Wanderlust 2021 - weeks thirteen to sixteen - Silhouettes

I am so pleased I signed up to Wanderlust this year as it is bringing me a lot of joy.  I am loving using different techniques and media and learning a lot.  Week thirteen was about using a gel plate to manipulate a print and image, adding colour to it to look a bit like an Andy Warhol silk screen print.  The second technique was tracing over the image and then blotting it carefully on another piece of paper, then painting it in. Both of these techniques were new to me, so it was a learning experience.  I think the end result on the right is more Matisse than Andy Warhol though!

Week fourteen was one where I needed to take my time.  We had to choose an image of a tree.  I did look through my photos, but none appealed so I went on a free images site (unsplash) and found the one above.

We created a watercolour background and then added the tree in white gel pen.  It was a very calming activity.

The words were found in a book - I looked in Dickens and a book on forestry, thinking either of them would be perfect, but no luck.  I then looked in a Hammond Innes thriller (The Trojan Horse) and these words just jumped out at me. Serendipity was certainly working for me!

Week fifteen was about alcohol inks on a gel plate, or a brayered background which then had a silhouette placed on top.  I used some die cuts as my silhouettes.  The alcohol ink background is on the left, the brayered one on the right.  The alcohol ink background has a stencilled tree hiding behind the die cut and the  brayered background has stencilling and stamping added to it, with a bit of doodling for good measure.

I enjoyed using the alcohol inks on the gel plate so much, I made a couple more prints.  I should have worn my gloves though, as I manged to get very inky fingers and they are only just clean again (despite copious amounts of hand washing!)

I made myself choose warm colours for week sixteen.  I really enjoyed this class.  We used a baby wipe to apply the background colours, then stencilling and stamping, and added doodling.  Stencils and masks were the focal points.  

Recycling is the theme for the next four weeks.  I'm so looking forward to it!