Art Haul: Well, it has been like a whole week since the last one, right?!

This is part of my "must have full set syndrome" kicking in - I decided to get the rest - or near as damn it - of the Dina Wakley Media acrylic paints from Ranger. I already have bought two batches - my first was Night, Blackberry and Rosy (I had not realised the latter was a metallic) and then I expanded into some primaries and more secondaries with Lemon, Lime, Tangerine, Sky, Blushing and Umber. After the haul below, the only ones I don't now have are Gilt, Penny and Medieval - three metallics - I may or may not get them as I honestly seldom use metallic paints but who knows. I've stuck to the 1 fl. oz. (c. 60mL) bottles because they're very economical and have a fine-tip on them already, and above all, they're SMALL. I like to be able to keep all of my Dina Wakley Media Paints in the largest of my Dina Wakley Media storage bags - they're always to-hand and I can move them to other locations really easily. I did um-and-ah over the Black and White - I have a LOT of black gesso, white gesso, black acrylic, white acrylic - I don't really need them. That said, for monoprinting and a lot of other techniques, having paints of the same consistency is really important and it would save me a lot of hassle having to thin CRYLA down with GAC-100 every time I wanted a runnier paint. Dina's paints are quite stiff but they're not true Heavy Body paints like CRYLA that have the consistency of clay and huge pigment loads.

The Dylusions inks are the 4 of the current release (Aug 2017) that I don't already have - I've had Vanilla Custard and Rose Quartz for about a month, and I have Laidback Lilac and Mushy Peas already in the acrylic paints, but I wanted to get the others as I love these muted, more pastel-y shades when used dilute but as you can see from the swatches down below (which I paint with one of Dina's brushes), they're SO striking when laid on thick! The Dylusions paper is designed to resist the dyes so they blot off and leave a lovely even, vivid and bright effect. If you use watercolour paper (which is what I swatch onto) such as the stuff in Dina's Media Journal, you get AMAZING intense effects! 

All of the items in this haul are from Art From The Heart (Dyan Reaveley's business in Harrogate, North Yorkshire) - superprompt service and always a pleasure to deal with. Plus what's not to love when you get a package like this one?

Ranger Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paints in:
   Cheddar [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
   Elephant [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
   Evergreen [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
   Fuchsia [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
   Lapis [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
   Magenta [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
   Ruby [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
   Turquoise [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
   White [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
   Black [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
   Ocean [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
   Ancient [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
   Sterling [BUY NOW: USA, UK]

For those of you in the USA, you can get 6 tube sets of the 2016 colour release or the metallic paints for just $36, which is a pretty good deal - but sadly doesn't ship to the UK - in the 2016 set, you get Blushing, Evergreen, Cheddar, Fuchsia, Elephant and Ocean, and in the 2017 set you get Rosy, Medieval, Ancient, Gilt, Penny and Sterling. These may be a good way to stash-build economically? It's about a 30% discount for each set.

Ranger Dylusions Ink Sprays in:
   Mushy Peas [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
   Laidback Lilac [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
   Periwinkle Blue [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
   Peony Blush [BUY NOW: USA, UK]

Again, for those of you in the USA, you can get the corresponding 6 Dylusions acrylic paints for $30 right now, which is about 25% off - well worth it, they're great colours! 

Beautiful Garden: Media Journal layout

This layout called "Beautiful Garden" was a pretty quick one that I could have done in 20 minutes but I had a 24h gap waiting for the stamp set (below) Scribbly Insects by Dina Wakley to arrive, so that I could finish it off. I may extend the garden onto the opposite page or do some more pages in similar styles. 

It's worth my quickly saying - this project uses both the Media Journal and Scribble Sticks by Dina and you can buy them both together as a set and make savings if you don't have either of them already - follow this link for USA customers - and this link for UK customers.

