Vintage Archivist

Some time ago, I started a new project. The idea was to create a masculine / steampunk collage inside a wooden frame. I bought the frame, and started on the background. And then it just laid there on the desk. I had no idea how to continue.

This week some inspiration came. I cut 3 gothic arches from chipboard, and coloured them with Little Black Dress and Chocolate Pudding Fresco paints. I used Antique Linen Distress embossing powder and a swirl stamp to add some texture. The distress powder nicely matches a colour in the background. The man is an image from Google. The images in the left and right arches are from the Paperartsy HP1108 stamp sheet.

Next, I continued with the background. I applied Grunge Paste through the Mini Harlequins stencil. I also tried some rough texturing around the edges, but the peaks are not as high as I wanted. Not enough GP, or not given enough time to dry... As can be seen on the photo, I coloured the Grunge Paste first, with Old Gold. In an effort to create more peaks I added some more GP straight from the jar.

I coloured the area between harlequins with a Eggplant and Baltic Blue. Although it is quite dark, I like it, because it matches with other parts of the background. The harlequins themselves are coloured with Brown Shed, and then highlighted with Treasure Silver. This really makes them stand out!

This is the final piece. The label is made from a piece of metal. The word 'Archivist´ is from the same Paperartsy HP1108 stamp sheet.

Submitted for: Challenged by Alison Bomber on the Paperartsy blog.