Luminarte Blog— Vibrant and Brilliant

Craft Product Review: Primary Elements Artist Pigments

Hello Luminarte viewers, I wanted to share our review on Craft Test Dummies. Enjoy!

Craft Product Reviews,

With all of glazes, shimmer sprays, paints and inks out there, don’t you ever just want to have everything match? Guess what- when you own Primary Elements Artist Pigments by Luminarte, you can. With these handy powdered pigments, you can make….well…. just about anything!

Here’s how they are described:

Primary Elements Artist-Pigments are created by hand blending bright clean high quality pigments with our proprietary blend of mica’s (sic) and other minerals.

This is product is unique in the industry it is our color technology that makes this possible.

Luminarte Artist-Pigments TM, mixes with ease in gum binders, any acrylic medium, water-based polyurethane acrylic glaze or gel mediums.

At first blush, Primary Elements look like many other powdered pigments on the market. Some of the colors are iridescent (like Dragonfly Wing) while others are just a straight-up metallic pigment. I did notice that some of the colors- like Snapdragon- seemed to have a slightly coarser particle. Take a look:

Majestic Blue and Dragonfly Wing.

The toughest thing about testing a product like this is knowing exactly where to start…. and when to finish. I could play with and test out a product like this for DAYS. So I decided to start with some simple swatching.

Tinting paint, artist medium, and texture gel- all with the same pigment.

First up- I made a glaze mixing some of the Majestic Blue Primary Elements into a collage/ artist medium to make a glaze. I used a little scoop of pigment on t he end of a Q-tip and just mixed it up. Since the Matte Medium is translucent, you get a vibrant, creamy glaze that pops on dark surfaces.



Glaze swatches on the top, stamping bottom row.

The bottom row shows how the same pigment looks when you stamp with a water-mark style pad and then dust the powders over the top using a fluffy brush. I LOVE how the color pops on the black!

Side note: this pigment does NOT have a built-in binder, so you MUST use them in conjunction with a product that will help them stick. Otherwise, they will rub off over time.  To make a simple watercolor paint with them, simply add powdered Gum Arabic and water to the pigments.

I have to make a side note here and share that so far, my favorite way to use Primary Elements is by mixing them with Artist medium (Mod Podge would would well, too) and making a translucent glaze. Here are two colors I mixed up. Notice that the Coral Berry color looks PINK in the pot, but turns a coral-orange when you mix it with meduim:

Note: Using glossy medium gives the micas SO much more shimmer than matte finish. But you can always add a top coat of paper glaze/dimensional magic/glossy effects to make it shine!

Here are a few more swatches of the paints, glazes and texture gel:

From left: Glazes, tinted acrylic paint, texture effect gel. Small square of glazes on canvas.

I could have played all day with my glaze, paint, texture gel, and stamp pads….but I had to press on!

I also tried some Primary Elements with Puffy Putty air-dry clay:

Clays tinted with Dragonfly Wing pigments. Sample on right also had additional Pink Azalea color dusted on top.

While I didn’t have the chance to get out my polymer clay, my hunch is that you can do the same thing to those clays as well- that is, mix IN the color to tint the clay or dust it on top to add surface color.

So…. are you seeing the value here that I’m seeing? You can have white or translucent clay, stamp pads, paint, or gel mediums and all you have to do is add a dusting of pigment and POOF- you have colored media! And you can choose how deep/intense your colors are by how much you add. And of course, color mixing is also an option.

Now, I wasn’t able to take a picture, but I have to tell you that at the end of this playdate/review, my hands were BLUE from the Primary Elements. I figured it would wash right off- after all, there isn’t a binder to make it stick. Except that it DID….and stained my hands something serious. I was unprepared for the sheer intensity of these pigments- a little goes a long way, my friends!

So, on that note, let’s talk cost. They are sold as follows:

• 10 gram jar singles for $4.25 USD
• 10 gram jars, four-pack: $14.00 USD
• “Big Mama” Singles for $8.99 USD

All in all, you certainly get your money’s worth from this little pot of dazzling color! They are rich, intense, and add an incredible “pop” of color, especially on dark surfaces.

