Citrasolv Mixed Media Collages

It's SO wonderful that Digital Art has finally come into its own. I recently had one of my digital pieces hanging in an art show....something I thought I'd never see. Today, I received an email from the Artist's Network and found they did a blog post: Explore the World of Digital Art.

Right now, I'm creating Digital Mixed Media Collages using Citrasolv papers I have scanned into my computer. Everything you need to know about making Citrasolv art is here: http://citrasolv.com/art/index.html  (warning...creating these papers is addictive!)

Many artists create pieces with the actual Citrasolv papers...adding images or deleting ink, etc. But, I like to work with them in Photoshop. If there is text left over or something I don't like I can clone it out. Quite often I will work with hue, saturation and blending modes to manipulate color.

This Citrasolv paper has not been manipulated in Photoshop, yet.

Artists who make these papers know that they are not only beautiful abstractions in their own right, but quite often they will see images (people, landscapes, objects, etc.) in the shapes and shadows and an idea for a new piece emerges.

I have been creating my own digital stamps and brushes for years and have amassed hundreds of them. I create them in Photoshop from photographs or scanned images...many from Nature. These come in handy when I'm creating collages as so many of my pieces are Nature-themed. And sometimes I also use actual photographs, like the butterfly in the collage below. I've also been writing Haikus for years and am now incorporating them into my pieces as well. Sometimes I write a new poem, sometimes a Haiku inspires a new piece.

An Artist is Born ©Kitti Scibelli, 2015

The collage below was created with 3 different Citrasolv papers....one of which was the inspiration for the whole piece. The bottom part of the collage, the "sand" reminded me of how the beach looks after a storm and how devastating the erosion.

Crooked Shacks on a Cliff ©Kitti Scibelli, 2015

Nine times out of ten, there will be a bird in one of my collages. I love them, feed them, photograph them and am fascinated by them. Usually a collage doesn't feel finished until I've added a bird. This collage perfectly expresses what I feel every time a new Citrasolv creation emerges: Serendipity!

Serendipity ©Kitti Scibelli, 2015

Having fun with my new Scan-n-Cut die cutter!

ALERT: This blog was written awhile ago.....CHRISTMAS IS OVER! :)

I have been watching Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's videos for quite some time. I became very excited about the Brother Scan-N-Cut especially since I've got a little pain in my right hand and cutting by hand is just not fun anymore. So, when Julie was on HSN (back in Oct.?) with the die cutting machine, I watched it. My husband saw me watching it and I told him all of the amazing things it could do for me. (I have 2 ETSY Shops and I teach Arts and Craft classes) I told him I was going to try to find it cheaper somewhere. Many, many weeks later I decided I couldn't afford the Brother Scan-N-Cut and found the Silhouette machine (another die cutting machine that does NOT scan). I told him I was going to get that one. He got a funny look on his face and I knew something was up. He had bought the Scan-N-Cut on HSN the day I was watching the show!!!! He asked me if I wanted it early (before Christmas) and I said, oh yeah!

Here's the very first thing I made...

MERRY CHRISTMAS PAPER MANTEL BANNER

I tried to do it Julie's way....she stitched them all together....ha! Nightmare for me, a seamstress I am NOT. So, I went with my strength....glue! I glued them on some beautiful lacy off-white ribbon. The images are all from the Brother's memory. I combined some to be more unique.

My next project was a pop-up card for each of my best crafty friends. Yeah, I should have gone with something simpler, but what's the fun in that? One of the designs was from the machine and one I had to design myself, because that's how I roll! :)  (that one, of course, took me 3 tries!)

But, I was very pleased with the results and my friends loved them!

The last thing I just did and I'm very excited about is cutting out shapes to make a bowl. I saw this bowl on Pinterest and had to try and make it. I printed out one of my Japanese Maple leaf silo stamps, then scanned it into the Scan-N-Cut. I printed out 20 leaves on leftover scraps of a heavier stock. (the die cutter did a fantastic job!) But, the stock was too heavy for the balloon method. Gluing them onto a balloon was not going to happen, so I reverted to the bowl method, which I am not fond of.

This was the result...yuck....but I learned a lot. Next time I will use thinner paper and the balloon method!

Celebrate National Craft Month

I've been super busy with both my ETSY Shops....playing catchup really after the flu, a cold and lots and lots of snow have kept me from creating. I still can't believe it's 2015....and MARCH already!

PAINTED TISSUE PAPER NESTING BOWLS

 And it's a very exciting month....National Craft Month!

10 Ways to Celebrate Arts and Crafts 

     (I kinda celebrate every day, but that's me) :)

     1. Why not try a new art and/or craft....dabble in a new media or technique.
     2. Take a class you've always wanted to.
     3. Teach a child a craft you learned when you were a kid. (Pinterest has millions of ideas!)
     4. See the documentary: "Art and Craft" (http://artandcraftfilm.com/see-film/)
     5. Make something for your home to celebrate Spring. (or St. Patty's Day or Easter)

HANDMADE SILK SUNFLOWER PILLOW

     6. Pinterest has a National Craft Month board:
               https://www.pinterest.com/favecrafts/national-craft-month/
     7. Spend a whole day just being creative....it's SO meditative.
     8. Make a craft or piece of art to donate to a worthy cause.
     9. Make a "Happy National Craft Month" card and send it to someone special.
    10. If you're a hobbyist or a professional...this is the month for sales!

