Technique Tuesday - Paint with Lucy Edson

It is with great pleasure that I post brand new AMM Designer Lucy Edson's first Technique Tuesday!

Paint is one of my favorite accents for a project. Gesso is what I seem to reach for first – not just a primer for canvases any more, it is widely used in the mixed media world for antiquing, glazing or adding texture and I love to use it as paint on a scrapbook layout.

In my layout ‘My Chick’ I painted gesso under the photo to act as a photo mat – with a busy pattern like this Prima paper it is easy to lose the focal point of your photo unless you make it really stand out. After painting it on, I wiped a little away to soften the look and let some of the background show through.
Another way to use Gesso is to splatter it now, I like a grungy messy look sometimes and this is a great way to achieve that. Note the splatter beside the photo mat and at the top. I just dip my brush and then give it a flick – watch out for oversplatter. *wink*

I also like to use paint to act as journaling lines or under a title to make it stand out. I painted free form scallops along the left edge of my page to journal on. Just load a flat brush with a small amount of paint and do a series of small curves – you can sketch it in first with a pencil if you are nervous. After it was dry I also did some outlining with a black pen.I also used a little more gesso to drag some light lines under the title and on the edges to accent the distressing.

And here is the end result:
You certainly can use any paint you have on hand in a similar way – black paint makes a strong accent – I use mostly acrylic because it is fast drying and with a thin coat doesn’t warp your paper. I would love to see your ideas and project using paint on your layouts – link them up here or show them to us in the gallery! Just have fun and experiment! See you soon!

Lucy