Kaleidoscope Stencils Meet Zentangle

These new stencils called the "Kaleidoscope Series" are fast becoming my favorite stencils!  I use stencils often to break up heavily colored areas with some broken white patches.  These white areas give the eye a place to rest especially if there are a lot of details in the mix.  Which brings me to this "ZIA" (Zentangled Inspired Artwork)  cat.  I drew a rough outline of a cat on a piece of canvas board that measures 16" by 12" with a Stabilo pencil.  After doing some Zentangle patterns on him I used the stencils to hide him in the flower garden.

Just to briefly show you the process here are a few photos.  I like to draw but not be too focused when I'm watching TV with my husband or talking on the phone.  I feel that if my hands are busy I'm "working".  So after I drew my cat outline I divided it into sections.  Each section is covered with Zentangle patterns inspired over the years by Rick and Maria who began the Zentangle movement.

After drawing the patterns with a Micron pen I did some shading with my Stabilo pencil.  I painted the background  a Lapis blue and used Copic ink to color the eyes.

I used a few stamps by Dina Wakley along the way and also colored them in with "irRESISTibles".  Now the cat had splashes of color and texture.  When I did as much tangling as I felt like on the cat then I decided to hide him in his own little garden patch of flowers.  The flowers are actually the Kaleidoscope stencils and heavy white gesso.  I added additional interest with another stencil called Blazonry and Interference Blue Golden Acrylic.

Summer may be over but I still have my imaginary garden with my imaginary cat.  I will see you here next Tuesday with more stenciling ideas, until then, take care. ~ Hugs, Renee

Artistcellar New Release! Kaleidoscope Stencils

Most of us feel a sense of delight when we hear the word Kaleidoscope.  If you're like me it takes you back to childhood with those tacky little paper/plastic kaleidoscopes that you could purchase at the 5 & Dime store.  The newest release from Artistcellar is called Kaleidoscope and is a series designed by mixed media artist Cecilia Swatton.  There are four stencils in the series:  Trillium, Sunflower, Black Orchid and Lily.

                                

 I am constantly challenged when it comes to keeping track of all my stencils so I make small books with either the stencils in the book (stashed in clever pockets) or at least samples of what they look like.  I chose to do a "sample" book project so I can have a quick visual of these tiny gems for future projects.

Samples from Kaleidoscope Stencils

Here is my process if you'd like to see it.  First I start by cutting up my Art Cards from a large piece of water color paper.  Each one measures 4" by 4".

After I have these cut I decided just to spray Dylusions Spray inks using a different stencil and colors for each card.

These could be highly decorated, just like an ATC, but I decided to keep them simple.  I only inked the edges with coordinating colors and glued them into my prepared, simply folded book.

I had intended to leave the book simply white to mimic a wall in an art gallery but then I couldn't resist adding a few stamped images from Dina Wakley's newest collection.

To finish off my practical sample book I added the names of the stencils just written with a Fude Ball pen on or around the stenciled images.  My folded book has room for many more Art Cards with stencil samples on them.  I'll keep sharing it with you as I go along filling it up.  When it is full then I will do the front and back covers.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  There are some pretty amazing projects on the Artistcellar blog this week showing additional ways to use these stencils.  Oh!  And there is a blog hop taking place in which you can win your own set of these fun stencils.  I've posted the blog hop list for you here in the event you want to give it a try.  Here is the message from Lisa at Artistcellar:

Now the good part… join us this coming week for a blog hop with some awesome artists! Everyone will be featuring Kaleidoscope and every stop will be giving away a FREE set of stencils to a lucky winner. Read each blog for the details, for this one, just leave a comment – you can tell me what they remind you of, how you would use them, what is your favorite technique you would use with them. I will close comments Nov. 1st here. Each stop will be announced on our FB page the next 7 days.

October 25th – Lisa Cousineau, Artistcellar www.artistcellar.com/wp  <Kickoff!

October 26th – Effy Wild – http://effywild.com/

October 27th – Lisa Chin – http://somethingcleveraboutnothing.blogspot.com/

October 28th – Cheryl Sleboda – http://www.blog.muppin.com

October 29th – Paula Phillips – http://www.journalartista.com/

October 30th – Cindy Powell – http://cynthiapowell.blogspot.com/

October 31st – Cecilia Swatton – http://ceciliaswatton.blogspot.com

Until next week, take care.  Big hugs ~ Renee