guest post- create colorful, transparent textures on paper from Jane Davila

I have asked a few of my creative friends to help me out with my blog here and there during my time with a new baby and today's guest post comes to you from Jane Davila

Mix fluid matte medium with acrylic paint and apply it to paper to create delicious transparent textures to use as backgrounds for collage and mixed-media art.

Ingredients:

Fluid matte medium (I used Golden brand but there are others)

acrylic paint

paint brush

container to mix paint and medium

heavy watercolor paper or bristol board

items to create texture - bubble wrap, combs, skewers, mesh, etc

papers with brushed striations and slight texture

Directions:

1. Mix approx 2 parts of fluid matte medium to 1 part of acrylic paint. The more medium you add, the more transparent the result will be. Experiment to see what proportion will rock your socks!

2. Apply the paint/medium mixture to heavy paper with a paintbrush. I use a crummy, stiff old brush to get lots of lovely brushstrokes.

3. Immediately press items to the painted surface to lift up some of the fresh paint to create texture. Try bubble wrap, sponges, combs, leaves, anything with an interesting texture.

rubber mesh texture

Hints:

If covering a large area, paint an approximate 6" x 6" or 8" x 8" section at a time and create the texture before moving on to another section so the paint doesn't dry before you get to it. Overlap sections slightly.

Add a very small amount of paint (drops) for a very pale transparent wash of texture.

Use just the old brush for striated texture.

Blend or layer two or more colors on top of each other.

Use more that one texture, overlapping or layering.

Use a small foam brayer to apply the paint/medium mixture if you don't want any brushstrokes.

bubble wrap texture

combed texture

puppets made from stamped and textured papers

ATC with brushed texture paper

Yu (fish) paper collage

Jane Dávila is a fiber and mixed-media artist who began her professional art career as a printmaker. Jane has written two books with Elin Waterston, Art Quilt Workbook and Art Quilts at Play, plus Jane Davila’s Surface Design Essentials. She is also the editor of Quilting Arts In Stitches emagazine. Jane lives in southwestern Connecticut with her husband Carlos, an oil painter and sculptor, in a house full of light and art. See more of her work on her website at www.janedavila.com