitex Basics if you want to first play around a bit in your art journals and start stocking up Professional Quality paints as you paint more and more.

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Viscosity:

Acrylic Paints come in different viscosities which means the state of being thick, sticky, and semifluid in consistency. Different Brands sometimes use different ways to label the thickness or thin-ness of their paints. Here are the ones that I use most often:

Soft Body Paints by Liquitex usually have a medium viscosity which means they are creamy and smooth. They cover evenly and they level out so that brushstrokes are rarely visible. I use them in my art journals and most often for the first layers of a painting on a canvas as well as detail work. I use them also whenever I paint on a project where I want an even smooth coating. I use Soft Body Paints when I need a glaze or when I want to stain fabric. I usually use Soft Body Paints instead of Heavy Body Paints for Mono Printing and they are the only paints that I use when I stamp with rubber stamps.

Heavy Body Paints by Liquitex have a thick consistency for traditional art techniques using brushes or knives, as well as for experimental, mixed media, collage and printmaking applications. Impasto applications retain crisp brush stroke and knife marks.  I love to use my brayer with Heavy Body Paints and another favorite of mine is to use Sgraffito-Techniques with Heavy Body Paints (check out the video below). I also love to use Heavy Body to build up texture and dimension on my urban paintings.

 

Here is a video where I use different Heavy Body Paints and the sgraffito technique I mentioned above

I will list the supplies that are still available and everything I mention in this post below in case you want to check it out.

APC_NatKalbach

My personal favorite colors:

Often times I get asked which are my absolute favorite acrylic paint colors  -that is a hard one – because it is like asking me which of my children I like the most. But of course there are a couple colors that I tend to grab all the time –


Art Tapas – Bite Size Tips for the Mixed Media Artist

Here are some bite sized tips and tricks around Acrylic Paint for the Mixed Media and Hobby Artist. They are part of a video series that I am putting together and I will update this post as I go along and there may be more tips relating to Acrylic Paints.

How to Store Acrylic Paint

Art Tapas – Bite Sized Tips for the Mixed Media Artist – #1 Storage from Nathalie Kalbach on Vimeo.

How I label my paint and why

Art Tapas – Bite Sized Tips for the Mixed Media Artist – #2 Labeling from Nathalie Kalbach on Vimeo.

You want to learn some fun things using Acrylic Paints?

Sign up for an In- Person Workshop with me or join me for a fun Online Workshop. I love talking about the Why and How I use my art supplies and my workshops. Most of my workshops are not so much about a specific project than more about enabling you to know your supplies, techniques and craft in order to dive full in into your own style to create your own amazing art! Not convinced yet? Read some testimonials from other students that have taken my classes and come and join me :)

Here are the supplies that I have mentioned throughout this Must-Have Mixed Media Supplies – Acrylic Paints post 

nSupplies


I hope you enjoyed the first installation of my Must-Have Mixed Media Supplies. See you next month for the second part!
Happy Creating

Nat

Comments (16)

  • Bea savellano

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    helpful. Thank u..B

    Reply

  • Rebecca Buchanan

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    Thank you Natalie! Add my voice to all those above. Learned something great from each of your videos. Also glad someone asked about the music and that you shared the source–I liked that too. Thank you for having this great series of tips and techniques!!!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you Rebecca, so glad you liked it and it was helpful!

      Reply

  • Leadonna Fritts

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    Nat, I could watch you create all day! You make it all look so easy and so doable! Thanks for the great tips. I’m going to paint the tops of my bottles and add my little squares as you have suggested. Thank you for the continued inspiration and I hope to someday take a workshop of yours!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Awe- thank you Leadonna, so glad you enjoyed this post. Hope I will see you soon again – either in a workshop or else ! Have a wonderful day!