WHAT I USED:

Ranger Dina Wakley Media Journal [BUY NOW: USA, UK]

(I used one of the "watercolour" pages, without any gesso etc)

Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Inks in:

   Leaf Green [BUY NOW: USA, UK]

   Forget-Me-Not [BUY NOW: USA, UK]

   Tea Rose [BUY NOW: USA, UK]

[you can get the Forget-Me-Not very economically as part of the Wendy Vecchi Media Palette which is 4 full-size Archival Ink pads in one container - it also contains Orange Blossom and Fern Green, which you could use instead of Tea Rose and Lead Green in this project, plus Buttercup, which is just glorious. These palettes save you both space and money - BUY NOW: USA, UK]

Ranger Dina Wakley Media stamp sets

   Circle Patterns [BUY NOW: USA, UK]

   Scribbley Insects [BUY NOW: USA, UK]

Ranger Dina Wakley Media Scribble Sticks [BUY NOW: USA, UK]

Derwent Spritzer [BUY NOW: USA, UK]

(or any other mister)

Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool and Foam Pads [BUY NOW: USA, UK]

(3 pads are needed for this project)

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Clippings Stickers [BUY NOW: USA, UK]

WHAT I DID:

STEP 1: I used Leaf Green Archival Ink on my blending tool to pounce a series of circles and blend them together lightly to make a grass-y background at the bottom of the page. Leaf Green is quite pale so you need so use quite a lot but I wanted some circles visible from the blending tool so there was continuity between the background and foreground.

STEP 2: I did the same using Forget-Me-Not Archival Ink to make the sky, which I did as a series of patches, like there was cloud present. I then used Tea Rose Archival Ink all around the edges of the page and in patches on the sky and grass - it adds a kind of muddiness to the green and blue and sort of brings the page together - I did not use very much, it's best left subtle.

STEP 3: I misted the scribbled circle stamp from the Circle Patterns set with water and then added scribble sticks directly to it, allowing some colour to spill into the central "well" that isn't meant to touch the paper. The different combinations I did were Magenta + Blackberry; Tangerine + Lemon; Sky + Night and Night + Umber. I stamped them over the sky and top of the grass, quite randomly, and to some of them, I added a little bit of White or Black in a small patch just to add variety. I let the middle of the stamp hit the page in places, so some of the flowers had a partial centre. I let some flowers overlap.

STEP 4: Using my point-to-point technique, I drew in the stems. This is really easy but you need to dry your Scribble Sticks first! You just put two sticks with their tips touching, both about 80 degrees to the paper and draw with them both as though they're one - this creates wiggley stems in two tones. I used Lime and Night for this.

STEP 5: I sprayed the bee stamp from Scribbley Insects and coloured all of the bee with the Black Scribble Stick and then used Night on the wings and stamped it in the sky, flying away.

STEP 6: Once the bee was dry, I coloured her with dry Scribble Sticks, with some stripes Black and some Lemon with Tangerine along one edge. I went over the wings with Sky very lightly. I did later go back with a damp brush and merge the Lemon and Tangerine slightly but it doesn't really matter too much - I did the same on some of the flower stems actually. With a dry Night Scribble Stick, I added some dashes like they used to in childrens' books to indicate flight.

STEP 7: I chose some phrases from the Clipping Stickers set that felt right: "a wonderful creature" "a very wonderful place" "in the garden" "there is nothing simpler" "be thankful". I added those top right, outlined them with the Umber Scribble Stick and then blurred it a little with a damp brush. Done!

Dylusions Journal: My Love And I In A Small Cafe (Part II) - working towards the foreground

I posted recently a gessoed paper that I then used Dina Wakley Media acrylics and mica sprays from Ranger on - and I was loving the colours. I've since attached it into my Dylusions main Large Creative Journal that I used for just random things. As I've just obtained the Dina Wakley Media Circle Patterns stamps I couldn't resist adding some foreground to that background!

WHAT I USED:

"My love and I in a small cafe" acrylic on gessoed paper background previously prepared.

Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Inks in:
   Buttercup [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
   Cactus Flower [BUY NOW: USA, UK]

Ranger Dina Wakley Media Circle Patterns Stamps [BUY NOW: USA, UK]

WHAT I DID:
STEP 1: I selected the stamp that looks like a pen outlining a circle, as I want to put a similar motif in acrylic paint as the focal point at a later date.

STEP 2: I applied some stamps without a block down the righthand edge of the page, using Buttercup - Archival Ink goes on so well over acrylic that it's a great ink for this kind of project!

