Tutorial: Faux Crackle paint effect

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If you love the texture of crackle but would like a fuss free way to create it, check out this video tutorial for creating texture with gesso. This is a dimensional paint effect so not one to stamp or journal over, but it makes a fantastic tactile finish.

Faux Crackle paint effect. The really EASY way

You Will Need

• Daler Rowney Gesso; White
• Broad Palette knife. I’m using Langnickel K4
• Rag
• Jar of water
• Non stick craft sheet
• Palette
• Paint colours of your choice

Method

I’ve included a written version of the instructions so those who need to can use the translate this site, to have the instruction in your chosen language.

• Apply a generous layer of gesso to your mount board using the palette knife.
• Using the flat face of the knife pat/dab into the gesso, this will leave a texture in the surface. Vary the pressure for different sizes of texture.
• Continue until you have an effect you like and allow to dry.
• For a coloured background add a light wash, then use a rag or sponge to apply colour just to the raised areas of the texture.

Options/Added Extras

• For a coloured background texture, mix your colour into the gesso, bear in mind the colour will appear lighter as gesso is opaque.
• Put a small amount of gesso in a separate container and add particles of sand or glass beads for a different more textured result.

Links

• Daler Rowney

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial, would love to see what you create using the techniques shown.

Best wishes and thanks for reading see you soon

Billie

Adventures in Acrylics: Online workshop

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Embossed book

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Today I’d like to share a picture of some books I created using an embossed panel that I decorated with Daler Rowney Interference colours. This first one features, Shimmering Blue and shimmering gold interference colours.

Blue & Gold embossed book

This one features Shimmering copper and Shimmering Gold; interference colours and the Swirls; Cuttlebug embossing folder.

Embossed book with interference colours

Aren’t the colours just lush! I ‘m looking forward to experimenting more with these paints, I love how they work so well with each other and over a variety of surfaces. Hope you get to try some of this paint soon, its amazing. More pics next week.

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

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Video Tutorial: Dark Wood paint effect

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In today’s post, as part of the Adventures in Acrylics workshop, I’ll be sharing a tutorial on how to create a wonderful dark wood paint effect. It looks something like rosewood, or perhaps mahogany, but whatever you want to call it, this gives a beautiful effect. Like the previous tutorial, this is super simple to create and waiting for the paint to dry between layers, is the most time-consuming part.

Here’s what a finished piece looks like

Dark Wood paint effect for Adventures in Acrylics

You Will Need

• Winsor & Newton: Galeria Acrylic paint; Buff Titanium, Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber.
• White mount board
• Jar of water
• Scrap of rag for cleaning.

Method

I’ll include a written description of the process, for those who don’t speak English, there’s always the trusty translator, check out the TRANSLATE THIS SITE link, in the side bar.

• Put some Buff Titanium on the palette, than use the palette knife to apply a layer paint over the white surface of the mount board. Apply the paint generously, as if you were buttering bread Change direction with your knife and leave a few white areas here and there. Allow this layer to dry fully, before you move on.
• Clean your knife in the water, while you wait for the paint to dry.
• Next, put out some Burnt Sienna onto your palette, pick up some paint on the knife and apply the Burnt Sienna in patches, here and there over the Titanium Buff. Change direction when applying the paint to create textures. Leave some of the white areas and some areas of the buff titanium visible. Allow this layer to dry fully, before you move on.
• Clean your knife in the water, while you wait for the paint to dry.
• Put some Burnt Umber onto your palette, this is a semi transparent colour and will allow the other layers to be seen through it. Pick up a generous amount of Burnt Umber onto your knife. You only need a thin-film of the paint over the card, but the knife will move better over the card if it has a layer of paint across it. Apply a thin layer of the Burnt Umber over the whole piece and allow this to dry. Try not to go over this layer too many times as it tends to get sticky as its drying and if you want a smooth result you don’t want to over work it. Allow this layer to fully dry before you move on.
• Clean your knife in the water, while you wait for the paint to dry.
• If you feel your piece is looking too bright apply a second layer of the Burnt Umber over the card, either just in places or over the whole thing, depending on the look you are going for.

Dark Wood paint effect for Adventures in Acrylics

The earlier layers glow through the semi transparent Burnt Umber, and add lots of visual interest and texture to the piece. Like the weathered wood, you can make this more textured by using heavy bodied acrylic paint like Daler Rowney Cryla if you prefer or use mediums to change how your Galeria paint behaves. This original version is reasonably smooth so if you wanted to stamp or write over the surface you could do so. It would also take  image transfers if you wanted to add some.

