Thursday, January 11, 2018

Second Thursday Tutorial: Resists revisited


For the first Second Thursday tutorial in 2018, I'm revisiting resists.  I've played with resists in the past, but not all in one post.

I decided to test several types of paper, including 90 lb. watercolor, 120 lb. card stock, and 20 lb. copier/printer paper.  

One of my favorite resists is a white crayon, a white candle, or even colored crayons.  But that works best with watercolors (as shown here), and today I'm focusing on acrylics. 

Another resist I have tried in the past involves using white PVA glue (Elmer's or equivalent).  This is something I created in my Houses altered book.

This one also involved watercolors, specifically Twinkling H2Os, just like the technique with the crayons.  The theory is the glue acts as a barrier between two or more watercolors.

Today I'm focusing on four resist techniques that should be relatively easy for anyone to accomplish.  For the most part, these involve using acrylic craft paints.  From left in the back clockwise:

Salt (use various salts if you have them, because they each produce different effects)
Petroleum Jelly (either Vaseline or a store brand)
91% Isopropyl Alcohol (best to use stronger than 50% if you can find it)
Bleach pen (I have two, one a store brand and one by Clorox, and I decided to use the Clorox because it has two tips)

I began by painting a sheet of watercolor paper with acrylic paint.  Any brand, any style will do.  I used what comes in bottles and is cheap.  Allow the paint to dry thoroughly.  This is very important.

Decide on a resist design,

or just play with the petroleum jelly until you are happy with the amount of background color you want to show.  Make sure you add plenty of petroleum jelly to the painted surface.

It's now time to cover the background with a different color.  The  idea is the petroleum jelly will resist the paint you apply and, once removed, you will be able to see the background.

Next up is probably my favorite resist.  I love this alcohol and I love my handmade shimmering mists.  However, I spent a huge amount of time looking for my pipette, which I seem to have misplaced. 

I assure you, it had a LOT to do with the outcome of this technique.  You can see I got way too much alcohol in a few spots, which,

had I had the right tools, would NOT have happened.

Not wanting to call this page a bust, I decided to add more shimmering mist to the page,

then apply table salt to the ends that were previously bare.

The salt quickly began to saturate the shimmering mist.

I noticed it began to mix with the alcohol on the page, too.   I have no idea why the color changed so radically, but my craft room is very dark, especially since it sits on the north side of my home.

For my final resist, I chose a page from a calendar.  This technique is best when using a photograph or a slick magazine page.  I thought the lion would work just as well, but I now suspect the paper was a bit too thin.

It had been ages since I had used this bleach pen in my art,

and I was surprised by how thin and watery the liquid was coming from it. 

Then I realized I had to shake the bleach pen.  If you try this technique, be sure to shake the pen before using it.

What a difference the shaking made.


Now it was time to wait, wait, wait.

I allowed 24 hours, because it is cold in my craft room, especially when I turn off the heater.

You will need that long for everything to dry properly, unless you live in a very hot climate.

What a disappointment.   This didn't look like anything I remembered from before.

However, it was time to scrape away the excess bleach. 

You can see the excess sediment I got from scraping the bleach from the page.

I admit, this was rather a disappointment, but I will use it in my art, anyway.

As an aside, the photo above is the first time I used the bleach pen as a resist.  I altered this photograph in 2008, and must admit, it works best with photos.   I first applied the bleach pen to the hair and beard, neither of which the man had, and left it on until the emulsion was nearly gone.  Then I used the bleach pen to make a Santa hat, but didn't leave the bleach on as long, thus producing the red hat.  After the photograph was dry, I gessoed the bottom.  This was in a frame I purchased at a garage sale and decided to use it on this technique.

Next it was time to remove the salt from the paper that had been painted, then spritzed with shimmering mist.

Even though I considered this a failure (the alcohol), I was now quite pleased with how it turned out.

I tried propping the paper up to show the two techniques,

and when I did, I got some really unique images.

I was stunned at how different the page looked depending on which angle I shot it from!

I saved the messiest technique for last.  

I wiped the excess petroleum jelly away using several baby wipes.  Now I'm an advocate for saving these wipes to use on other projects, but these you cannot save, because they are filled with the gooey petroleum jelly.  I believe this is relatively close to the end colors on the page.

This photo is so much darker than the actual image.  I included it because it had so much atmosphere.  I can't wait to use it in my art.

Thanks for joining me this Thursday where I've been reviewing various resists on paper.   Once this goes live, you'll find it on my Tutorials page for future reference of these four resists I tried today.  And of course, thanks for supporting my art.  I greatly appreciate your visit.

19 thoughtful remarks:

Valerie-Jael said...

Looks like you had fun playing with your various resists, thanks for sharing the results here. Have a nice day, hugs, Valerie

froebelsternchen said...

You got some uncredible stunning effects with your resist playing - I love your bleached lion and the secet Santa page is UNIQUE!!!
Thank you for a wonderul technique session!
Something I learned recently about salt and watercolors and I want to share it with you - is that iodized salt doesn't give good effects, I often wondered in the past why I get no good results with my salt ( it was always iodized - the most of our salts here are ) and now as I have extra bought normal and granular salt without iodine it really works much better for me. But no tutor ever mentioned this yet before....it was a woman on youtube who mentioned this .... I am really happy to know this fact now.
Always something new to learn - that is what learning is all about!
Happy Thurdays Elizabeth!oxo Susi

My name is Erika. said...