STEP 3: I then did the same using the delicious Cactus Flower - it reminds me so much of the Schlumbergera truncata Lem. (Christmas cactus) that my late Grandmother had and the beautiful magenta-violet flowers that seemed magical to me when I was a little boy and we went to visit her - the colour has stayed with me and after all these years - that vibrant colour standing out from the north-Bristol council estate browns and greys that I could see out of the window where the cactus was kept. I love this colour! I added a bit more of this colour in other areas on the page just to help join the foreground and the background a little more. There will be a focal point coming up in Part III! I've shown some close-ups below where you can see the 'fire' from the blue and red mica sprays and how cool it all looks!

Doctor's Orders: Oooops? #arthaul

So erm...well...what can I say? The worst part? This isn't even all of it - there's at least 5 more instalments to come...! It's quite a big haul because there have been some fabulous discounts on at Amazon and at Art From The Heart! Everything herein is from Amazon UK.

The Ranger Wendy Vecchi Mica Sprays (BUY NOW USA, UK) - at long last! Ranger released Mica Spray sets of 3 colours for each of their 4 signature designers some time ago - Tim Holtz (Brushed Pewter, Antiqued Bronze, Tarnished Brass BUY NOW USA, UK), Dina Wakley (Ruby, Lapis and Evergreen BUY NOW USA, UK), Dyan Reaveley (Bubblegum Pink, Crushed Grape and Vibrant Turquoise BUY NOW USA, UK) and, of course, Wendy Vecchi (Buttercup, Pearl and Forget-Me-Not) - I've struggled to get hold this set from Wendy but I love her palette - I also love Dina and Dyan's ranges but Tim's have not appealed to me because they're more or less the same as the metallic Distress Spray Stains. Wendy's Pearl excites me - there is no Pearl in the rest of her line of Archival Inks or Embossing Powders or Enamel Accents - and the name doesn't "fit" with her tradition of garden-related-words - Snowdrop would have been better, I think. I am now living in hope they'll release some more Pearl items from Wendy as a nice off-white to sit nicely with her other colours would be awesome!

I've posted on Twitter recently a lot of mini-monoprints I've been making (post on those coming soon!) and I decided getting a little gelli plate would be really worth it for a lot of techniques - I researched online and found this Gel Press Reusable Gel Printing Plate, 6" by 6" (BUY NOW: USA, UK) - they make a lot of different sizes and it's actually a faux gelli plate. It's a vegan-friendly mineral-oil-based reusable gelli plate, and it has a wonderful service. My YouTube Friend Mrs Weirich (aka Lindsay The Frugal Crafter) used a very similar one of these some time ago, and she got lovely results, which has made me want to try one for some time now. I've used normal gelli plates made of gelatine before but I like the very perfect surface of this - it really appeals to me - plus it's quite stiff so you can pick it up and use it like a stamp.

These Derwent Techniques Brushes (BUY NOW: USA, UK) were a bit of a whim item really. I was looking for something else and they were heavily discounted to just over £8 from £17, and I do want a sword suited to acrylic painting (check) and a rake for use when monoprinting (check). I'm sure these will come in useful!

A little bit of restocking! You can never have too many Ranger Dylusions Size 10 Journaling Tags (BUY NOW: USA, UK) and I have used a lot lately. Likewise, I needed to restock my favourite embossing powder - Ranger Wendy Vecchi Watering Can Embossing Powder (BUY NOW: USA, UK) - this powder is a deep, warm grey and thus a lot less harsh/cartoon-y than using black. I really enjoy how it looks and like all of Wendy's line, it is an ultra fine detail powder and just beautiful - blending it with other powders makes a nice bit of texture, even with beautiful bright colours like the vibrant yellows and purples.

Mwahahaha I struck a bargain here ;) I've wanted this Tim Holtz Idea-ology Clippings Stickers (BUY NOW; USA, UK) pack for a while for use in mixed media, cards and art journalling...and when I ordered it and paid for one, two packs arrived yaaay! So for just £3.98, I got almost 600 stickers, 2 of each of them. Lovely!

Another item I've wanted for a long time - this Ranger Dina Wakley Media Circle Patterns stamp set (BUY NOW: USA, UK) looked so useful for mixed media and for framing elements like collaged images. I love circles and how even crappy patterns or bits of waste artwork look brilliant cropped into circles with a punch or die and then stamped with a pattern - try it - it really looks great!

