Technique: Painted Paper Backgrounds

Why did I wait so long to try this!!? A few months ago, I purchased a pack of delicious paste paper scraps from Albie Smith and my interest was officially piqued. Some benefits of creating your own designs are:

Choose your own colors,

Patterns,

Paper Weight

Save money

Relaxing/Zen/Freeing

Experiment with new painting techniques for your "artist's toolbox"

Fun

I would have to say, the best part of creating my own papers for use in mixed media collage, is how free it feels to simply CHECK OUT and let your right brain take over... something we can all do more of. It can be the perfect exercise in LETTING GO and although I try to work intuitively in all mediums, it's so easy to just "give in to the process" while painting backgrounds!

Take the RIGHT BRAIN vs LEFT BRAIN creativity test.

Any type of paper will do. You can either make paste paper with Elmer’s Art Paste at Dick Blick's or whip up a home recipe of 6 cups boiling water, 1 cup of flour, strainer, as many covered (yogurt-etc) containers as paint colors desired. Begin by bringing 5 cups of water to a boil, mix flour with 1 remaining cup of water and add to (dedicated) saucepan. Turn off and stir to thicken. Add to containers along with acrylic paint. Stencil, layer, sgraffito, drip, spray, use mark-making tools (a fave).. the sky's the limit! Be sure to check out YouTube for more detailed information or my new friend Barb Owen's paste paper Vid on USTREAM!

My first 3 pages were made on blank newsprint sheets with cheap acrylic paint, a straw, a lid and a plastic gift card:

“If you hear a voice within you saying, ''You are not a painter,'' then by all means paint… and that voice will be silenced.” - Vincent van Gogh