Monday 4 July 2016

Pen and ink over gesso

I had this idea that I wanted to do some pen and ink drawings over gesso and decided to revisit the dandelions and seed head drawings I did earlier in the year - (here) and this is what I came up with.


I took a Tando Creative media board and scraped gesso over it with a palette knife and let it dry - I did help it along a little bit with a heat gun 'cos when I when I get an idea I want to get going on it - impatient me????? I then took a thin sharpie pen and set about drawing, I was really pleased how well the sharpie drew over the textured surface.


I took a small text stamp and black archival and stamped over the bottom of the image and even added a little of my own writing to help out the balance of it.


Now came the test - will it cope with water being spritzed all over it? Yay, yep it was absolutely fine and having mixed my own custom colours of DecoArt media paint I just dripped them into the water and they spread around beautifully. In some cases I spritzed a little more and dabbed away with a dry paper towel as well.

I wanted the edges to be vintaged and create a frame around the board so I sanded all round and then blended ground espresso distress ink along all four sides. I flicked on a little water to distress it more before heat drying. 


I finished by painting the stems very lightly and dried it off. When full dry I sprayed with Americana gloss spray.

The frame is one from Ikea which has deep sides and for some reason (I don't know why!!!!) I decided to turn it back to front to add the media board so it sits in the recess with the glass over it and the little metal retainers are on show. You know what I really quite like it.


I think I might try some more and make a set of them.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great week and wishing all my American friends a great 4th of July.

hugs Brenda xxx

26 comments:

Helen said...

This is really beautiful, Brenda!

Jane said...

Your pen and ink drawing is so beautiful Brenda and your have made the most delightful piece with it. The frame works perfectly. So glad it took the water....that must have been a slightly nervous moment..lol. Enjoy the week ahead it looks as though your weekend was great fun. Hugs xxx

Jane said...

Your pen and ink drawing is so beautiful Brenda and your have made the most delightful piece with it. The frame works perfectly. So glad it took the water....that must have been a slightly nervous moment..lol. Enjoy the week ahead it looks as though your weekend was great fun. Hugs xxx

Monika Gulyas said...

Wow, this is absolutely fabulous! You should make more projects with your beautiful drawings! I love it! xxx

A Pink said...

Fabulous! Brenda Terrific pen and ink drawing complemented with all those fab inky touches.
I'm with you on the metal retainers showing, absolutely .
This really is a beautiful piece of art.
Inspiring .
Hope you have had a fab weekend
hugs x

hazel said...

I love pen and ink drawings and yours is wonderful Brenda, I love the shabbiness of it and touches of colour.
xxx Hazel.

Annie said...

looks like you had lots of fun here Brenda xx Love the details of your drawing and the stunning colours in the background. The stamping just gives more dimension too..........TFS and best wishes
Annie xx

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

Gorgeous Brenda, you have been really busy but nearly caught up with you now Lol! Have a great crafty week, Angela x

Patty O'Malley said...

This looks wonderful, Brenda! Love the pen and ink drawing.

Corrie Herriman said...

This is gorgeous Brenda and what a good idea to turn the frame around ! Fantastic !
Corrie x

rachel said...

Wonderful drawing brenda .. so glad your experiment worked. Brilliant x

Redanne said...

I don't really like it Brenda.... I absolutely love it! What a fantastic pen and ink drawing and I just love the little words at the bottom. Those touches of paint in the background are perfect. Just stunning!! Hugs, Anne xx

Meggymay said...

A beautiful project Brenda and it does look good the way you displayed it in the frame.
Yvonne xx

Clare Lloyd said...

Gorgeous project

Juliz Design Post said...

Wow Brenda wonderful project.
Julie x

froebelsternchen said...

This is simply AMAZING - I am looking forward to see more ... gorgeous!
oxo Susi

craftytrog said...

It's lovely Brenda! xx

Gina said...

oooooooowwwww.....yummy! will definitely be using pen on gesso :D XXX

sarascloset said...

Fabulous pen and ink drawing, Brenda! Love how you've framed this in the frame backward. The frame and prongs really add some great contemporary contrast to this otherwise delightfully vintage design! Bravo on this! LOVE it! Hugs!

Mrs.B said...

A fabulous project Brenda and I do like the way it's displayed.
Avril xx

SewPaperPaint said...

This is really beautiful, you should definitely draw more and come up with a cool line of stamps for us! ;0

sally said...

Oh yes, really do like this one Brenda! I'm trying to do some blog-comment catching up this morning before I get in a tizz packing the bags & car ready for our trip to Northumberland/France .... Will visit & comment as & when I can...

Sally x

Barbara said...

Really wonderful Brenda! I love the simplicity and the design of this work!!! Barbara

pearshapedcrafting said...

So beautiful! Chrisx

TangledBlueRose said...

Fabulous! Really love it and love dandelions!~kim

experiments in paper said...

Wow!! Would that I could sketch like that!! Beautiful image on top of wonderful mixed media - always love your posts, as I learn and get inspired!! xxx Lynn