My friend Rae Missigman sent me her new book Paint, Play, Explore – Expressive Mark-Making Techniques in Mixed Media and I couldn’t wait to dig into it.
I wasn’t disappointed – Rae’s love for mark making and finding all kinds of tools and ways to inspire you to make your own mark in your artwork is contagious.
I was inspired by her idea of creating marks on fabric and I couldn’t wait to get into my studio to do this myself.
I cute a piece of this beautiful fabric which I had hoarded for ever and used a brayer to add some color on top of it to reveal the pattern and texture of the fabric even more
Using a rigger brush I added some marks as lines playing
I used the same colors to paint a grungy background into my art journal.
Then I grabbed my Embroidery Stamp Set as well as a purple ink pad
and added some stamped marks to the art journal but also on top of the fabric
Then I grabbed some embroidery thread and a needle
and added some cross stitches and french knots as marks to the fabric
I cut out circles out of the fabric and added a blanket stitch around the big one and then glued them down onto the art journal
I love how they tie in with the design of the background but still create their own little focal point
I added journaling and some hand drawn marks with a pencil and white woody
And there it is the finished Art Journal page inspired by Rae’s book – full of marks
Paint, Play, Explore oozes of gorgeous colorful and energizing photos and Rae shows in four chapters her favorite mark making tools, what kind of marks, artwork and projects.It is a wonderful inspiring book – Rae definitely left a mark with her wonderful book – Paint, Play, Explore.
Go and get it to leave your mark in your artwork as well!
Comments (4)
Gill
| #
Hi Nat,
I just wanted to tell you how much I love your Star Fish stamp. It is my favourite background detail stamp.
Thank you. Gill
Reply
nathalie-kalbach
| #
Awe- thank you so much Gill – I love the Star Fish stamp too and it makes me happy that others love it too :)
Reply
Rae Missigman
| #
Oh Nat I’m so thrilled that you enjoyed the book. Thank you so much for the kind words. It makes my heart happy. Your work is always so inspiring and your spin on this technique is awesome. Thank you so much for sharing with all of us! Can’t wait to see what you create next. Xx Rae
Reply
nathalie-kalbach
| #
Thank you so much Rae- your book is so awesome!!! you are amazing- Loves!!!
Reply