Altered magazine portrait

Hello, Olga Siedlecka here. I feel more than honoured to be here and I’m so exited to share with you my first project prepared as a Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft® guest designer. I’m a addicted to a joined smell of coffee, cookies and a fresh magazine. I always cherish such moments of relaxation as a sheer pleasure. Moreover, I usually find flicking through fashion pages very inspiring. I also look upon each and every color magazine as if it were first and foremost my source of illustrations and texts to be used afterwards. This time I decided to the mixed media portrait using wonderful Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft® media.

Find an interesting portrait in a fashion magazine and cut the silhouette out. Trim the photo and adhere with Gel Medium to a canvas panel. Paint the photo with a light coat of Gesso using a brush not to cover facial features. Apply a thick coat of Whipped Spackle on the rest of the panel using a palette knife which gives a more dimensional effect. According to Mix&Match concept, both Gesso and Whipped Spackle create a nice surface for other media to follow. Let it dry.

Alter the portrait with PITT® Pastel Pencils. My colours of choice are these from blue/green set. They work perfectly together and don’t produce any dust despite wonderful blending opportunities. Tint the model’s clothes and hair, then trace the silhoutte with contrasting vivid colours. Add shadows and highlights to obtain some depth.

Stand out the photo by tracing it edges with Gelatos® Colors and then smudging them with a finger. Enhance the model’s eyes, lips and cheeks with delicate touches.

Add some details like eyelshes or freckles with the finest nib of PITT® Artist Pens. The bold nib is perfect to ink stamps so feel free to arrange some background stamping.

Add a little bit of vibrant colours and spots by sprinkling the background with mists prepared from watered Gelatos® Colors. Use a stipple brush for creating more speckled effect. Be carful not to overtint the photo. You may also add some embllishments or journaling.

I hope you may feel a bit inspired. Have a nice day!

Supplies:

PITT® Pastel Pencils 1122

PITT® Artist Pens 199

Gelatos® Colors Snow Cone, Acqua Dolce, Watermelon

Gesso, Gel Medium, Whipped Spackle

Pallette knife, Stipple Brush

Comments

[Shilpa]

wow! what a fun idea!

[Debra Hohnhorst]

Hello Olga. Your mixed media model canvas is stunning! Like you, I like to flip through fashion magazines and now I will be looking for great pages to alter as you have this one. Your tutorial is great and I am confident that I can make this project--thank you!
Sending smiles, Deb

[Becky]

This is absolutely wonderful! Modern, yet the photo tinting gives a vintage feel

[nina adams]

I can't even believe that this is possible from just an ordinary mag page. And the look you achieve is so remarkable. Oh no, now you've opened a whole new can of worms into my crafting world with this technique.

[Greta H]

This is just amazing!

[Smokie]

With your coloring she looks, alive, like she's about to step of the page. It reminds me of the old AH-HA video where the black and white pictures start moving. Very cool.

[TracyM #6773]

WOW - your canvas is STUNNING Olga!!!

You have transformed the magazine photo into an AMAZING piece of ART!!! I am fascinated with all the different products you have used together and in AWE of how well they combine to create delightful colours and textures!!!

THANK YOU for sharing your CREATIVE INSPIRATION!!!

[TracyM #6773]

PS - I do have one question - do you need to seal the finished canvas or is it OK to leave it?

[Olga Siedlecka]

Thank you for all sweet comments!
TracyM, you can use a fixative or gel medium to seal it.

[MARIA SOTO]

so glad I found this blog today - I've had an idea to try something like this, now I know how to achieve it!!! thanks for the inspiration and tutorial - great job!!!

[Maureen Hayes]

What a lovely altered page! I love how you used the whipped spackle and gesso to create texture, as well as a base for the other products. Really beautiful job!