      Reply

  • Barb

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    Nathalie,
    I forgot to ask you a question. In the first video, do you happen to remember who sings the song and the name of the song. It really is enjoyable to listen to with the artistic work you were painting.
    Thanks

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Barb the artist is Jose Gonzalez – The album is called “In Our Nature” and the song is called Cycling Trivialities. I love the whole album – it is very relaxing :)

      Reply

  • Barb

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    I have been following you for a long time now. I found your work while you were living in Germany.
    Your work goes way beyond art journaling. When you moved here, your artistic talent just exploded.
    The buildings you paint are just amazing. I enjoyed the video and your use of paint. Thanks so much for sharing.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Hi Barb, thank you so much for your wonderful words! that makes me happy!

      Reply

  • Joi@RR

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    SUPER FINE videos Nat. Loved the sgraffito one – of course because I love watching you create. Great way to start me day! Thanks bunches. j.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Hi Joi, thank you – so glad you liked them :) Thank you so much for your support!

      Reply

  • Maggie M

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    Great tips, Nat. Following last year’s Creative Jumpstart, I purchased a large set of the Liquitex soft body acrylic paints and their acrylic ink and I love them. I don’t think I’d use any other brand now. I also love their mediums, ie. gels etc. They are a real quality product. I’ll be looking forward to your acrylic paint workshop:) Hugs, Maggie

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you Maggie! So glad you enjoyed the post and yeah for liking the your new products! So cool you were part of Creative Jumpstart! huge hugs, Nat

      Reply

  • Kathy P

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    Wonderful tips, Nat! And love those videos! Going to re-organize my paint storage for sure!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      So glad you liked it Kathy and awesome that you are re-organizing your paint storage. Let me know how it went!

      Reply

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Announcing New Series: Must-Have Mixed Media Supplies

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Tomorrow I am starting a new series called: Must-Have Mixed Media Supplies.

I often get emails asking me about my favorite tools or supplies and I love those emails because they make me think of why I tend to use some supplies all the time.

Is it laziness? What is it about these items that make me grab for them whenever I create a Mixed Media Project?

One of the answers is “I use them because of their versatility of usage” .

I love supplies I can use in many different ways – they bring out the researcher in me, the experimenter, the crazy girl, the one that wants to know , to play, to create and to inspire others.

This is an updated and more informative version of my Mixed Media Essentials Series I  did a couple years ago :) In fact …it will be JAM packed ;)

 

Let me take you the next couple months on a little journey on my Must-Have Mixed Media Supplies and explain why I I use them, how I use them and where I used them.

Hope I will see you tomorrow for the first Post in this series!

Nat

Comments (3)

  • Kathy P

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    Wow, cool! So looking forward to this information. Thank you for your ongoing sharing of such useful information with us here, Nat!

    Reply

  • Lizzie

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    Really looking forward to this- it promises to be really useful. Thanks

    Reply

  • Denise Spillane

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    This is great. I look forward to the series.

    Reply

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Inspired by H.N. Werkman … or Creative Play

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Remember the blogpost of my museum visit to the H.N. Werkman Exhibition in Groningen in The Netherlands? When Birgit and I came back from that trip, we were so inspired by Werkman’s artwork, that we went right into her studio and played. Instead of using a printing press we used a mono printing plate. I later continued playing and refining some of the Werkman inspired printing techniques in my own style at home.

This is the first print I made inspired by Werkman.

I call this “Man with hat between houses” :) LOL- titles are also inspired by Werkman- I loved that he just described what you see in his titles and it was kinda funny.

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The Werkman exhibition inspired me, because his prints talked to me. I love how simple shapes combined tell a story.

As you can tell- the following one was inspired also by The Netherlands trip :)

“Windmill with 5 sheep”

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Werkman worked with Stamps, Stencils, Paints and texture Tools – I loved the combination of these tools and media as that is what I use all the time too.

“Blue Skyline with watertower”

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I loved his color choices – He was very bold in his colors which as you know speaks to me too.

This print is inspired by my visit to Toledo, Spain.  “Passing on the Toledo Bridge”

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Most of all, Werkman was inspiring to me because he dared to try new things. He was a printer by trade…who wanted to be an artist, and he combined his knowledge of printing with experimenting with new and revolutionary techniques for prints. Amazing!

This last print I did was a bit tricky with all the different elements and I am not super happy with the colors- but still fun! “Lady Liberty on 4th July”. I learned a lot from experimenting with this.

