Creative Team Thursday with Karen Gaunt

Hello everyone it’s Karen here with my first ever blog post for Jessica Sporn Designs and I couldn't be happier to be here and share what I think is a pretty cool idea which can be used in many ways in your artwork!

I used the Rain stencil for this page and without further ado we'll begin!

I've prepped my journal with a thin layer of gesso first. I'd really recommend doing this as we're going to be using quite a bit of paint on the page. Also this is a multi layer technique and you really need to let the layers dry or it's just not going to work so be patient!

I've taken some light blue acrylic and watered it down a bit for this smaller section on the page. This is where I'm going to place the stencil image of the girl so you don't need to paint all over the page just yet.

Next I've traced around the image with a pencil very lightly. Don't worry about getting into too much detail around the areas like the fingers. We'll be working on it in the next step so this doesn't have to be perfect at all.

OK so here is the fun part. I'm using masking fluid now to "paint" in the figure of the girl. Now normally this stuff is used in watercolor painting but it works just as well with acrylic paint. I discovered this purely by accident one evening. As in I dropped some on a page I was working on!

So some things you need to know about the masking fluid. It's SUPER stinky so work near a window if possible. It also wrecks your brushes so be sure to wash the brush regularly in some warm soapy water then rinse in clean water. You want to do this every minute or so to stop too much of a build up on the brush.

I painted in the figure of the girl with the umbrella using the masking fluid. The masking fluid seals the lighter layer of paint below which is perfect for our next step. You really need to let this layer dry completely or the next steps won't work. A couple of hours or overnight preferably, it will be clear and a little tacky when dry.

So now the masking fluid is completely dry I've taken some of my blue paints and really watered them down quite bit. I've then let them drip all over the page and completely covered it. I've let each layer dry then added another and another. We're going for the effect of rain against a window pane.

I've added another layer with a slightly darker paint again watered down to get it nice and runny. Keep going until you're happy with the result. Let each layer dry thoroughly but it won't take too long as the paint is watered down.

Now the fun part! Peeling off the masking fluid! Start at an edge and gently roll your finger over the fluid to start it peeling from the page. Go slowly but it should come up easily. Now the lighter image of the girl is revealed underneath and highlighted nicely against the dark background.

I've used some white paint to stencil on the "dance in the rain" saying on the page. The white really pops against the rain background.

I've used heavy body white paint for the sentiment and for the rain drops stencil. I stenciled the rain drops all along the top of the page but I used very little paint and did not re apply the paint to the sponge so I got a faded look to the drops.

I also drew around the edges of the girl a little to add a little more depth to her outline.

Here's the finished page! I really love how it turned out and I hope you are inspired to try out the masking fluid in a page of your own!

Karen Gaunt is a mixed media artist with a passion for color and a soft spot for paint. She works in a regular job full time and daydreams all day about the moment she can let loose in her journals in the evening. She's a mother as well and loves nothing more than creating with her daughter in their matching art journals.
Karen believes that making Art is for everyone and loves to encourage and inspire others to make. She enjoys trying new techniques and colors and believes that there is no such thing as too many art journals.  Visit her at her blog and on Instagram.



Thank you Karen! To see last week's creative team post with Kristin Van Valkenburgh, click here.  Next week - we'll see what Emma Tildesley has in store for us!

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