Koi & Calm with Sandy McTier

Hi Y'all!

Don’t you just love it when a product YELLS at you and tells you what it wants you to make with it?? When I saw the Southern Ridge Trading Company Intersecting Circles, I immediately thought, “Koi Swimming in Water!” Ta-da! I love how the stencil design gives the water movement without being the typical pattern of water lines per se.

My palette inspiration came from the idea I “heard” loud and clear from the stencil... blues, oranges and white. The prep was done with DecoArt Americana acrylic and then I used DecoArt Media products for the rest. I love the transparency of the Media Fluid Acrylics and the look that can be achieved when the colours are layered. 

Surface: I picked this surface (AdornIt) up at the Creative Painting Convention in Las Vegas  last month and thought the shape was perfect for the design. I sealed the surface, let it dry and gave it a light sanding.

I painted the surface with Titanium White, let it dry and then stenciled the SRTC Intersecting Circles on using a stencil brush and Cobalt Turquoise Hue. It was just shy of covering the entire surface so I had to move the stencil over just a bit and finish stenciling the right side. The colour was a bit too much, and I wanted to push the colour down a bit, so I gave it a wash of gesso. I brushed the watery gesso over the entire surface and then wiped it off with a paper towel.  

I sketched out my design and then base coated the koi in with gesso. This gives you a great base to start from and takes away the stenciled design/colour on the area you are trying to paint. I ended up applying two layers of gesso, letting it dry in between each layer. Next, I painted the koi with Titan Buff and then started sketching out the areas of colour with my paint brush loaded with Vermillion, Quinacridone Magenta and Quinacridone Gold. I added some Titan Buff and Titanium White spots here and there and dry brushed on some darker spots with Paynes Gray. Using a Wave brush by Dynasty made painting fins so easy! I finished the koi by painting on the eyes, adding some shading with Quinacridone Gold and Raw Umber and finally, adding some highlights with Titan Buff and Titanium White.

I wanted to add a word and some swirls of water over the koi but was afraid I would mess up my design. So, I painted on a thin layer of Matte Medium and let it dry. This adds a protective layer so that you can remove something that you might not like or are 100% pleased with.  I added some bubbles using a stencil and then added swirls with a stencil brush loaded with Translucent White and Cobalt Turquoise Hue. Next, I stenciled on the word ‘CALM’ with Paynes Gray and then slightly moved it to the right and re-stenciled it again with Cobalt Turquoise Hue and a touch of Titanium White. I love this easy way to give the letters a shadow. I painted a few highlights of Titanium White on the letters which helped lighten them up a bit too. Then I added some splatters of Cobalt Turquoise Hue and Titanium White here and there. After everything dried, I used my index finger loaded with a touch of Paynes Gray to darken up the edge of the surface just a bit. Once everything was dry, I sealed the project with DecoArt Soft Touch Varnish.  The pattern packet will be available on my website soon, so make sure to get that stencil ordered from www.chipboard.ca. I would also recommend getting the smaller one while you’re at it – it’s equally as awesome!

I hope this inspires you to listen to any products that puts a creative design or layout in your mind - then run with it!!J  

Southern Ridge Trading Company Supplies Used:

- Intersecting Circles Stencil: 12x12 (Large)

Other Supplies Used:

- Surface: Plaque from AdornIt
- DecoArt Americana Acrylics
- DecoArt Americana Multi: Purpose Sealer
- DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics
- DecoArt Media Matte Medium
- DecoArt Gesso: White
- DecoArt Media Soft: Touch Varnish
- Dynasty Brushes
(Available from TheBrushGuys.com - use promo code: sandymc for an additional discount)

Website: www.sandymctierdesigns.com
FB: www.Facebook.com/SandyMcTierDesigns

©2017 Koi & Calm, Sandy McTier Designs - all rights reserved

Y'all have a GREAT day and Happy Creating!!
- Sandy