ATCs

I am either a lazy artist, or maybe just pressed for time. Or maybe stubborn. It takes me forever to try something new and then I have to crow about it like I invented it. heehee I have to laugh at myself or I will be jeered at by others. haha

So here are my latest ATCs, for another swap I am hosting for Christian Paper Artists. What's so GREAT about them? Well, to insure I actually altered the images, and not just glued a scripture on them and call them "done", I used PAINT (in this case guache- opaque water colors) which not only works like white-out to cover up things (the "angel" had children pictured with her, but no more!), but also can be used to tint the images (like the screaming red coif on the one ATC) and leaves a great workable surface for things like rubber stamping and gluing (unlike acrylics which dries plastic hard). Guache is one of the oldest paints around. The masters used it in a more permanent form by mixing it with egg (egg tempra!) and painted on guessoed wood (church alter paintings). Today I used my ancient (30 year old) box of Pelikan guache, still left from my high school art days. The tube of chinese white paint in the box is still moist! Glad I never threw the paints out, gave them away or sold them. Art supplies are EXPENSIVE! And I am painfully frugal.

So, if you are one of those art types that is afraid of paint, try guache. It goes down opaque, but not permanent so if you make a mistake, just add water and pick it up again, aka "blot". I did not invent the technique of altering photos with paint, in fact I am one of the last to try it! lol Stubborness, laziness or lack of time to experiment. You can call it what you will. But once I try something, I will encourage everyone else to. You will be glad you did! I know I am! Wow! Why didn't I try it sooner?