Gelli Arts® and Liquitex® – Wooden Houses by Kirsten Varga

I am excited about this project I did for the collaboration between
Gelli Arts® and Liquitex®. It is a sculptural work titled “an Ode to
HOME”.

Read to the end of the blog to enter for a chance to win a prize from Liquitex® + Gelli Arts®! Plus- we have a coupon code for everyone for 20% off http://www.gelliarts.com

Giveaway + coupon code valid until 12/20/2019 11:59PM ET.

I made a short video of my process, enjoy!

Here
are a few additional notes about prepping the wood for my project.

The
wooden houses were cut from 1×2, 1×3 and 1×4 lengths of wood. The wood from the
home improvement store comes in 6 and 8 ft lengths. (Sometimes they will cut
them down to manageable lengths for you if needed. Just ask!) I was able to
take them home as-is and with my husband’s miter saw, I cut them into houses of
various sizes. (My patient husband helped me so much with this. Thanks
sweetie!) I only used 7 from the PILE of houses I had leftover from all that
cutting. 

 

 

After
a light sanding to the edges of the houses, they were ready to be sealed.
This step is important for the longevity of the artwork I create on the wood.
All the water-based materials applied to the surface can react with the
naturally occurring acids in the wood and help them rise to the surface. Not
good- so you want to seal the wood with a size. Size is basically a thin
solution (like a weak glue) that is applied directly to the surface of the
wood. I used Golden GAC 100. Usually, one or two coats and a day or two of
curing is all it takes to make sure your artwork lasts!

The
next layer can be paint or gesso. I only applied gesso to a few because I
wanted to see if there was a big difference in the end look. I can tell you
that the look didn’t make a big difference to me but I liked the way the
gessoed surface printed better.

Materials:

– 1×2, 1×3, 1×4 pieces of wood from home improvement store that I cut down into various house shapes with a miter saw.

– Clear sizing to seal the wood (I used Golden GAC 100)

– Liquitex® Gesso

– Liquitex® Basics Acrylic Paint

– Gelli Arts® 6×6″ printing plate + brayer

– Gelli Arts® texture tools

– Sakura® Pen-Touch Paint Pens

– Uni-Posca Paint Pens

– Clear
Glossy Sealer (I used Rustoleum Gloss Clear)- I went with a spray sealer because
I used water-based paint markers and if I brushed on a sealant I knew I ran the
risk of the paint smearing. Make sure to apply in light thin layers. I
accidentally got heavy-handed on a few (in my excitement) that it made some of
the paint bubble (oops!). As it dried, it settled down but next time I will
reign it in. 🙂

Happy Creating!

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