2016 #1 Transparent Courage {by Keren Baker}

2016 Topic 1: Transparent Art 

Hi everyone Keren here.

Tonight I'd like to share with you this evening with a post about creating 3D transparent art

Acetate and acrylic are probably my favourite mediums to create with. I jumped to volunteer for this brilliant topic. I love the shine, the malleability of the medium and also what you can do with it that you can’t ordinarily do with canvas or card. 

I wanted to make a layered item that showcased the best features of transparent surfaces. So, in an entirely surprising way (well, for me, as it didn’t turn out the way I’d initially planned), I have a desktop piece of art that has a nod to the sadness and yet the beauty evidenced in the way people stood together amidst the tragedy seen in Paris last year.

Step One: It’s difficult to see in this picture, but the frame I’ve created is actually a longish hollow cuboid (is that even a thing!). I’ve made a frame from sturdy acetate, scored and folded to make a hollow shape. If you look carefully at the picture, you’ll see a piece of cardstock underneath with a slit cut into it. This was my template that I used to cut into the top section as series of 9 slits regularly spaced. I then adhered the ‘box’ together.

Next, I cut thin pieces of acetate slightly thinner than the width of each slit. I folded the bottom of each piece and adhered the folded part to the bottom of the box. I now had a basic frame to add all my stamped elements to.

Step Two: Even though this is the wrong order, I thought it might be helpful to add a completed side shot here to help you get an idea of what I am talking about! It's much longer than it looks in the initial front-on photo.

Step 3: Now to get to the detailing. First I began with the front. Because acetate is wonderfully clear, it meant that when using my ink (Stazon is my preferred choice and comes in all sorts of wonderful colours), I could turn the stamp over so the image was facing upwards and lay the acetate onto it thereby helping me do easy lining up and I could create this fun photo negative loop! I've used several Hot Picks sets for the images; I started with HP1502 and HP1503

HP1503

HP1502

You can see some of the attachments I’ve used; brads come into their own with acetate and if you’re careful, double sided sticky tape can be used sparingly without being too obvious.

Step 4: This shows you my ‘hand wreath’. I created this using wire wound around a couple of times and then tiny holes punched in the hands (ouch!) and threaded onto the wire at intervals. I needed a couple of blobs of PVA glue to secure a couple of them too.

Using both Opaques and Transparent Frescos achieves different results. The Opaque Nougat gave a great focus for the faces and is easily painted to the reverse of the acetate. The transparent Frescos can be used just as on the girl’s face; a little London Bus and then adding the Opaque Nougat over that once dry. You do need to plan ahead if you’re layering several colours and remember to start first with the colour that is to be in the foreground and layer backwards.

Step 5: Once I’d added the little girl, I looked around for a ‘title’ and the HP1011 set was perfect.

HP1011

I just happened to see the ‘Paris’ stamp from this Hot Picks set HP1301

HP1301

I looked at the ‘Courage’ title and realised that my colour scheme was ‘French’. It all fell into place. I stamped ‘Paris’ and gave it a central position. It’s harder to see on the pictures, but it’s more prominent in real life.

This piece taught me a few things.. like don’t paint vertically with translucent paint, or the paint will pool at the bottom! (well obviously!) I would have liked to made my base sturdier. Acrylic would’ve worked a treat but I didn’t have a saw handy and my scissors weren’t strong enough! I would have liked to have added more wire and have created a taller display, possibly having elements coming out of the base more. A square block would be really interesting as you’d have to plan more carefully and think about direction and using space more effectively. 

Do grab some transparencies. Thin or thick will do. Play with the easy layering you can get and also do manipulate it into shapes (decent adhesive allowing!!) or even just use its ‘invisible’ qualities to make things appear to hang in mid air. I’d like to recreate this using some more intricate techniques like ‘caught in crystal’ etc. Once you start thinking, there’s tones you can do. Don’t worry about using Stazon type inks if you don’t have any. Frescos will come to your rescue here too! If you find some of the strips are ‘wilting’ a little with the weight, simply add a folded acetate ‘hinge’ to the reverse of the strip and this will shore it up sufficiently.

Hope you enjoyed thinking through acetate’s properties and what you can create with it.

Keren xx 

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Thanks so much Keren, what a cracking start to the year. Transparencies are so deceiving, the front view is so different to the side view. A lot of thought has gone into this, not just working out the layers of paint, but the stamps chosen to achieve such a great composition. 

We would love to see how you interpret this Transparent Art topic by linking what you make to our 2016 Challenge #1: Transparent Art, on this page HERE.

All of our bloggers love to see your twist on their ideas, particularly if you were inspired directly by their post. 

Links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Transparent Art link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, January 17th. The winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.