Welcome Back Darcy Wilkinson #1 Make Good Art ....

"Hello again and welcome to my June projects. Thank you all so much for the lovely comments last month and for taking part in the challenges. I hope you are inspired by the projects this month too".

A while ago, an apron mysteriously went missing from Ally Pally, and somehow ended up with Gillian.... there was some discussion on Twitter about people wanting their very own PaperArtsy aprons. So I thought I would make one.
{Gillian says *coughs, dunno what you mean, I know nothing lol*}!!

I took the leftover fabric from last month's bag and cut out my apron panel, plus a central pocket. I hemmed all around the apron, and attached the pocket to the centre front.

Of course you could use a shop bought apron. A quick internet search for 'white aprons' brings up plenty of cheap options.

I decided on my stamps and quickly stamped them onto scrap paper, cutting them out and laying them on the apron to get an idea of placement.

I used ...

The bottle from HP1204

The flowers and Grass from HP1009

The letters from Backgrounds 4

The bird from HP1008

Once I was happy with the distribution of shapes I took my photo so that I could refer back to it.

Then I placed the apron onto my desk. I started with a stencil of ink/paint splodges, this is a simple shape and you could easily do this freehand. I then used an alphabet stencil, marking everything lightly in pencil.

I began stamping, using black archival ink. I used my stamp-a-ma-jig and post it notes for masking off areas of stamps, this meant that I could get my placement correct.

Next I stamped the image containing the bird (HP1008), cut it out and used it as a stencil.

I did try masking off this stamp so that just the bird would stamp but it was too fiddly and the
surrounding bits of text kept showing up, so making a stencil was far easier. I used a Mitsubishi Uni-Ball Eye pen.

Then using the same pen I went over my pencil lines for the paint splats and lettering.

I started to paint in the shapes, using a block colour, for the lettering I used London Bus. For the paint splats I used various Fresco paints. To each paint colour I added a little fabric medium.

Once the first layer was partly dry I added in some shading.

Here we have the lettering and paint splats all done and shaded. I decided upon the phrase 'MakeGood Art' after watching a Neil Gaiman video. It's a great speech, if you haven't heard it then search for it on YouTube.

Here is an excerpt..

“ And remember that whatever discipline you are in, whether you are a musician or a photographer, a fine artist or a cartoonist, a writer, a
dancer,a singer, a designer, whatever you do you have one thing that's unique. You have the ability to make art.
And for me, and for so many of the people I have known, that's been a lifesaver. The ultimate lifesaver. It gets you through good times and
it gets you through the other ones.
Sometimes life is hard. Things go wrong, in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all the other ways that life
can go wrong. And when things get tough, this is what you should do.
Make good art.
I'm serious. Husband runs off with a politician? Make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by mutated boa constrictor? Make good art.
IRS on your trail? Make good art. Cat exploded? Make good art. Someone on the Internet thinks what you are doing is stupid or evil or it's
all been done before? Make good art. Probably things will work out somehow, and eventually time will take the sting away, but that doesn't
even matter. Do what only you can do best. Make good art.
Make it on the bad days, make it on the good ones too ''

Next I worked on the flowers, blending and layering colours.

Don't be afraid to overlap images, it adds dimension.

A close up of the painting and stamping .. I like the contrast between the painted areas and the black/white stamped areas. Don't feel like you actually have to paint everything.

Finally I added some straps, I had left this till last as I didn't know what colour straps to use, and figured I would wait and see what colours of paint I had used.

I recently bought new tea towels for the kitchen, they came with long lengths of red webbing
wrapped around them tied in a bow.... Perfect!

Now for a mannequin.... went to the museum to see if they had any available 'models' even rambled around the park looking for a statue...seriously the things I do!

All in vain. I eventually searched online while sat in the car and discovered this amazing sculpture not far away. Better still the return journey would take me past my favourite ice cream parlour. Win!

The sculpture, a piece of 'good art' is all metal and was created by Hilary Cartmel. I think he looks rather fetching with an apron on.

Over to you. Why don't you create your very own PaperArtsy apron. Darcy x

Leandra Says: So the apron mystery revealed huh!! Although Gillian's profile piccie was somewhat revealing after Ally pally!!  Loving your mannequin! Most fitting. Yes, there are some lovely online apron patterns, I quite fancy one of those frilly little 1950's options!!

Gillian Says: Art personified ... love it Darcy. Paint splats perfect. I'd be frightened to wear it though as it would be "clarty" in no time. Will stick to my PA apron rofl! x

To play along with Darcy's challenges this week, upload your creativity HERE to be in with a chance of winning some PaperArtsy goodies.