So I have to say, these were SO economical and I wanted something to keep my stencils and pens etc tidy and to hand. I also wanted to have some of this artwork to hand, because these beautiful Ranger Wendy Vecchi Designer Bags (BUY NOW: USA, UK) of course feature Wendy Vecchi's beautiful artwork - I have shown below the larger two that you can't see properly in the above image as I think they're so pretty. I've got the Ranger Dina Wakley Designer Bags (BUY NOW: USA, UK) on order too. Each set gives you a large, medium and small bag as a set (just over £13 when I bought these) and they're pretty useful sizes. I'm also hoping that having Dina's beautiful, bold and expressive mixed media work around me will inspire me somewhat to loosen up a bit when doing mixed media - which I find hard! 

Some more little additions to my tribute to Mrs Wakley

So I had an acrylic-on-canvas background that I started a few days ago in my Ranger Dina Wakley Media Journal (BUY NOW: USA, UK), done in CRYLA heavy body artist's acrylics in purple, white and orange. Aaaaand I have three Dina Wakley Media Acrylics of course now...and I just had to dabble! So last night, on me way to bed, I had a quick little play with those three new colours (Night, Blackberry and Rosy)...!

The vertical dark wiggle is Night; the open and closed circles are Rosy and the heart is Blackberry. The dark patch below the heart is all 3 colours blended with a wet brush - close up there is a lovely iridescence.

I LOVE these paints - the 1 fl. oz. bottles have a fantastic fine-point applicator which allowed me to get those fine lines. Dry, they hold completely perfect shape and don't shrink or settle at all. In masstone, Night looks black, but it is really a dark warm blue. Looking forward to having another play later on! Ok, sure, I have heavy body fine-art acrylic and could get identical effects but I love Dina's colourway and painting direct without mixing IS a lot of fun. As craft acrylics go, you could do far worse!

If you're in the UK or Europe, you'll want to have a look at Art From The Heart in Harrogate, UK, as they sell them at a reasonable price, but Amazon UK or Amazon USA are also options.

Scribblings in my Dina Wakley Media Journal

I've been dipping in and out of this journal - not really making layouts sensu stricto but using it more like a sketchbook of sorts, but including in that, collage, acrylic, watercolour, sewing etc. For the uninitiated, the journal is comprised of 4 signatures, each of which has pages in "watercolour paper", burlap, thin canvas and a thick kraft process paper. The "watercolour paper" is variously described by Ranger/Dina as "handmade cotton rag" watercolour paper and watercolour paper that "contains some cotton", so I'm still unsure as to what it really is and it sure doesn't feel or work like any watercolour paper I've ever known, but I do like it for mixed media and acrylic painting. Ranger's marketing has not helped and I know of lot of fine-art watercolourists have felt let down by it - myself included - but I make use of things and seldom bin anything, so I decided to use it for something today! 

NB: the intention of these two pieces is as part of my roadtesting of the journal - how well it copes with thick, dimensional acrylic vs retarded, watered acrylic. They're really just backgrounds that I will ultimately add to and/or work over.

Abstract Blurred African Landscape (through the eyes of a cheetah) (acrylic on paper)
Ok caveat - this is about as authentically African as an Arbroath smokey, and it's probably ecologically bollocks too, as I've put the cheetah in the wrong landscape but who cares! I wanted to show something ultra-basic and simple, and loosely inspired by African artwork, specifically acacia trees on the African savannah, which appear in a lot of work by South African artists. I then wanted to blur it and add movement, as though seen by a fast-moving cheetah or a person in a car, whatever.

WHAT I USED:

Ranger Dina Wakley Media Journal (BUY NOW USA, UK)
(I used one of the righthand pages, and a "watercolour" page specifically - no preparation e.g. gesso was used)

Daler and Rowney CRYLA artists' acrylic paints in:
   Titanium White (BUY NOW USA, UK) [PW6 Titanium White]
   Ultramarine Violet (BUY NOW USA, UK) [PV15 Ultramarine Violet]
   Rowney Emerald (BUY NOW USA, UK) [PW6 Titanium White, PG7 Phthalo Green (Blue Shade), PY3 Hansa Yellow 10G]
   Golden Yellow (BUY NOW USA, UK) [PY73 Arylide Yellow GX, PO62 Benzimidazolone Orange H5G]
   Quinacridone Burnt Orange (BUY NOW USA, UK) [PR206 Quinacridone Burnt Scarlet]
   Quinacridone Yellow Red (BUY NOW USA, UK) [PR209 Quinacridone Red]

Golden Artist Colors Universal Acrylic Polymer (GAC-100) (BUY NOW USA, UK)
(you could use any fluid, retarding acrylic medium really)

3/4" Golden Taklon paintbrush
(I used one that cost less than £0.30 from a cheap multipack - it doesn't need to be anything special!)

