DURA-LAR PAPER IS AN ACETATE ALTERNATIVE. It comes in either a matte or clear film and can be used with both wet and dry media. Using similar techniques featured in the painted papers and printing section, your goal is to create grids and patterns using a brayer and stamps. As you layer colors and roll paint over existing shapes, patterns and grids should emerge in a very short time. This paper is also a great surface to scratch into, so dive in and make marks as you put your own unique stamp into the surface.
Assorted soft and fluid acrylic paints
Brayer
Deli paper
Dura-Lar matte wet media sheets
Neocolor II crayons
Old pen for scraping paint
Stamps or stencils
Textured foam sheets
Add swatches of paint onto the Dura-Lar surface with a brayer. Roll your brayer into your chosen paint to load it with color, then gently roll it on a textured foam sheet for one rotation to imprint the pattern onto the brayer. Use just enough paint to pick up texture but no so much that it squishes all over the pattern.
Roll the brayer onto the Dura-Lar surface to reveal the marks from the foam. Continue working the brayer until the paint is released. You may want to add another color for variety.
Work around the piece rolling on paint in multiple areas. Change the direction you roll or the size of the paint streak. Roll with the edge of the brayer or with it at an angle. Play with shapes and sizes as you roll the brayer. The colors you choose will change the overall look as you continue to build the composition.
Add a wide opaque layer in a contrasting color. Pull up the wet paint with the back of an old pen by making circular motions.
Print with the foam textured block directly onto your surface. Stick to a limited color palette to ensure you don’t make mud with the layering of wet paint.
While the paint is still wet, try placing a piece of deli paper over certain areas and scratching the back of the paper to mar your surface.
Gently lift the deli paper to reveal a unique design made from the scratch marks.
Continue to play with line work by adding scribbles, patterns or shapes with a Neocolor II crayon. Add stamps or other stencils to complement your work.
You can repeat all of these steps as often as you like. The key is to limit your palette so that you create a sense of balance and a sense of unity by repeating similar patterns and shapes throughout your work. Be fearless and experimental in how you create textural marks in your work!