Not too Precious: Grunge

 

 

Read the blog over before you come back and do the project step by step… an exercise in patience with me fir sure. xo

This activity is a great way to get past feeling like everything we do is too precious to take a chance.  You know, like life.  If we did not take a few risks, how boring would our life had been?  If we did not take risks and have it NOT work out, how would we have learned the lessons we learned? 

With this project, you will need:

*FIRST – to go to youtube and look up some presentations on grunge art journaling.  Watch one or two and get a feel for it, because, really, it is just a ‘feel your way through it’.

* heavy coaster material that will be able to stand many layers and lots of water

* lots of gesso,

*some embellishments,

*lots of paper towel,

*some paper with text or writing,

*a spray bottle full of water

*some raggedy small bits of material, spray inks

1.      Start with a coaster material of any kind, even homemade ones.  That is going to be your substrate.

2.     Gesso over the original coaster, or one you have made.

3.     Add textures of many kinds; lace, ribbons, sandpaper, whatever you have that will give some texture.  Do not cover it all, just put it on randomly.

 

HINT:  Since coasters usually come in a set of four, I did four at the same .

 

4.      Next put some kind of writing or text on to your substrate.

5.     Next add some stencil work using gesso or texture paste or crackle or whatever you have that can give more texture.  Put it mainly on the edges, but over anything underneath the stencil

6.      Tack on buttons, or metal pieces, or old jewelry, or wood pieces, paper clips, rusty pins, etc. in random places.

 

HINT:  these are coasters.  If you mean them to be a coaster for a drink, etc., then you will not want too big of lumps and bumps... but, who said they had to be sued as coasters?

 

7.       Gesso over top of the textures.  You can leave bits of the writing showing through, but, really put it to the embellishments. 

 

HINT:  remember nothing is too precious... there is a reason for everything you have done so far.  Layer by layer things are happening.

 

HINT:   Many layers of colors make up grunge:  Greens, browns, blacks, purples, orange, turquoise.  In fact, anything that will help make it look metal, it seems

8.      Next is the INK layer.  You want your sprayer handy so that you drop some ink somewhere on your project and hold it up, spray water, and let it drip.  You can hold it over one of the other projects and let it drip on there.  Work through one or two colors.  Then let completely dry.

9.     Next is the grunge part.  I used black gesso, but any black acrylics will do.  You want to water it down well so that it will run well.  Carefully choose some outer areas on your project to daub some black on.  The quickly spray and daub with Paper towel so that the black runs into the textures but does not take over your whole project.

10. I used bronze acrylics for this next part, but you want a lighter metallic color to do a slight bit of daubing of paint and then scot toweling to soften the edges of the black you added.  Do not dab paint or daub toweling until you get mud.. be gentle with this layer.

11. Next, we need something metal on the project.  Find some metal bits and pieces from around your house, safety pins, paper clips, washers, anything metal.

12. Grab your gesso and gesso over these small bits and pieces, both sides.  Let them dry well.  Gesso does not take long to dry.

13. While the metal bits are drying, distress the edges of your project.    This is a big part of grunge as well, to add black on the edges.  Set it aside to dry.

14. Next is to work on the metal bits.  With these, you choose a gold, then a rusty red color, then a rusty brown color.  I am using Golden iridescent gold, a mixture of gold and brown inks that I needed for another project, and Ranger, mica spray in tarnished brown.  Choose any of the colors in whatever you have.

15. With the Gold/yellow use your fingers (or a small bristly brush because I don’t want ink staining my fingers until I do dishes three times...lol) and daub randomly on to each metal piece.  Do not cover the whole bit, just daub a touch or two on each.

16. Daub some of the red rust color over and around the yellow/gold but still stay random.

17. Next daub on some brown rust color.  I mixed some dark brown acrylic with some Deco bright red and mixed until I got a dark rust color.  Daub it randomly.  Let dry.

18. At the end, I touch it a bit with some turquoise.  That helped make it look rusty, too.

HINT:  Save the paint left on the deli paper or whatever you have used on a palette.  Great fodder.

19.  Now, to glue the faux-rusted pieces on to your project, use allene’s glue or any glue you think will keep them glued on.  I am going to use super glue... these babies are not moving.  Let sit overnight

20.  Add some writing of an empowerment or some quote you love or thinks fits.  Write it on a scrap of paper.  I used a ragged piece of paper bag.

21.  Brown edges of the paper and glue it down. 

22. Brush on some Mod Podge or sealer over the paper bag bits with writing on them.

I am really enjoying doing this genre.  Not that I am doing a great job, but I feel like I am learning and that is my goal in reality.

 

©CarolDesjarlais 5.4.21