Animal Farm Housing

Did you ever wonder about the housing in Animal Farm?  No? Me, neither.

But for some reason, when I saw this strip of farm animal stamps from Viva Las VegaStamps! I thought of Animal Farm, and how their houses might look as designed and lived in by animals.  I know--my brain is a wild and woolly place, lol!

Supplies:

VLVS! Images Used--

Farm Animals 1 1/2" Cube Item CB31 Plate 1055

Sakura of America Pigma Micron pen

1 sheet 180 g Garza Papel engraving paper
StazOn Jet Black Inkpad
Strathmore Vellum Envelope Scrap
Gelli Plate
Acrylic Paint-yellow, pink, white
Golden Light Modeling Paste
Miracle Tape
stylus

A while back I used a gelli plate to print on some Strathmore Vellum Envelopes. I wanted to try a parchment effect with the vellum, so I had printed on them with white acrylic, and splashed a bit of yellow and pink here and there for a very light mottled effect.

Although, there are four images here, they all come on one rubber strip, which I stamped on a scrap of the envelope.  I know from past experience that StazOn Jet Black, blends well with the black ink from a Pigma Micron pen, so that is what I used.

I cut each image out, turned it over, and used a stylus to dry emboss each animal into relief.  This particular vellum isn't the best for a parchment effect.  It doesn't turn white, or hold the relief very well, but it did well enough.  

After embossing, I filled the back of the relief images with light modeling paste so they wouldn't totally flatten out.  I used the light paste so that I wouldn't add a lot of weight to the drawing.

With a .03 tipped, Pigma Micron pen, I traced the outline of each image, where I wanted it to fall on the finished piece, and then started drawing.  I had a rough image in my head, and drew on my tangling experience to add detail.  This might look complex, but actually took only about 1/2 hour to do, and with Zentangle® patterns to rely on for detail, the houses almost drew themselves.  The engraving paper is soft with some tooth, so I could build up the values and gets lots of grayscale shading.

When the drawing was finished, and the modeling paste was dry, I attached the stamped images with Miracle tape.

The scan at the top doesn't show the 3D relief, and I had to take a photograph with lots of shadow to pick it up.  I didn't quite get the parchment look I was shooting for, but I'm am pleased with the result.  I love when that happens!  

  

For more of my work with Viva Las VegaStamps!, Amazing Mold Putty, zentangle-inspired art, and daily links to tangles, tutorials, and giveaways please visit my "Life Imitates Doodles" blog.   ~ Sandra Strait

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