I pulled together this altered tag, using the Primary Elements mixed in paint, medium, used and used with a Versamark Pad:

All of the color comes from Primary Elements Artist Pigments mixed in and used with different media.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to go back to playing!

 

If you want to get your hands on some Luminarte Pigments.....stay tuned to our blog!
Thanks for visiting.

Mixed Media Flower Girl by Marti Wills

hi all!

Marti here, I decided to take a break from my "work" stuff and just play in my studio the past couple days.  I am really venturing back to my roots and doing more mixed media stuff as opposed to the color an image, add layers, add flowers kind of stuff.

I am taking several online classes right now - Christie Tomlinson, Suzi Blu, Dion Dior - and learning tons! I am especially loving my Suzi Blu classes and today's project is a direct result of what I have been learning.

 

In the true spirit of going green I did this piece on one of the large wood blocks from a SU stamp. I never mount them on wood.  the best part - I drew this little girl myself!  Yep, I sure did!Better yet, I am sharing her with all of you. You can get her as a free digi image at the end of this post!

 

I began by adhering torn strips of a book page to the wooden base with gel medium. I painted the bottom green and the top blue using Luminarte Silks (fern & Sky Blue) - you can get them at SCACD.  The silks are an acrylic glaze meaning there are translucent so the book page strips shows through.  once dry I wanted to tone things down a bit so I swiped on some Luminarte Golden Opal Primary Elements powder mixed with gel medium.  LOVE this stuff - I can mix it into so many things depending on what I am doing.  I layered on some circles & the scallop border using Claudine Hellmuth's acrylic paints and foam stamps - which I ADORE! I also stamped a wildflower silhouette from a CTMH stamp set using brown staz on ink.

As I said, I drew the little girl myself then inked her and scanned her. I didn't want to color right on my original in case I messed it up or wanted to use it again.  Then, I printed her out and colored her with colored pencils (polychromos).  Last, I added the embellishments - some glittered skittles, the vintage crocheted border and some teeny prima flowers from 100 years ago :P  I needed something more than just the flowers at her feet so I mixed Luminarte Moss Green Primary Elements and gel medium to get a thick paste.  i just dabbed it around her feet in a "pile" and then stuck the flowers in it and dabbed some more in the flower centers.

When I drew her, I knew I would be putting a flower in her hands. So, I did not originally draw anything in her hands but I put a little flower in them for y'all!

Feel free to download her and use her but do not sell her!  Share your project on the Luminarte Fan page!.

Latest installment by Marti {Pez-A-Doodle

Stencils, Silks, Twinks and a little Tissue Paper by Erin O'Neil Argueta

Hello all!

Erin here. So honored to be back on the Luminarte blog.

I've recently challenged myself to use everyday products in my art. For this piece I've incorporated tissue paper for texture.

The tissue paper was crinkled and added to an illustration board with a water-based adhesive. After the tissue paper layer was dry, I painted Radiant Rain Shimmering Mists in Key Lime (on the bottom) and Teal Zircon (on the top) blending them in the middle with a spritz of water.

For added texture and dimension, I created the Big Butterfly by putting molding paste over the Butterfly from the Monarch Stencil Kit. I then painted the Butterfly with Silks: Stargazer, Blue Flame, Perriwinkle and Snapdragon. The smaller butterflies are from my sizzix dies. I cut these in white paper and then painted them with the same silks to match.

The roses were also created by putting molding paste over a stencil. I used the Nature Stencil 12x12. The roses are composed of a few layers of color from twinks and silks. The first layer is Apple Blossom twinks to cover the entire image. Then I added Coral Berry for more dimension. The flowers were completed with Carmen and VaVoom Red silks.

The last thing I did was add some more silks for greater depth. The roses and butterflies were strong in color value against the light green and light blue background so I added some Olive Vine Silks behind the roses and a little Stargazer Silks around the outer edges of the sky. By watering down the silks and applying them over the tissue paper background it created amazing shimmer and varying color values.

Thanks for stopping!

Let the good times roll by artist Marti Wills and enter the weekend Giveaway!

