Molding Paste, Atc's, Foils and Watercolors...

I just finished working on a couple of ATC's  for a swap, and since this was a new (experimental) technique for me, I thought I might share with others who are curious about using these mediums together. I love the texture the modeling (or molding) paste gives to your art, and they accept opaque watercolor much better than I thought they would once they are dry. I will give steps on how I made these layered ATC's below the photo. The color in reality is so much more beautiful than the photo shows, of course....

Click on pic to enlarge

Okay,  first off, I started out with ATC blanks that were precut. I had already made the molding paste stenciled designs on two whole 9 x 12 pages in my art journal while just playing around, so I cut two to ATC size, and then glued them to the ATC substrates. After drying the glue, I used Designer Foils in both blue and gold to highlight areas of the petals, centers, etc...this step also has to dry because you use an adhesive to adhere the foil to the ATC. Once dry (24 hours for me), I went over the designs with Opaque pan watercolors (Lukas brand-love them!!! I also use Pelikan brand!). After getting the color blending and shades like I wanted with the watercolors and they were dry, I highlighted various dry, wc painted parts of the design with Extreme Glitter and/or GlamourDust in complimentary colors. Once again, let dry, then finally I gave them a coating of Krylon Satin Finish spray-on varnish to seal everything. When sprayed with the Krylon, it really brought out the depth and texture of the ATC, giving it a nice, pulled together look! I think a Gloss spray would ;look good also, but didn't have any spray on hand to try, only had brush on and didn't want to chance smearing anything. Although these took awhile letting the layer dry, this was an experiment in mediums and techniques for me, and I am happy with the results! It is definitely a technique I will be using again in my art in many mixed media ways!!! Hope you enjoyed this post and maybe even learned something new to try!!!

Happy Creating!!
Laura Shelton Thykeson


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