2019 #13 Mushrooms: 'Who Are You?' with Ink & the Dog 'Kids' {by Lotte Kristensen}

2019 Topic 13: Mushrooms

Hey everyone, it's Lotte here, and I'm going to tell you a little-known fact about myself: I am a HUGE Alice in Wonderland fan!!  Okay, maybe that's not so little-known, but I am totally obsessed - I even have 'Curiouser & Curiouser' tattooed on my wrist!  I collect different editions of AIW books and have some really nice ones, including one illustrated by Salvador Dali, and another by Yayoi Kusama.  Then there's all the biographies of Lewis Carroll AKA Charles Lutwidge Dodgson - though I have drawn the line at his mathematical works (Dodgson was an Oxford scholar) as I have no talent whatsoever for numbers ;D

So of course, to me, the most famous mushroom is the one that the Caterpillar sat on, smoking his hookah, and I knew at once I wanted to use that particular image for this PaperArtsy topic.  

I wouldn't recommend sticking painted or Gelli printed papers through your printer, when you have a page you particularly like, then scan it and use this as a base.  I printed out my scans onto 120 gms paper:

I'd found a large, clear image of the wonderful Tenniel illustration online, and proceeded to print this out several times on the different coloured, scanned papers:

Next, I spent a leisurely time in front of the TV binge watching a box set, while fussy cutting out the bits I wanted to use:

I decided to use some of my old favourite Ink & the Dog stamp sets on those background papers - Kids Plate 2, Plate 5 and Plate 6:

Then proceeded to stamp in complementary colours onto the cut outs, producing a very subtle, layered effect: 

Above, I used Leaf Green Archival Ink Pad on Mr Caterpillar, using Kids #5.  On the mushroom, I used the nursery rhyme stamp from Kids #2 in Vibrant Fuchsia Archival Ink Pad.

Next, Alice's dress was stamped with the Kids #6, in Forget Me Not Archival Ink Pad; I used the same colour for the smoke, using the grid stamp from Kids #2; and the grid in Vibrant Fuchsia on the flowers:

Then it was time to put it all back together again - I somehow forgot to take separate pics of the stamping I did on the mushroom and grass bits, but again, it was using complementary colours to the paper.  I used Tiger Lily Archival Ink Pad on the orange-y and gold backgrounds, and Leaf Green on the yellow.  I didn't follow the original picture completely, but added more bits cut from one of the many pages to make more of a base for Alice and Mr Caterpillar to stand on:

Then finally layered the whole caboodle onto black, then jade card:

I just love the subtle layers and texture you get by stamping with complementary colours, and the patterns you can make by using the fab PaperArtsy stamps:

And that is it!  I was - for once - quite pleased with the outcome of this homage to Alice in Wonderland, and think I would make more, perhaps using the Kids #6 plate as a background on the white paper, in a very pale grey ink pad.  But the question is, what will *you* make??  Don't forget to share your artwork on the PaperArtsy Facebook group page, I would love to see what you come up with :D  Until next time - 

Lotte xx

Instagram: Alice Overground