Dirty Painting

Hello Everyone!

Today I will be teaching you some dirty painting!  I wanted to make a card that had a vintage feel to it and dirty painting is a great way to achieve that look.

The supplies I used:

• Altenew "Just Because" stamp set
• Sentiment stamp
• Distress Inks:  Ground Espresso, Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn, Bundled Sage, Crushed Olive, Blueprint Sketch, Worn Lipstick, Mustard Seed and Vintage Photo
• Paintbrush - I used a #4
• Hot Press Watercolor Paper - I used a 5 x 7 piece and cut it to size after the painting
• Versafine Onyx Black Ink
• Stamp Positioner
• Glue
• A2 size Kraft card base
• Nuvo Crystal Drops in Copper Penny
• Foam blending tool
• Double-sided tape

I used my stamp positioner tool to stamp the image onto the watercolor paper.  Although hot press watercolor paper has quite a smooth surface, it is thicker and more absorbant than other types of paper and I find I have to stamp twice to get a good impression.  I placed my image in the lower right corner of the panel.

To begin with I wanted to make a shadow around the whole image.  This makes the image pop and lends itself to the Vintage feel I was going for.  I used the Ground Espresso for this.  This particular shade of brown is made up of purple and yellow inks.  If you look closely at the photo, when it's watered down, these 2 colors become more evident.

I had more success when I dampened the paper first before bringing the watered down ink to the paper.  I kept working at it and although at this stage it appears to be rather blotchy, it does even out considerably with other layers of color.

I then started painting the leaves...and this is where it starts getting dirty.  I chose one color green for each type of leaf and there are around 4.  I smooshed ink onto my acrylic block, watered it down and then added some watered down Ground Espresso.  This is what makes the color dirty.  The Ground Espresso tones down the colors and gives them a Vintage feel.  I added more brown to the Crushed Olive than I did the Bundled Sage.  On a few colors I added a plain layer of the Ground Espresso after the first coat of color was dry, just to tone it down even more.

Mixing the Ground Espresso with each color I used, I painted the berries with Blueprint Sketch and  the flowers with Worn Lipstick, varying the intensity of the color - lighter towards the tips of the petals and darker towards the base.  I used the Mustard Seed in the middle of the flowers.  I then cut my panel down to 5.25 x 4.

I used my foam blending tool and went all around the edges with Vintage Photo.  I was really quite liberal with this especially in the lower right corner.  This blended out the Ground Espresso I had painted around the image and deepened it to make a smoother transition.

The sentiment was stamped next, once again in the stamp positioner so I could stamp more than once. I added Nuvo Crystal Drops in Copper Penny because it needed a little something, but not a glitzy something.  I then mounted the panel, flat with double sided tape, and my card was done!

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial on dirty painting and will give it a try.

I'll be back with another card tutorial soon!  Until then,

Happy Papercrafting and remember...it's only paper!

Betsy