Nebula Grunge!

Yesterday I posted about a happy accident while trying to make something for a journal cover. Today I decide to experiment and see what I could come up with intentionally. Here are some finished backgrounds. In subsequent posts, I will explain how and what I did.

The basic technique and order is: paint chipboard with white acrylic and let dry. Spray with mists/colors of your choice. While these are still wet (immediately), lightly overspray with a darker colored spray. Dry with a heat gun ( I use a Marvy), moving the gun quickly and with short strokes over the surface until dry.

My theory is that by using acrylic paint (instead of the gesso I would--and do--normally grab when working with Color Mists), the paint "resists" the sprays and beads up when dryed--thus creating this distressed and starry look. The colors peek out from behind the darker color. In real life, these have a subtle sheen where pearlescent colors were used, and you can see the brush strokes in the paint (which adds to the grungy appeal).

My family kept saying these pieces look like galaxies and nebulas, and I kept loving how grungy they were, so folks, I offer you "Nebula Grunge," which I think is my own discovery. I've had A LOT of fun with this.

From the top down:

-Bright Colormists on chipboard box.
-Bright Color Mist Sprays with Tungsten Carbide (black) overspray;
-Halloween Color Mists with Emerald Green overspray
-Starburst Stains with Cobalt Sky overspray;

And one not to do: the bottom one is Adirondack Color mists in Butterscotch, Terra Cotta and Cranberry, oversprayed with Espresso. I tried a few other colors and these sprays just do not work with this technique. (I love these sprays for fabric (silk scarves) but I rarely use them for paper projects.)