Thursday, September 5, 2013

Blog Hop: Pam Carriker's New Stamp Line

I am thrilled to be supporting my friend Pam Carriker by participating in this blog hop, the first ever hosted by Stampington & Company. Not only is Pam an outstanding artist, she is also the mastermind behind an ever-increasing line of art supplies. Today we are celebrating the release of her new cling mount stamp line, a collection that includes 23 stamps that range from grungy background to perfect portrait.


Pam herself kicked off this blog hop last week with her own step-by-step tutorial in this post on Somerset Place, Stampington & Company's blog. This week is my turn. But you are going to want to follow along in the coming weeks to see how Pam's stamps are used by Jen Cushman, Mary Beth Shaw, Dina Wakley, Traci Bautista, and Christen Olivarez, Stampington's Director of Publishing.

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Now onto the art...

I started with a piece of watercolor paper and created my background by adding layers of acrylic paint, acrylic glazes, and gesso. The layers were added in no particular order and continued until I felt that the painted background was complete. Today it took 9 layers and you can see the step-by-step process below.










Done. I was happy with how the piece looked so far and decided it was time for stamps. I started with Sketched Background and a black ink pad.


This is the perfect stamp for me as I knew I could use it to add both random marks on the surface as well as more deliberate marks around the edge of the piece. I always feel that "framing out" an artwork makes it look more complete. For that reason I also rubbed a black stamp pad around the edges of the paper as well. 


It is hard to see the stamping online with such a dark background but you can see it more clearly in this close-up detail.


I moved on to Pam's Columns of Dots stamp.


I love the grungy and random way the dots were created. This time I stamped using both a black ink pad and a metallic gold ink pad.


You can see in this close up detail that I also used a white gel pen to randomly add curved marks around some of the stamped circles. 


I went into my stash of alphabet stamps and found a set that had the perfect font and size for this piece. I used a black ink pad to stamp the words "take flight" and outlined the letters with a white gel pen to make them stand out from the dark background. I also drew a scratchy rectangle around the word "flight" using black, white and gold pens.


For my next step, I painted another piece of watercolor paper using the same process I described above. I used a bit of a different color palette and added metallic gold acrylic paint as my top layer.


I saved the best for last: Pam's I Will Soar wing stamps.


I stamped them onto the painted paper using a black ink pad. Once stamped, I cut out the wings using the edges of the stamped wings as a guide. I actually often think of wings as being one of those images that has been a bit overused in mixed media art. But I couldn't resist using Pam's wings. There is something very special about their design!


I added the wings to the piece, inserting small squares of book board between the substrate and the wings so that the wings were lifted off the piece, adding dimension and echoing the title of the artwork "Taking Flight."


Thanks Pam. These stamps are going to get a lot of use!

38 comments:

elle said...

As usual all the detail and layers is enlightening and inspiring. I particularly like the depth and then the white outlining. Thanks, Seth.

Kathryn Dyche said...

Love how you added the wings to this piece, giving it dimension.

MB Shaw said...

Nicely done. I enjoyed seeing your process.

Anonymous said...

Way cool! Makes me want to put my apps down and go old school again! Well done Mr. Seth ...well done indeed!!

Pam Carriker said...

Absolutely love how you used my stamps, making them 'your own' with the art you created! Thanks friend for joining in the blog hop:-)

Unknown said...

Such wonderful layers! Doing the wings in relief was aa fabulous idea! Love it!

Janet Joehlin said...

This is great Seth. I love seeing the step out process for your background.Thanks!

Tammie Lee said...

this turned out wonderful Seth. very cool that you cut out the stamps. I enjoyed seeing all the steps you took to create this. Thank you for sharing.

JLeigh Designs said...

What a great piece - I am loving these stamps and how simple and versatile they are. Like the perfect LBD, you can dress them up or down.
Question: When you create your backgrounds, do you let each layer dry first or do you keep painting while it's wet?

Lura said...

i just love you seth, you always come thru with something way awesome. i like that you showed the whole process. you are one super duper cool artist. xoxo i am the donation coordinator for charity wings so you know how much i love, love the wings and you sure did justice to them. xoxo

Lura said...

oh wow seth, you never fail to amaze me with your art. you did a super great piece and so glad you showed us how to try and reproduce it. maybe if i had a baby fingers worth of your talent i could. i am the donation coordinator for charity wings so you know i loved that you used the wings. xoxox

john said...

I love the step-by-step process that you provided. It makes me feel like I am back on Whidbey Island with you. Nice memory that lives on......

Kim Hyer said...

Thanks Seth, I loved the mini tutorial.... It is nice to see different artist's use the same products. It's even better when the products are awesome, like Pam's.

Peggy said...

Love your layering and use of wings. Looks like your art and not Pam's

Leslie said...

Nice, Seth! Great to see your process too.

Renee said...

I felt like a fly on the wall watching your process! Thanks for sharing, it looks awesome. I agree that wings have been a bit overused but these are so special, I love what you did with them. Very cool as usual.

layers said...

It is wonderful to see the beginning and the steps to the end piece come together... and the wings give it such meaning.

Darlene K Campbell said...

Okay Seth, I'm off work today and you've definately talked me into putting my to do list aside and putting layers of color on paper instead. Especially like how you cut out the wings.

Create Beauty with Laurajo said...

It's amazing to see how 2 people can use very the same or very similar product and turn out something drastically different. Love how you used all of Pam Carrikers' stamps, especially those wings, Gorgeous!

bellefrogworks said...

Great job Seth - you put a lot of work into that-bet you had fun!

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Those wings really ARE different. Very nicely done.

Parabolic Muse said...

Holy Moly!! I didn't know about Pam's stamps, but YOU gave them great honor in the way you used them!
Love it.

Jackie said...

Seth, love how you post each step of your process. Your use of the wings by cutting them really gave your piece a nice dimensional look- Great!

APG Jamie said...

Pretty Nifty

froebelsternchen said...

beautiful Seth!

Lura said...

seth you are such a favorite of mine and you know i love wings, volunteering for charity wings, we are all about wings. love your art hun. xox

Unknown said...

Love these stencils....would love to add any one of the three to my collection.

Gillian Pearce said...

I love the scratchy background you created for the stamps. Wondering how you did that.

HawaiianLibrarian said...

mahalo for sharing your layering technique for both the background piece and the wings

Unknown said...

As usual your art awakens me! I also LOVE Pam's wing stamps - they are special!

Unknown said...

Miss Molly - Australia

I have used a similar process with the corrugated cardboard as a stencil but didn't KEEP IT!
Thanks for the inspiration Seth :)

Unknown said...

I love the use of the corrugated cardboard.
I have used a similar process to print from :)

Candice Thomas said...

I always enjoy seeing what you have done. Your colors and composition inspire me.

Diana said...

i loved viewing the progress of the stamp background.

sally.wilson said...

Seth, i loved this piece of art. Pam's stamps are great, but i also appreciated seeing how you achieved the wonderful background effect. thanks.

Dee Spillane said...

Beautiful, love the depth of color and texture in the background. The final result is so extrodinary.

shazza said...

Awesome. Loved seeing how you got to the final art work & really love these stamps. The wings rock, so do the dots & the lines for texture effects. Just have to have this set.

Erika said...

Wonderful art work! It is a great inspiration. Thank you for sharing!
Greetings from
Erika