 And speaking of sales, I'm jumping into the fray and offering 30% OFF your entire purchase in my ETSY (Digital Stash) Shop....just type in MARCHCRAFT30 at checkout!
Below are 2 of my latest products available at https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheDigitalStash

HAND PAINTED DIGITAL WASHI TAPES

CITRASOLV INKY ABSTRACT BACKGROUND PAPERS

 

Another Citrasolv Contest

So, it's actually been a month since my last Blog Post....good grief! I've taken on more responsibilities and am trying to put myself and my Art "out there" more. And, of course, the holidays are upon us. Once they are over, I hope to get back on a regular schedule. Below is my dated blog about the Citrasolv Halloween contest. (spoiler alert: I received Honorable Mention for the second piece!) I was thrilled...and will be entering more contests. :)

If you've been reading this blog, or you're related to me, you know I'm a Citrasolv Artist and I love creating art with the cool looking abstract pages AND entering some of my pieces into their contests.

Their latest contest is titled: "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" ... it's a spooky, halloween-inspired contest. I highly recommend checking out their website and viewing all of the past contest winners' pieces: http://www.citrasolv.com/art/index.html

I entered 3 pieces in this contest. The originals were scanned into PhotoShop and altered accordingly. I have always been a fan of Edgar Allan Poe - he certainly knows fear - so I used quotes from his novels, short stories and poems to inspire these pieces. They are going to pick 5 winners who will receive a Citra Solv Treat Basket filled with seasonal goodies & Citra Solv products for spooky stains & gruesome grime. Woo hoo! Wish me luck!

Another Crafty Mishap

Where there is experimentation, there will be mistakes. It's apparently the best way for me to learn! I wanted to make another gelli plate, but a 5" x 7" one. I found 2 tin containers (for free!) that I thought would work perfectly. HA!

The circular dish at top is for making an 8" x 8" gelli plate

 I followed the recipe to the letter (I have since changed my recipe, so will post that another time). Then I proceeded to pour into containers. It was at this moment that the heating service man showed up at my door and I walked him down to the basement. By the time I got back to the kitchen the "recipe" was all over the top of my electric stove.

Yes, actually took a photo before I started cleaning - entire surface covered in gelatin and glycerine!

I didn't panic because:
1. my husband wasn't home....LOL! and
2. I knew it wouldn't do any harm....um, pretty sure.

I just couldn't decide if I should scoop up and try to remove immediately or wait to solidify. I decided to scoop NOW. It actually started to solidify or "gelatinize" pretty quickly, so although time consuming, very doable.

So, this all could have been avoided if I had paid even a little attention to the containers that "HELLO!" had holes in them....really? The silver lining is, it made me do more research, which in turn made me realize that I had the PERFECT containers in a box in the basement. Plastic (3D) photo holders.....I have MANY and lots of 5" x 7"s.

The "recipe" leftover from the top of my stove was used again and put in the proper container. All I had to do was nuke for a minute or so.

More on making homemade gelli plates later!

MY MAJOR REDESIGN

Can you say MAJOR redesign??

I realized that my Digi Art Blog did not reflect my life or everything I was blogging about. Instead of having 2 or more blogs, I knew it would be easier for me to combine everything. My art life is so much more than my ETSY Shop. I am a typical Mixed-Media artist, in that I am obsessed and addicted to many, many kinds of media. Please do NOT ask me to choose just one!

Sometimes it feels like I'm going in SO many directions, I wonder if I'm crazy. Then I read other blogs by mixed-media artists and I realize either we're ALL crazy or we are just doing what we do best: Mixing up the media!

Fun with Transfers

WHICH TECHNIQUE IS BEST?
There are all kinds of ways to transfer images onto a substrate. Which technique (and glue) you use depends on whether you are trying to transfer from a magazine, book, photograph, etc. and what substrate you are transferring the image on to. For your specific needs, I feel quite certain that you can find a YOUTUBE video to walk you through the process. Kudos to ALL the people on YOUTUBE who unselfishly share all of their knowledge!!

PAPER PULL vs. TRANSFERRING
I like using both methods but there can be a big difference. If you transfer and are using the original right out of magazine, book or newspaper .... the image (and type) will be backwards. I don't mind this because it's usually unreadable by the time I'm finished anyway....it becomes more of a texture effect. Hey, maybe you like your text backwards! Also, there is transparency, meaning you can see some of what's underneath the transfer. But, if you want it readable you can just rip and glue right onto the substrate. You can also photograph or scan into computer and reverse image. I find that the simplest and most reliable transfer is done with a toner copy. So, if you don't have a toner printer, just find your nearest copy machine. There are YOUTUBE videos that show how to transfer INK JET prints, so check them out.

EXPERIMENTING IN MY JOURNAL
I use my art journals for experimentation - no worries - if I don't like the end result, I just cover it with gesso or paint or maybe more paper. Which I will be doing in the future! Here are some of my experiments with newsprint transfers and paper pulls.

This is newsprint on top of a color photo transfer out of magazine

This is a newsprint transfer on top of paint

This is multiple transfers of newsprint using different glues to figure out what works best

I love working with images and words from magazines. Since I purposely don't transfer a perfect image....there are no copyright issues....it never looks like the original when I'm done. I can't pay for ALL the magazines I like to use, so I get FREE ones at the TRANSFER STATION and the library has a bin, too. I have found some REALLY cool images this way. :)

I loved this pattern and wanted to save it, so I scanned it into my computer for more uses

Then I transferred it onto a painted page. I cannot wait to try this again!

You can also transfer with Citrasolv. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but it looks super easy and very reliable. I will be trying it in the future and post about it! This woman does a great job of explaining the process in her video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Nedq-m7KO0

Okay, I have more, but this blog is getting too long.....stay tuned for Fun with Transfers 2!