2020 #5 Mark Making: I Must Have Flowers with EGL {by Helen Chilton}

2020 Topic 5: Mark Making

Helen's beautiful mark making involves different types of paint, pen and thread. Her clever hack for introducing stitching onto canvas board means she's added texture as well as marks to a set of stamps you wouldn't immediately have thought of for this topic.
~ Keren

Hi everyone, it's Helen with you today with a post on mark making.

I suppose every time we stamp an image or put pen/brush/paint to paper, we're making a mark (in my case, not always where I want!). I've chosen some of Gwen's stamps, not the pattern making ones, but the flowers and birds for this post - I wanted to see if I could add marks to them in various ways.

EGL: Stockist list foot of this blog post

PS139

EAB01

Here's the large flower stamped in black.

You can add doodles in black.

You can add doodles in colour both to the petals and the background.

If you don't want to work freehand, use a stencil to guide you. I've used Posca paint pens for this as I tend to wobble with a fine brush!

Add as much detail as you like.

Work into the background with different colours.

Of course, as well as mark making, you can take out marks by masking as I've done here and on my canvas.

Thinking about mark making, you can also stitch. As I was working on a canvas board, I stitched onto painted paper and then tore it out.

Some stamps have a strong graphic element that just shout pattern and design, and in fact most of Gwen's designs are like this,but I wanted to try adding marks to a more pictorial set.

Don't be afraid to add to your stamped images - they're there to be used as you wish. I've enjoyed adding pattern and marks to my canvas - I used the paint pens as they're opaque and easier than a brush. Just be careful on the canvas as they can splatter a bit. However you could always incorporate that into your design!

Helen

Blog: A Splash of Colour