Friday, July 15, 2022

Friday Face Off

Hi everyone. Happy Friday. I hope everyone is having a great week and will enjoy the upcoming weekend.

Today I have a page for Nicole's Friday Face Off. I'm not sure my page is finished yet, but it might be as I don't know where I want to go with it.


I started my page by drawing the male face in the middle of the page. It was a quick sketch, and colored with Faber-Castell markers, except I did give the hair a light coat of bronze paint. I'm not sure he's very handsome, (and the space between the upper lip and nose looks a little too big), but I'm not unhappy with him.

Then I stamped some little squares around the page and took a  light pink ink pad and rubbed it randomly around the page. I also added the girl's face. I didn't draw that face, but instead I copied her off a magazine page using my gelli-print plate.  It's a pretty easy technique as long as you use a glossy magazine page. I used the summer issue of Art Journaling by Somerset Studio (2021), and I apologize as I don't have the original artist's name.

To make a gelli print transfer, you need to put a very thin coat of acrylic paint on your plate. ( I give a couple of squeezes of my paint tube and then use a brayer to roll the paint thinly across the entire plate.) Give it a couple of seconds to start to dry; it is better to use a paint that dries relatively quickly and not something that takes too long like heavy body acrylics. But don't let the paint totally dry out. The time it takes to pick up your magazine page and put it down on the plate is really all the time you need to let the paint start drying if your coat is thin enough. 

I laid the magazine image on the wet paint and used my brayer to roll over the magazine page to be sure it made complete contact with the paint. Give it a couple of seconds, and then lift the magazine page. Voila, there is a transfer left on your plate and you can then take your own art paper and pick up the image by pressing it in on the plate. I find this transfer doesn't give you  every detail or colored area, but on my female face the outline came through. I was then able to use markers for her eyes and lips, as well as watercolor paints for her skin and hair and finish her the way I wanted to.

I tried getting a second print from the same magazine page, but when I brayered the image onto to paint covered plate, it picked up a lot of the paint and was done with the  transferring process. 

To finish my page I took a print I also made using a 12x12 number stencil and some colored paints. I cut out a couple of the numbers on that print and added them to my journal page. 

I kept thinking about what story this page was telling, and one thing that kept popping into my head was how these 2 people were separated by space and maybe even time. Because of that I covered part of the page with a map printed piece of acetate I had.

There you have it. Is it finished, maybe. 

I am also linking to Gillena's Friday Lunch Break.

Have a nice weekend, and thanks for visiting my blog.
 

24 comments:

Gillena Cox said...

Its amazing where you start and where you end sometimes
Thanks for linking to Art For Fun Friday

Mucg💚love

Christine said...

Creative page Erika!

DVArtist said...

This is brilliant. I love the idea that the two are separated by space and time. The map was the perfect filler for that. I also love reading how your created this piece. Really wonderful. Thank you for joining FFO. Have a great day today.

Gene Black said...

Thanks for sharing the process and instructions. I have a Gelli plate but have not gotten good results with it. Perhaps I will try this as you describe and see if I have better success.

Barbara said...

I can’t always comment, but so appreciate that you do! The one thing I admire most with your pieces is composition. You have a good eye!

Barbara said...

I’ve tried to comment twice now, don’t know where they went. Someday one of us should create an appropriate face for Mr. Blogger! Love your piece, especially the composition!

CJ Kennedy said...

Very cool transfer technique. The page looks great. Looks like a gorgeous day and weekend coming up. Enjoy! - CJ

Angie's Recipes said...

This is beyond beautiful! The background reminds me of our bus route map.

kathyinozarks said...

Good morning, I love this art page for Nicole's faces. thanks for the tutorial too for I think it's finished hugs Happy Friday and weekend Kathy

sirkkis said...

A fun page, indeed 😃
Enjoy the weekend 🌺

carol l mckenna said...

A very creative and expressive page ~ so much there ~ divine ~ Xo

Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,

A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)

Rain said...

What a wonderful piece! But...they look sad, unsure...maybe confused...a long distance love affair? ♥

NatureFootstep said...

interesting! I actually like your guy. When it comes to abstracts distances does not really matter. The girl is cute with her soft colors.
I tried the gelli print transfer once, then forgot about it. Maybe I shall try it once more.

Carola Bartz said...

That is an interesting technique that I want to try with my gelli plate. The result on your page looks very good, I like it a lot.
You asked about ice chocolate. It's basically like hot chocolate, but cold and has one (or even two) balls of vanilla or chocolate ice cream in it. Topped of with lots of whipped cream. We do the same with coffee as well, then it's ice coffee. Both are sinfully good.

Soma @ InkTorrents.com said...

Wonderful colours and composition, Erika! Love the map background.

-Soma

Su-sieee! Mac said...

Very cool and so fun! Thanks for sharing how you did it. Gelli printing sounds interesting. I know what you mean about whether you’re done or not. That’s how I feel about my painting this week.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I am delighted you shared that technique for the gel plate. Loved the story you created for it, but I especially love the numbers.

Iris Flavia said...

Oh, I love especially the girl!
And I have to admit... I don´t have the patience for so much work.
Neither the creativity, sadly!
This came out great.

Jeanie said...

I love your layering! It' perfect for the face-off!

Aimeslee Winans said...

Your guy has a soulful look, like he's missing the girl. How cool is that gelli transfer? I have all the gelli equipment and never use it, and I'd probly never be able to do that kind of thing. Stencils are about all I've done that transfer to a print. Anyway, nice and artsy page! Hope you are enjoying your weekend! XOX

Let's Art Journal said...

Such fabulous faces! Your drawing are amazing, I don't have the skill to draw faces like you and I love how you incorporated with the gelli print and embellishments ❤️. Happy wishes! Hugs Jo x

Lowcarb team member said...

Brilliant, I like it :)

All the best Jan

craftytrog said...

A fantastic page Erika! I love it!

pearshapedcrafting said...

I really love this page Erika- you've inspired me to get my gelli printing going again, hugs, Chrisx