Saturday, January 5, 2019

Advanced Texture

Scoring
  
Scoring is a means of impressing tiny details. I like to print those details on tracing paper. This is my favorite tracing paper because it comes in printer size sheets and it prints beautifully. Tape the printed tracing paper onto the art paper and trace over the lines with a dotting tool. Color as usual. The scored lines will show through the coloring.

Rubbing
   
Use a pumice stone with a sculpting thumb for impressing texture into the paper.

A Pedi-Bean has a pumice stone, sandpaper and a rasp. That gave me an idea. I tried a foot rasp, nutmeg grater and citrus grater; they were too small to leave a noticeable texture.
  
Draw a shape and place the paper wrong side up on the object. I learned that the edge of the thumb tool works better than the smooth part and I had to press hard to get a good impression. 
 
I also learned that the impression shows up better if it's done after coloring. The photo on the left is a closeup. The middle photo was taken at arms length. The photo on the right was taken from a distance of about two feet. I used the foot rasp for this one and I don't see how the impression makes any difference. Perhaps a larger grater would work better.
A cheese grater can be used to create different sizes of the same texture.

Use sandpaper for creating sand and stone textures. Medium (120-80) to extra coarse (35-20) grit works best.
 
Mesh can be used for lace or fabric textures. Metal screen comes in different sizes and patterns.
 
Shop files can create metal textures. They also come in different sizes and grits.

Try using rough wood to impress a grain texture. Four different wood cuts result in different grain patterns. These are: Plain, Quarter, Rift and Line. Get rough sawn 4x4x1/2" boards in each of the cuts. 
 
A wood identification set and bark samples are valuable also.

It's a good idea to catalog all of your impressions with what you used to make them and the paper they work best on.

Embossing

I didn't have any success with the rubbing method. In my experience, the rubbing destroyed the tooth of the paper. Whatever you use needs to have a raised pattern to make a good impression and it has to be pressed, not rubbed. Embossing folders are a better option, though they're more expensive. Scrapbook.com has a good selection.
  
Dots for citrus or avocado.
 
Clouds and Wind
    
Snow, Rain and Water
   
Fire, Fireworks, Lightning and Stars
   
Trees
 
Tree Bark
  
Wood grain
   
Pine Needles
   
Leaves: Camo on the right end found here.
  
Floral
  
Stone and Brick
  
Metal Plate
  
Textile

Spritz the paper lightly with water before embossing and let it dry in the folder.

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