Options/Added Extras

In the coming weeks/months I’ll be introducing you to some acrylic mediums. As well as mixing the mediums to your paints, you can also use some of them as a glazing layer. If you already have some, you could paint over the finished piece with matt or gloss medium.

• The matt medium will not change the appearance of the finished piece, but it will seal in and protect the layers of paint.
• The gloss medium will dry to a high shine, and make the piece look as if it has been polished.

Experiment with what you have and see which you prefer. You don’t have to add the glaze layer, but it will help seal the paint in.

Links

Check out the Art tab at the top of the blog for details of suppliers where you can find a local stockist and also colour charts for the paints I’m using.

Hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and will give the technique a try, it is simple to do and by varying your colours or how you apply the paint, there are plenty of opportunities for further experiment with this idea. I’d love to see your results and how you incorporate this technique into your own projects. Do leave me comment with a link to what you create.

For more in this Adventures in Acrylics series check out the dedicated class page.

Best wishes and thanks for reading see you soon

Billie

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Red Texture ATC

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Today I’d like to share another ATC that I made after playing with my Daler Rowney System 3 acrylics.

Red Texture ATC

This one has a dark base colour, some metallic and then ageing effects applied on top. It needs more work but I have left it as is at the moment. I’ll return to it again when I have more of a plan as to how I will use it.

On the back I made a note of what paints and colours I used, so I’d remember in case I want to develop this or remake a similar colour way. Do you do this too?

I really needed this months Virtual Crafting Challenge to give me the nudge to get the paints out and play, its been a lot of fun.

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

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Product Review; Daler Rowney System 3 Acrylic Paper

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In today’s post I will be reviewing; Daler Rowney; System 3, Acrylic Paper

Daler Rowney; System 3, Acrylic Paper

Product Details

• Manufacturer/Brand; Daler Rowney, System 3,
• Item number;
• RRP at time of writing: A5 pad around £5

Purpose

For use with pencils, paint. Acid free 20 sheets A5 149 x 210 mm 230 gsm/ 140 lbs. 5.9 x 8.3″

Reason For Buying

I saw this demo’d on Create and Craft by Steph, who was using it for one stroke painting. I have Sheena’s Paint Fusion stamps and want to have something to practice my techniques on, without a lot of preparation time for surfaces.

Pros/Cons

• Acid Free
• Excellent weight for painting
• Really makes paint colour look vibrant
• No need to prime or prep the surface, just paint
• Easy and efficient

Cons

Not a con, just be aware that the surface of this paper has a linen effect. This adds texture to your work and acts like a key to grab the paint.

Build Quality

Excellent. The pad is glue bound at the top edge. Pages stay stuck well but tear off cleanly without damage or residual glue left on the page edge.

Value for Money

Great, this size is really portable for sketching trips but there are also pads available in A6, A5, A4 and I think A3 but check with your local stockist.

Would I buy it Again?

Yes! This is a fabulous surface to paint on. The paint glides on effortlessly no drag, the texture looks lovely with dry brush strokes. The paper really makes the paint colour show up well.

Summing up

I bought the A5 pad to try out and I love it. I will buy more of these. Great when you don’t have a lot of time for prep and just want to get straight into painting. I used this for One stroke painting with the System 3 Original acrylic paint and they really are a perfect pairing. It is a great surface for practicing those Paint Fusion and One Stroke painting techniques on and a good weight if you wanted to make toppers for cards. It would also be ideal as the base card itself, fold in half for an A6 card and paint on the front, job done!

Links

For more details of the manufacturer, the System 3 product range and stockists, please follow the links below.

A great starter collection in Daler Rowney System 3 Original paint.

• Daler Rowney
• System 3
• Additional Products in the System 3 Range

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

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Distressed Gold ATC

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Today I’d like to share another picture of an ATC background that I made using Daler Rowney System 3 acrylic paint.

Mottle Gold

This piece is likely to be stamped over in the end with text or images, this is just a starting point. It has various colours of System 3 Original acrylic paint and a gentle wash of Imitation Gold Pale Cryla to add a subtle brightness.

I’m enjoying experimenting with colour and texture for this month’s Virtual Crafting Challenge. How about you, have you got the paints out yet this month? Give it a go, its all about having fun and trying new stuff. Use what you have in the back of the cupboard, neglected, forgotten and just waiting for a challenge like this to be given permission to come out and play.