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It is wonderful how a visit to a museum can expose you to artists you might not have known before and then give you a huge push to try something new and fun.

What did you see lately in a museum that inspired you?

Nat

Comments (10)

  • Joi@RR

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    Oh wow – I missed this post. How in the world did I miss it. These are wonderful Nat. YEAH – I just knew you would get lots of use out of all those incredible pictures and memories from your trip. My favorite it the first one – Man Between Houses – rather describes our lives – always between something!! I just like the colors and the layout and symbolism of this one. But they are all FABULOUS. Even Lady Liberty is GREAT. Keep this up… these are just so inspiring, creative, color intriguing and delightful. LOVE them all. And I just have to say… blessed today to see you creating!!! Hugs j.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Hi Joi, always love reading your comments and thoughts! you are such a motivation for me! Have a gorgeous week! hugs, nat

      Reply

  • Ami Pilon

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    I really like these. It looks like your view is spectacular.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you Ami! my view from the studio is pretty nice – I love seeing Lady Liberty, even it is more the side-back view of her ;)

      Reply

  • cheiron

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    Wow Nat these prints are AWESOME!!! I would love to see a class on this type of technique (hint, hint).

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you Cheiron :) Yep – class is coming ;) hint hint- LOL

      Reply

  • Cheryl Zacher

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    Very nice. I love the color pop, and the common sights we all see everyday. Also, the judicious use of white space. Looks like you nailed it!
    Joy Joy

    Reply

  • Deborah A. Pierro

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    Hi Nat. I really liked all of these prints. I think they turned out really well, especially since they are monoprints and you have to paint pretty fast. I really missed your regular blog posts, like this one!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you Deborah! I will try to do more of blog posts like this one -it is just sometimes life gets in the way and we can’t do it all- but i love doing these kind of things and I am keeping your comment to heart and try more again :) Have a wonderful weekend!, Nat

      Reply

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Blogging in Color Hop with Stampendous & Faber-Castell – Part II

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Stampendous and Faber-Castell® Design Memory Craft have teamed up for a Blog Hop and the Faber-Castell® Design Memory Craft Design Team and some are playing with my Stampendous stamps and some yummie Faber-Castell Products – Wait until you see the colorful inspiration they have for you this week! We are all Blogging in Color!

I am back to play with some Gelatos – and for today’s post I created a couple Graduation/Achievement Tags which I will use as Gift Hangers :)

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I stamped each tag with different stamps from my stamp sets and embossing ink and then used different Embossing powders on top and heat embossed them. The Gelatos rubbed over went wonderfully into the creases and not embossed areas, being resisted by the embossed areas themselves.

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For the “Right On” tag I used the Kaffee Klatsch Stamp Set,  Aged Aqua Enamel and Gelatos from the Pastel Kit.

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“Well Done” was created by using the Mark Maker Stamp Set, Deep Impression Chunky Enamel and Gelatos from the Bright Kit.

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And for the Yeah tag I created a funky background using the Fiesta Stamp Set, Aged Green Embossing Enamel and again some colors from the Pastel Kit.

The titles were written with a brush and Soft Body paint. That was fun :)

Here are the supplies I used on this page

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Don’t forget to check out all the different projects from the Stampendous and Faber-Castell® Design Memory Craft Design Team this week – I heard there might be prizes involved ;)

Nat

Comments (32)

  • Dot

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    Hi Nat. Wow, I love the rich backgrounds! The words really pop. The embossing with the gelato’s is a great combination.
    Dot (Aus) x

    Reply

  • Janine Rudnick

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    Such cute tags! This gives me a lot of ideas.

    Reply

  • Judy B

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    Great tags. Love the different looks on each of them. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  • Beth Williams

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    this is a technique I know I can do and use. Thank you for sharing it with us.

    Reply

  • Jade Passmore

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    Love these tags! So perfect for a graduation gift.

    Reply

  • Kathy P

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    I really like the look of the embossing with the gelatos on top. Definitely going to give this technique a try! TFS!

    Reply

  • 1aquagirl

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    Love these!

    Reply

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