Challenging myself to try something new

Well, it's 1st February and that means it's time for a new Clarity challenge;  and this month we're going all flower power.

I wanted to try out my new stash;  some Pebeo Vitrail and Fantasy paints.  I've never used them before, so I watched a couple of YouTube videos before going for it...

I started by cutting a 7" x 7" piece of board and mod podging on some kitchen foil.  This I hoped would reflect the light through the paints and allow them to glow.

Once dry, I dragged grunge paste through the poppy stencil, and set aside to dry.

I used Vitrail lightening medium with the colours to maintain their transluscency and stop them being too dark.  You can see here how I've poured on the Vitrail paint and mixed in some Fantasy Moon.  This contains loads of mica,  and manipulates into some fabulous patterns when it mixes with the Vitrail paint.  Set aside to dry again;  this does take a while with these paints, so you need to be patient.  I worked on this piece over several days;  doing a layer each day. 

To add more definition to the design, I brushed on black acrylic paint making sure to get plenty in the crevices before wiping off the excess with a baby wipe.  Repeat as many times as needed to build up the required depth of shadow.

Now I poured over another layer.

And dry brushed on some gold acrylic to subtly highlight the poppy design.

Now I wanted to add something to ground the poppies.  And you know when you don't listen to that little voice that says maybe you should leave well alone?

Definitely overcooked!  What can I do now?

To start with, I scraped a tiny bit of red ceramic paint onto the poppies to further highlight and define them.

Then some gilding flakes.

There's nothing else for it, but to go for another layer of paint.  Some Fantasy Moon this time to provide some coverage, and some glitter medium to highlight the flowers and stems.

Oooooh,  I think I might have just brought this back from the brink of disaster.

Touch up again with a little ceramic paint and the gilding flakes.  Use double sided adhesive sheets to stick to the mounting board...

And here it is finished in a plain Ribba frame from Ikea. 

Not perfect, but I feel proud of what I achieved for my first play with these products.  I'll definitely be trying them out again.

Looking forward to seeing your take on this month's theme.  Good luck!

Till next time.  Xxx