OK, first of all, thanks for telling me about your flu lecture. I had to red it twice it was so fascinating. I wish we had such interesting lectures-or I had time to go to such lectures. :) Secondly, I love this tutorial. I've never tried the alcohol drop one and I found that really interesting. I am going to have to give that one a try. I love your backgrounds. You have some cool pages to use. I think using vaseline is a cool effect and at this time of year it gives you a chance to keep your hands soft and not so dry. ha-ha! And the best part is that it sounds like you had a lot of fun making them.:) You also could link up that cute little kitty page to AJJ because you did have an arty new adventure. :) Have a great Thursday.Hugs-Erika

CJ Kennedy said...

I've only used the bleach pen to write on dark papers.I like what the bleach pen did to your lion. I've never tried playing with petroleum jelly. Love the salt technique. Found salt with larger crystals, like Kosher salt or pickling salt work best. Candles and crayons are always fun whether on paper or decorating eggs. I sometimes use a white candle rubbed over non-waterproof ink addressed envelope. The wax acts as a protective barrier so the ink won't run if it rains. Or the mailman has sweaty hands =^,.^=

pearshapedcrafting said...

Oh My! I love resist techniques but haven't seen some of these so i know what I'll be playing with when I get back! Hugs, Chris

Nancy said...

Nice to see your resist roundup of techniques. Thanks for the tips- shake the bleach pen, use a pipette for the alcohol. And your commenters had some helpful ones, too. I like what the salt does. You've made some lovely papers to use in your projects.

Darla said...

You got some great effects. You left out one of my favorites though. Rubber Cement. I have used it with both water color and acrylic. Best if you have a heavy paper.

Sandra Cox said...

That first piece certainly put a smile on my face. Big Aww.
I love the way you share your techniques. What works. What doesn't.
You're right. That last piece does have atmosphere.
Hope your day is filled with sparkle, dear Elizabeth.
Hugs

craftytrog said...

Some great resist techniques Elizabeth. I love the effects you got with the salt.
Happy Thursday xx

Marfi-topia said...

what a fun experiment.
They all turned out great. Do the bleached parts of the mane have a different texture? Have you ever used Citrus Magic on magazines? I had a bottle and a ton of old National Geographics, but never had time to do it. The effects are supposed to be awesome.
I do think my favorite is the salt and shimmering mists..but then again the petroleum jelly one looks so cool..oh, I can't decide!
Thanks for taking us along on this journey..I'll bring Helena back to look at this post when she wakes up, she really likes this kind of art/science:)

(I would love to be on your side bar!! Thank you!)

kathyinozarks said...

this looks like soooo much fun. I have tried a little resist with dyeing techniques but never had thought about on papers-I loved the one with vasaline allot of character--thanks for the tutorial Kathy

da tabbies o trout towne said...

I think the lions mane looks awesome; thanx for sharing the close up especially !!! da tabbies send ther best to bleu and squiggles along with a happy 2018 for everyone ! ☺☺♥♥

Meggymay said...

These were a great selection of different techniques, its good to read your thoughts on how the experimenting went and the results you achieved. you may not have been happy with some, but to me I think you got some fantastic results.
Yvonne xx

Jeanie said...

As always, a fun, interesting and well-illustrated tutorial! I like these various methods -- they all look interesting, with various degrees of mess and supplies. I've only done one before -- crayon resist (oh, and salt resist). Apart from gelli printing. Very cool. Thanks, Elizabeth!

Marfi-topia said...

Thank you for all the links and info:)
I will definitely let you know when I try some of them! HUGS!!

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

Hi Elizabeth, what fun you've been having. I have to go out now but will pop back later for a better look. Hugs, Angela xXx

Rike said...

It was very interesting to read all about your fascinating experiences! So many tips what works and what not, incredible! Now I have to play with your resist techniques ... I always like to find new ways of making a page.
Wish you a happy weekend! Rike x

Cindy McMath said...

Great experiments Elizabeth. I have used bleach a lot over the years and you are correct - the paper matters. I could use bleach on two different pieces of black cardstock and get different results. I would not have thought that a resist technique, but more of a subtractive technight, but whatever you call it, I thought the results you got on the photo were really amazing, and your lion, although wasn’;t what you expected, turned out well too. I really liked the petroleum jelly results too, although I’m probably not going to rush out and try that giving the messiness factor. Although I actually have a spare table set up on my room that is clean that I was using to dry bingo cards on last weekend. Hmm. You put in.a lot of effort on these tutorials, and I know your readers appreciate it!

Sharon Madson said...

It is very interesting to see the processes you shared. I especially like it because you shared even the ones you weren’t happy with. I never throw a background out! If nothing else, I die cut something out of it. Yay, someone else who reuses the clean up body wipes! Love the lion, and look forward to seeing how you use that one on a future project. Well, off to watch college basketball all day, and craft! Can’t do anything else in this cold! Thanks for sharing!