[A link party about art issues hosted by
Nicole of DVArtist, Art, Food and Everyday Things]
Last week I attended a half-day workshop
on creating multimedia art
featuring iridescent dragonflies.
We made two bookmarks and a small painting.
It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot
about art supplies which were new to me.
My pieces were sufficiently okay for a first effort,
so I'm happy enough with the results.
The background spatter was done by wetting the paper,
applying a light sprinkle of powdered watercolour paint
[Colourcraft Brusho Crystal Colours],
and then blotting it with a paper towel.
Next, we did some stencilling of botanical imagery
using acrylic gel paint [Artist's Loft Color Shift Acrylic Paint].
Gel paint is better than regular paint for stencilling,
because it does not "bleed under" the stencil's cutout design.
The final step was drawing stylized dragonflies and outlining them
with permanent (non-water-soluble) ink. Then we painted
the wings using two or three shades of special iridescent acrylic paint
[ARTME 20 Colors Iridescent Acrylic Paint].
Unfortunately, photos don't really do the iridescent paint justice --
you have to see the art in person so you can
wiggle it back and forth a bit in order to get
the full shimmery, light-reflecting colour effects.
So there's not much point, really, in using iridescent paint on
static artwork which will simply be framed and hung on the wall.
Iridescent paint is best, it seems to me, for small, hand-held
artworks such as bookmarks, tags or cards.
[Art and photos of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2026]
35 comments:
Sufficiently OK??? These are beautiful!
I think the results are stunning. I am a great fan of creative bookmarks which are sometimes little works of art and enhance the whole experience of reading.
Gorgeous! And I love that you share all the work and techniques that go into them!
Gorgeous tags
Happy Sunday
My link party today is
HERE
Much love
We had a painting in one of the gallery shows earlier this year, done in the iridescent or color shifting paint. I should try that.
I alway think that dragonflies have an Asian fell to them.
I like these a lot and I bet it was a fun class. Nice job Debra. And I didn't know about gel paint. Now I need to see if I can find some because I always use regular paint that bleeds under the stencil.
@ My name is Erika -- The brand of gel paint I referenced in the post is available at Michaels and is very reasonably priced.
PS back from me: Thanks for the paint info. I am going to look for it next time I am in Michaels. And thanks for the info about Monkman too. He was definitely not cartoonish and some of the other art I saw online (of his) was also very interesting. I like how he tells stories you can actually follow, as sad as they are.
Beautiful!-Christine cmlk79.blogspot.com
I've heard of brushos, but not the color shift acrylic. These are actually stunning. I can see using them in altered books that can be handled, too. ANYTHING iridescent is difficult to photo graph. You did a great job. Happy SITAR.
These are lovely! I would never imagine that was a first go at it.
Really well done👍 ; I like everyone 🥰
Beautiful, Debra.
Oh, how fun! I love those.
You are so creative. I love that you keep trying new techniques and expressions.
I've worked w/ iridescents, so I can imagine how beautiful these are ~ ya done great, girl!!
bobbie
Beautiful!
Really? Sufficiently okay. These are stunning!!!!! I am very impressed with how you created the dragonflies. I'm thrilled to see these today and that you shared them with SITAR.
Love the way these break the frame, like looking through windows. Well done.
Hello Debra, These are beautiful, and even without the iridescence visible on screen, the interplay of the colors on the wings is remarkable. And you learned a new technique, and how it will best show off to advantage.
--Jim
Debra, these are absolutely gorgeous!!! You have tremendous talent, dear friend!
Tout simplement magnifique,
quel talent artistique :-)
Monsieur Dupuis 🇨🇦
Lovely book marks
The combination of stencilling and freehand dragonflies is very nice! Too bad the iridescence is hard to photograph.
lovely ! 💕
I'd say your pieces are much better than okay, Debra. They're gorgeous.
Love,
Janie
Would these also work for pieces that would be hung in windows to catch the light? They are beautiful, no one would know these are your first attempts if you didn't say so.
These look gorgeous, Debra! I love the overlapping of imagery. I have not tried the brushos - they are hard to get over here.
@ River -- I hadn't thought of that use. I don't know whether iridescent paint might work for a window light-catcher piece -- interesting idea!
They look really great to me. And what a fun little workshop.
I love those dragonflies!
Those are lovely. When is the giveaway???
These are beautiful, Debra! Three different techniques in one piece - three times the fun. I love that your dragonflies actually resemble the insects that they are. So many times they are depicted without their legs or segmented bodies. I agree with M. Gascoigne, a creative bookmark enhances one's reading pleasure!
dear Debra you keep surprising me with your awesome skills and art 🤗
these dragonflies are mesmerising 👍you did amazing job with art supplies and new jell paint to create this beauty that makes heart and eyes delightful at once :)❤️ hats off to you once again as neatness and brilliance in your works inspires me always my friend !
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