I love trying new things, and today’s post is all about this new tool, a blending brush.
When Lisa Dodson mentioned these blending brushes, I just had to try them out. I found these on Amazon.
They are made to be used with stamp pads on paper. You can find tutorials on You Tube about that, but I didn’t see anyone using them on fabric, so of course I had to try them out. What is nice about this set is they are color coded if you want to do that. And they are pretty reasonable for what you get.
Okay, let’s get started. First I’ll use them for what they are made for – blending stamp pad ink. I’m using this small stencil. I found holding the brush using your finger for pressure gives you more control.
Here is what it looks like. If you want darker colors, you can put the stencil back over the fabric and add more color. You could even add a different color.
Here is another one with a different color of ink pad ink. Because it’s a stencil, there will be bridges which you’ll need to fill in, or leave as is.
I also created this piece with a different stencil. I’ll be writing about it in my next post. Using the stamp pad ink worked great. The picture doesn’t do this piece justice.
Next up is acrylic paint. You need a paper plate or some type of palette to get rid of any excess paint or it will bleed under the stencil. I’m using the brush the same way as I did with the stamp pad ink.
The last example is with Intense pencils. I’ve used these with other projects and really love how they look once water or a medium is added. I first color in the areas with the dry pencils.
Then I just dampen the brush with water. Don’t add a lot of water, just enough to make it damp. That will activate the pencil colors. Then again just brush over the colors. I use a circular movement.
And the finished pieces. You can see in the left one how the center has bled. That was because my brush was too wet.
And again, the final results using all three mediums.
I set the ink when I ironed on the stabilizer to the back of the fabric. After that they were easy to cut out. I need to touch up the bridges on these pieces, and also use a colored pen to take off the white edges. Or I could just cut off that colored edge. Then they could be used in a variety of projects. I do apologize for the wrinkled fabric. Usually I always iron my fabric, but I was in a hurry to get this tutorial completed. It would have made it much easier had I started with the fabric ironed and stabilized.
After using the brushes, I rinsed them off and blotted them dry. I’ll be using the same color on them in the future, so I don’t have to worry about colors mingling.
So here are my pros and cons on these new tools I’ve added to my creative tool box.
PROS
- They are cheap, and made well.
- They are made with tiny bristles which work much better than a sponge.
- You get a bunch of them for the money.
- They work great with these three mediums.
CONS
- They are great on small projects like these stencils, but that large stencil took quite awhile to do.
I’ll use them again when I’m making smaller projects, but not for large pieces. If you use them other than on paper, I’d love to hear how you use them. And thanks again to Lisa for turning me on to these cute brushes.