Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Splatters and flower frogs

Sometimes the conventional wisdom doesn't work.

A few of the conventional ways to get paint splatters on artwork are:
  1. Use a toothbrush or stiff bristle brush and pull your finger across the bristles. Bristles up or down... your choice. 
  2. Dip a small paintbrush in paint. Hold the brush a few inches above the surface to be splattered - parallel to that surface - and and tap the handle against a pencil or the finger of your other hand.
  3. Dip a straw into your paint and then blow through the straw. 
The nice thing about splatters are that they are unpredictable. The bad thing about splatters is that they are unpredictable.

If you are trying to make them happen in close proximity to text ... yikes. Unpredictable is not good. So what's a person to do? Improvise...

Meet my perfect supposed-to-look-like-snowflakes-among-the-tree-branches tool.
 


An old, rusty, and obviously much used flower frog. No doubt this is the first time that it has been used for paint, but  now that I know what can be accomplished ... it won't be the last time! It produced everything I needed - controlled splatter, texture, speed!
 

I am looking at my collection with fresh eyes. I wonder... ?

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1