WIN an EXSTENCIL and a set of SILKS!

Have you tried our EXSTENCIL(s) from Creative Imaginations? Enter to win a set of SILKS and an Exstencil. Look over Marti's beautiful Louisiana art journal page and leave a comment telling us what you would do with your favorite EXSTENCIL and a set of SILKS. That is it! We will announce the WINNER MONDAY! Good Luck!

hi everyone! 

Marti here today!  I have an art journal page for you today and it features one of the Existencils.  I {heart} stencils and being from south Louisiana I just knew I had to have the fleur de lis designs.  I have several different things in mind to use this stencil for but for today i wanted to do the quintessential South Louisiana page:

Laissez les bons temps rouler= let the good times roll!

I began by spraying my paper with several different Radiant Rain colors:

I wanted to do just a border around two sides so i used a scrap paper and tape to mask the rest of the stencil:

I laid the stencil down and used a stencil brush and Nutmeg Silks to do the border:

Next, I wanted to add more layers to the background and change the colors a bit so I misted some more until i was happy with the base. I laid the stencil back down without the mask and slightly askew and misted again so the shapes showed very faintly.  Then, I laid down the stencil straight again and traced the large fleur de lis three times and then added a few dots.

I made a large fleur de lis die cut with a Sizzix die and gave it a nice basecoat of Silks:

I added more Silks - Sky Blue and Stargazer - using a sea sponge to get a mottled, sort of old metal look:

I printed the words out and inked the edges before adhering them.

I love those gorgeous colors and all that shimmer!

Thanks so much for sharing this great project Marti. I have friends in Louisiana and they would love this! I really like the Radiant Rains in the background with the shimmer.  If you would like more information on Marti visit her blog at Pez-A-Doodle Designs, or check out her online classes.

Thanks for visiting and good luck in the giveaway!

A shimmering garden by Marti Willis

Hi everyone!

Marti here, I am so excited to be sharing with you on the Luminarte blog!  Today I have a fun piece I did on a block of wood.

I had SO much fun with this one!  I began by adhering an irregular piece of a book page to the wood.  I painted over it with Silks thinned with a bit of water - Fern and Sky Blue.  I stamped with some bubble wrap and very light blue acrylic paint and then I stamped the leaves with a Dyan Reaveley stamp and dark green Staz On.  I used a small paint bottle to trace and make my scallp border from another book page.  I cut it out and painted it with a very thin wash of Icy Iris Primary Elements.  I doodled a bit with a black pen and adhered it to the board.  I added Gliittered Skittles for a bit of bling.

I stamped my flowers in Black Archival Ink (Hero Arts stamps) and then painted them with Silks Glazes.  For the flower centers I used Sunburst Primary Elements.  First, I mixed a bit of the powder with water and Gum Arabic and painted the centers.  Then, to add texture, I mixed more powder with Liquitex Glass Bead Gel Medium and piled it on to the centers with my pallette knife - I LOVE the effects I can get with the Primary Elements and the variety of gel mediums available to work with - a match made in heaven!

I will be teaching a Mixed Media workshop locally in Baltimore MD that will feature several Luminarte products on May 19th as part of The Outlawz Rodeo.  You can sign up on my classroom page!  haere is a sampling:

Thanks so much for dropping in!

Erin Reveals her Sneak Peak and a Special Luminarte GIVEAWAY today!

WIN FREE PRODUCTS today!

Have you tried our EXSTENCIL from Creative Imaginations? You could WIN a set of SILKS and an Exstencil. Simply, go to DREAMING IN COLOR  and watch the Silks Acrylic Glaze video. Come back to this post and in the comments, answer this question: What was used on the SILKS?  That is it! We will announce the WINNER this FRIDAY! Good Luck!

In the mean time, artist Erin O'Neill Argueta has done a altered mix media piece for us today. This is a great project for this weekend. I love the gesso and stencil combination with the painted flowers. Enjoy!

Hi, Erin here, on Monday I gave you a sneak peak of my first project.  Now, it's time to reveal the project and tell you a bit about the piece and the products I used to create it.

