Homemade Paste Papers

I created these four papers with Lumiere light body metallic acrylic on black Artagain paper

Although I've been studying my Quiller color wheel and painting every day, nothing worth posting has been produced. To say I'm frustrated would be putting it mildly but I will persevere. In the meantime I've ordered a small set of tube acrylics which were on sale(!) but haven't arrived yet. I'm using that as an excuse to purposely sidetrack myself.

A good friend of mine was downsizing her library of art instruction books and sent me a book written by Susan Pickering Rothamel. It's titled The Art of Paper Collage . Yes, collage...another art form that has sent me screaming. Today I needed a break from landscapes so I tried Rothamel's idea of creating homemade paste papers, those decorative and very seductive papers(I know you've seen them in catalogs and drooled)that can be so pricey if purchased ready made. She suggested putting down a layer of acrylic medium or other gloss adhesive on paper to stop absorption. Let dry, then go over the surface with acrylics or dry pigment mixed with gloss medium. Before the paint dries add texture with stamps, combs or other tools. Another layer of medium can be applied and various embellishments can be included as well. One is only limited by their imagination and wealth of supplies.

Note: I follow Elizabeth Nelson (Paper Paintings Collage Artwork) on Facebook. She mentioned the wisdom of making your own decorative papers. Not all ready made and exotic papers are acid free or lightfast. Creating your own papers guarantees they are archival and also provides endless color and design choices.