Plastic plates/bowls to mix the paints

Container of water to wash the brush, and a supply of paper towel or a rag to clean/dry it on.

WHAT I DID:
STEP 1: CRYLA paints are very heavy-body and need to be thinned for a technique like this, so I put out each colour pace white into separate containers and squirted over a little GAC-100 and then mixed it in to make a texture more like a fluid acrylic. I did this such that I still had about 25% of the paint of each colour in the original format, so I could mix them to vary thickness when painting. I did not add any GAC-100 to the Titanium White.

STEP 2: With my brush wet, I picked up some Ultramarine Purple and applied a basic and rough sky. I then used Quinacridone Burnt Orange to produce a tree trunk and branches, and some soil, which I then overlaid (the soil) with Golden Yellow and Quinacridone Yellow Red. I worked as much as possible in only horizontal or vertical stripes and did not mix colours in advance, I let things blend on the page. I then added Rowney Emerald to make the foliage of the acacia, using the brush vertical to pounce the colour onto the page. I added a little Golden Yellow in places to add interest. 

STEP 3: Using side-blending (i.e. half the brush covered in Titanium White, the other half in a colour), I blended "light" into every shape, coming from the top left of the page. I then continued this with white "motion blur" across the page, letting it take up colour with it. Wash the brush immediately! Allow the page to dry for about 1h before closing the journal - the paints will be touch-dry in that time but will need 48h to cure fully before you can apply any media over the top.

A Tribute To Mrs Wakley (acrylic on canvas) NB: just a background, not a finished work!
Whilst Dina Wakley's aesthetic is quite far from mine, I really admire her use of colour and bold, vibrant, geometric patterns combined with scribble and perfect imperfections. I wanted to capture a little bit of this on a canvas page in my journal - the page is unfinished, I'm not sure what I'll do with it thus far! I picked the orange and violet paints as they reminded me a bit of her Cheddar and Blackberry paints (I don't currently have any of Dina's paints).

WHAT I USED:

Ranger Dina Wakley Media Journal (BUY NOW USA, UK)
(I used one of the righthand pages, and a canvas page specifically - no preparation e.g. gesso was used)

Plaid Folklore Heart Layering Stencils (BUY NOW USA, UK)
(this set include grid and heart stencils and a heart mask - you will need just the heart stencil and grid stencil for this project)

Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Bubble Layering Stencil (BUY NOW USA, UK)

Daler and Rowney CRYLA artists' acrylic paints in:
   Titanium White (BUY NOW USA, UK)
   Ultramarine Violet (BUY NOW USA, UK)
   Cadmium Orange (BUY NOW USA, UK)
(pigment information can be found for these paints in the supplies list for the above project)

Palette Knife

3/4" Gold Taklon paintbrush
(I used one that cost less than £0.30 from a cheap multipack - it doesn't need to be anything special!)

Container of water to wash the brush and a damp rag to clean the palette knife.

WHAT I DID:
STEP 1: I started top-right using the grid stencil and my palette knife loaded half with Ultramarine Violet and half with Titanium White so that I could get a fade/blend. I covered the stencil really thick as CRYLA has enough body to act like a texture paste and I wanted dimension.

STEP 2: I hung the heart stencil off the page and painted it in with a brush using side-blending (see above technique) with Titanium White and Cadmium Orange just to create some texture and depth. I then washed the brush immediately.

STEP 3: Using the bubble stencil, I applied some violet then white then orange paint, using my palette knife just like in Step 1 but with a bit less height to it.

STEP 4: Leave to dry. As the paint is thick and CRYLA takes about 1-2h to dry and this height fully, leave it open for that time then allow 48h to cure before painting etc over it.