Red center; Sepia corners, smaller gold sides.
This one is getting closer to what I'm looking for ... That gold should be a little more subtle.
My friend Sheila at Idaho Beauty reminded me of Cynthia St. Charles surface design work where she adds stamping and block prints to her quilts--to an amazing and wonderful effect! Sheila counseled against the Shiva Paint Sticks as I'd probably want to wash this one day. So I'm leaning towards dry-brushing with fabric paints.
I'm still trying to settle on the right colors ... burgundy and a forest green? Translucent graphite?
I want these add-on colors / layers to be see-through, where the colors of the fabric beneath show through. It's meant to add an extra dimension, and to tie everything together.
A few people suggested using white for the stencil design.
I'm not crazy about this one, so it was good to trial it.
It really makes the background pieced quilt look washed out and pale.
This was one of the first combinations I tried -- Red with gold in the corners.
Not bad ... but not quite right either.
It will take a while to develop the right technique, so best not to start with the center mandala!
I need to do some measurements, too. The stencil is supposed to be 23 inches across-- which sounds pretty big, until you think about covering a bed-size quilt. That can fill in the center middle, and corners in quarters. But what do I do with the spaces in between?
Somewhere I have a metal trivet that I purchased for rust dying. But it's also been wonderful for stamping with acrylic paint. I did some experiments with that years ago on a baby-shit brown piece of dyed fabric that I thought should have been destined for the trash. Turns out that unappealing ocher color turned out to be a good neutral background for the stamped prints. And the colors actually make it look like they are floating in 3D -- like ornaments hanging in the air.
2 comments:
I like where this is headed now. Not crazy about the red but I think I really like the sepia and gold. Smart to play with this in photoshop. You might try placing the motifs in circular paths rather than in corners and along the sides. Perhaps the center circle being a bit smaller and then the smaller circles circling it. Am I making myself clear?
I may have to take back what I said about Shiva paint sticks not being washable. Dharma has them on sale right now. Scrolling to the bottom of the page they reference the book that tells how to use them "including how to make them washable and permanent." https://www.dharmatrading.com/markers/shiva-paintstiks.html
And here's probably everything you need to know about how to use and fix them: https://www.uaf.edu/files/olli/paint-paintstik.pdf
I just don't like their strong smell and how long it takes for them to cure. My rubbings didn't meet my expectations and I never really tried working with stencils and a brush. It might work for you, especially to get the translucence you want. I suddenly can see real possibilities using metallic ones.
Thanks for your input, Sheila! Now that it's getting colder, I don't think I'd be allowed to use the Paint Sticks in the house without adequate ventilation, as I'm sure that will bother my husband and the other inhabitants. But maybe ... I was thinking a very light coat of regular acrylic craft paint with some textile medium mixed in might do the trick. It's worth testing, of course. I need to perfect my technique either way. I'm hot to finish this NOW, and don't want to wait until next summer when I can work outside again.
And yes, I think I do understand the circular arrangement you are suggesting ... I'll try to work that up in PSE this week to see how it feels.
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