7. Oil-pastel & Gesso Cuttlebug Backgrounds

This paisley background was done using an gesso oil-pastel background technique adapted to make coloured cuttlebugged backgrounds. Wish I could show you the texture in person. The gesso looks like weathered paint, but the colour still retains some of its intensity. Fun! Click this picture if you'd like a closer look at the texture:

This is the image that made me fall in love with eat cake graphics: Penelope and kitty Percy flying through the air are so fun to colour & they just give me a giggle. Can you see the glitter scales on the fishy? That's my favourite part.

My markers are getting a workout. The watercolour paper I ordered came just in time to try this. My friend Kim gave me just the kick in the butt I needed to try faux-watercolouring with SU markers (check out Maria's wicked video tutorial.) This rocks! I enjoyed the markers for this even more than watercolour pencil crayons. Thanks Maria!

The glitter was doodled on with a Sakura clear glitter pen & I added silver zigpainty details to the fishicopter blades. Her glasses have Crystal Effects on them to make them shiny.

The sentiment was coloured with SU markers & stamped on gesso cardstock so that I could add clear embossing powder. It's punched with SU's key hole punch. The brads are from Queen & co.

Oil-pastel & Gesso Cuttlebug Backgrounds:

Technique Summary

1) Cuttlebug your cardstock
2) Add oil pastels to raised areas
3) Gesso it & let dry
4) Sand off as much of the gesso as you like

Step 1) Run cardstock through Cuttlebug in an embossing folder. (I used Naturals White cardstock here & the Perfect Paisley folder.)



Step 2) Add oil pastels to raised areas. No need to worry about little mussy bits, since the gesso will cover it up. :0)

Step 3) Gesso it & let it dry (you can gently heat-gun it dry (or use a hairdryer) & no worries if it curls; it'll flatten out under a book.

Step 4) Sand off as much of the gesso as you like. I found the pastel smudged a little if I sanded a lot (I was sanding in circles with SU's sanding block & lots of pressure.) I liked the smudginess as part of the look, but you could always touch it up with a paint brush & more gesso.

Markers or other colouring mediums should work wonderfully for this.

If you want more or less colour, you can add layers of pastel/gesso until you're happy. However many times you layer, a good trick seems to be ensuring that the gesso layer & sanding are the last step before you use your new piece. The gesso seems to seal up the messiness of the oil pastel. :0)

Chalk pastels were something I thought might be an alternative for the oil pastels in this technique, but they seem to get washed out by adding gesso on top. You could use acrylic paint maybe. Chalk pastels do work very nicely on top use the gesso (it's great as a base to give them more staying power.) You'll get a much softer look than the oil pastels give. Applying them with a blender pen will make 'em really stick! I'd love to hear what works for you.

Other card details: Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Cool Caribbean, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black. Scallop mat was cut with Nestabilities (Classic Scallop Squares.)

Click to go to the Gesso Index (7 techniques)

Hope you're having an amazing day, :0)



P.S. Wait until you see Marie-Josée's gorgeous card with gesso hearts! She even tested out white acrylic stamping to compare. Lovely! :0)

P.P.S. Like Cuttlebug techniques? (200 ways to Cuttlebug & counting)