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

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Product Review; Daler Rowney System 3 Acrylic Introduction Set

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In today’s post I will be reviewing;

Daler Rowney System 3 Acrylic Paints 'Original'

Product Details

• Manufacturer/Brand; Daler Rowney, System 3, Acrylic Introduction Set (Original)
• Item number 129100015
• RRP at time of writing: £15-17.50

Reason For Buying

I saw these demo’d on Create and Craft by Stephanie for one stroke brush painting. I love Sheena’s Paint Fusion Stamps but didn’t want to be limited to the Pebeo paint she uses with them. The System 3 meant I could explore many different techniques at an affordable price.

Purpose

Student quality acrylic Paint. This set includes a set of 10 22ml tubes. These are the Original set which is a flow formula, as opposed to the Heavy Bodied set also available in System 3.

Pros/Cons

Pros

• A great selection of colours
• Can be mixed with each other for a wide selection of colours from a small pallet
• Original is the thinner more fluid version of the acrylic paint
• Student quality so more affordable than Cryla (artist quality) for getting started and trying ideas out.
• Mixes well with a variety of mediums for different effects, can be mixed with Cryla the artist quality heavy bodied variant.
• There is a heavy bodied version if you want a more dimensional effect
• Works well with Sheena’s Paint Fusion style of painting.
• Works well for one stroke painting too.
• Cost effective way of starting out.
• Easy clean up with soap and water
• These are a great size to travel with

Cons

Just one the smell! I started getting a tickly throat, which turned in to a cough, then I realised it was the smell from the paint. If you have ever walked into a room just after someone used hairspray and caught the remaining spay in your face, that’s what they smell like.

Possibly not how they are designed to be used, but being used to ‘craft’ paint, I made the mistake of using a heat gun to speed dry a layer or two of paint. This made them smell so much worse! Don’t get them hot! Later when I read the technical specs on the paint, it does say avoid heating them and that they contain formaldehyde (in a very small quantity) as well as ammonia, hence the smell that gets to your throat. If you are less of a sensitive flower and used them in a well ventilated room and avoid the heat gun, then you will probably be ok. My painting that I did on water-colour card, still smells strongly nearly a week later though

Build Quality

Excellent. Well fitting lids, superb paint. Daler Rowney are long-standing art company and a name to trust. The paint is also manufactured here in the UK. The flow formula is wonderful and real quality, superb if they call this a student range!

Value for Money

Excellent. This is a versatile paint that will mix with various mediums and paints within the Daler Rowney Acrylic brand. Ideal if you want to try acrylics for the first time and want to try a few varieties before you settle on one you like.

Would I buy it Again?

No but only coz of the smell! The performance, coverage and easy clean up make them wonderful in all other aspects.

Summing up

Fantastic paint to get your started or for quantity without melting the credit card. The smaller size of tubes in this set, are 22ml, which is a great core pallet and ideal for travel. They are also available in sets of six for just over £10 if you are on a tight budget but want to try them. This set mixes a huge range of colours from just ten paints, I added a tube of Titan buff to mix with them, for more muted versions of the colours.

They are a student quality paint (ignore C&C who keep saying its Artist Quality, the manufacturers quote it as a student grade). They are great for trying acrylics for the first time, for trying new ideas and give beautiful vibrant results. Try them on the System 3 paper also available to see the best results. The paint isn’t watery or oily, but super smooth, it blends and mixes beautifully.

There are 60 colours currently in the range, which are available individually in 75 ml tubes, or pots of 250 ml, 500 ml. See links at the end, for further details on colours and sizes available.

This is a lovely paint to use, (if you can get over the smell). It flows beautifully and brushes clean up in soap and water (never leave acrylic paint to dry on your brush or your brush will go permanently hard!) I tried these with Sheena’s Paint Fusion techniques and they worked really well. Definitely try those techniques on System 3 paper, it works a dream!

A great starter collection in Daler Rowney System 3 Original paint.

The System 3 Original, is a flow formula but it is also available in heavy body. They do mix well with Cryla which IS the artist quality heavy body paint.

Links

Quote from Daler Rowney website:

Available in 75 & 150ml tubes, 250 & 500ml pots, the System 3 Original range consists of 60 colours with 16 of the most popular colours also available in 2.25 litre and 6 colours in 1 litre pots. There is also an assortment of sets made up of the key colours, allowing a comprehensive mixing capability.The System 3 Have Body range consists of 34 colours and is available in 75 & 150ml tubes, with 10 popular colours also in 500ml pots. An assortment of Heavy Body sets is also available, allowing effortless colour choices.

For more information and colour charts follow the link to the System 3 area of the Daler Rowney website.

• Daler Rowney Manufacturer.
• System 3 This is the System 3 dedicated area.

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

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