Blueprint: More CitraSolv Backgrounds

I have been busy making more backgrounds from the CitraSolv technique that I mentioned in my last post. I think I love this latest batch even more than the first one! I want to use some of these in my art journals as backgrounds and also experiment with painting and adding to them on canvas, fabric, etc.

What I love to do first is scan my favorite ones into Photoshop to have a "clean" version always available. Then I can have fun digitally painting a canvas. The digital piece above started out with this CitraSolv background:

The photo doesn't do it justice. The colors are gorgeous and it just looks full of texture. I think this is my favorite one so far. I added a lot of layers, images, brushes, etc. to get to the finished digital piece but I like the idea of always having this one in my archive.

Here are a few of my other favorites from this latest batch:

And there's usually a surprise or two that surfaces as I'm working through the process. While I was "painting" the pages with the CitraSolv every once in a while I'd come across a page of pure text. I usually would leave that page alone since there was no color to blend and I would just saturate the opposite page in the spread. In this instance shown below, I thought the colors around the man would blend really well and make a pretty background. I was working pretty quickly and didn't saturate the page very much. Much to my delight when I went to remove the pages, this happened:

The photo of the man transferred to the text page! How cool is that?! Evidently I left enough of an air pocket when I closed the magazine for the image to mirror itself onto the opposing page. And the fact that one eye was left with a blank circle...this all happened by chance! What are the odds of having that inkblot cover just his one eye so perfectly? I couldn't have planned it better if I'd thought of it myself.

That's what is so fun about this technique. There are so many little things you discover as you go along. I will definitely be using this guy (embellished) in more of my art.

And speaking of surprises, after I posted my last entry I heard from the folks at CitraSolv. What a wonderful group of people they are! They were so kind in commenting on my post and I was excited to learn about their website where they post the artist's results using their product.

Check out all of the info they have posted about different ways to use CitraSolv in your art. But the biggest surprise of all was this that arrived in the mail a few days later. Notice that they included a few National Geographic magazines, as well:

Thanks again to Melissa and the gang at CitraSolv. I will definitely put these products to good use! Now I don't even mind doing a little cleaning here and there... ;)