I started with an 11"x15" sheet of Canson 140lb Watercolor paper.  I gesso'd the page, then added layers of vintage dictionary that were "smudged, buffed and sponged" with various inks.  On top of this, I added some diluted gesso and more inks.  I used a variety of tools to create depth: sponges, brushes and rags to layer on the inks. I added a torn piece of Monarch Cherish Varnish Paper to the lower right corner of the water color paper.  I painted a wash of Cinnamon Stick Twinkling H2O to add depth to the embossed paper.  Then, I stamped off the edges with the "Islamic Border" stamp from Rubber Stamp Plantation.  With my background complete, I started to mold the stencil.

I used Golden Hard Molding Paste, the Paint it! Monarch Stencil (12x12) and a painters spatula. 

You can see here that the dimension is very subtle, but by using the molding paste I have achieved a look that resembles Italian relief.  The diluted gesso allows the text from the dictionary page to be visible behind the molded stencil.

For the flowers, I stamped the Medium and Extra Large Tiare Stamps from Rubber Stamp Plantation and then filled the flowers with Silks: Vavoom Red, Carmen and Coral Berry. The center of each flower is a "dot" of Solar Gold Silks. The stems and leaves were hand-drawn and filled with Olive Vine Silks.

For an added "pop" I outlined some of the flowers with a Pitt "B" pen.

And, here is the completed piece:

Image taken with another camera in a different light:

Thanks you for checking in and remember to go to  DREAMING IN COLOR  and watch the Silk Acrylic Glaze video. Come back to this post and in the comments, tell us what was used on top of the SILKS? We will announce the WINNER this FRIDAY! Good Luck!

Wisdom Circles by Dion Dior

                                                               Done with Twinkling H20's and Silks.

This month was always going to be a crazy one for me.  Two of my classes are running in Feb, as well as deadlines for other projects.  I love it!!  I've been enjoying teaching my "Mastering Twinks" class through Joggles.com immensely.  The participants are amazing and I'm blown away with their work.

In the meantime, I've been burning the midnight oil in preparation for my contribution to "21 Secrets".  This beautiful program is being hosted by Dirty Footprints Studio and offers 21 amazing workshop.  My little piece in this class is called "Wisdom Circles".  It's a workshop that uses myth and legend to infuse the art of making mandalas.  I've just finished this short little video to give you a taste of what to expect.

Wisdom Circles from Dion Dior on

21 Secrets begins on April 1st.  Click here for more information.

Wisdom Circles from Dion Dior on Vimeo.

 

Thanks for checking in. xx

Little fallen nest by artist Betsy Roberts

Today we have Betsy Roberts showing us a mix-media project using Radiant Rains and the Twinkling H20's. I really like the contrast with the wood and fabric in her piece. Oh....and the fact that it would look perfect in my house. Enjoy!

I had a fun time with this fabric tree on a wooden canvas.  I painted the canvas with Radiant Rains Solar Gold and Twinks .  Then I cut the fabric tree and use Steam2Seam to adhere it to the wooden canvas.  

Next, I used Viva dimensional Paint Pens in Gold Pearl, Transparent Red Glitter, Dark Orange pen to create leaf-like items on the tree and dimension between the branches.

Then I cut out of Creative Imaginations new ATC goodies the bird and next along with the wonderful words they have.......LOVE THAT COMPANY!!!! and adhered them to the wood canvas.

I used the Viva Pearl Dimensional paint to add eggs to the nest and under the head of the bird, once I cut it apart.  This was to help with more dimension.

Next onto a spring filled tree........coming soon!!!!

Thank you for visiting!

Artist Trading Card

Hello Everyone, Lynn Kopas  (designer for CI) here with some ATC Cards using Luminarte Paints and Paint It Papers. I must admit - these were my first EVER ATC Cards. I have never created any project on a canvas this small. After much procrastinating I decided to treat each card as a small mixed media canvas and it came together quite nicely. I came up with this idea one night when I couldn't get to sleep and started in on it the next day. I've been on a "bird" kick lately and definitely on a mixed media kick so I treated each ATC card like a larger canvas. I paper collaged each card with papers from IOD's Devotion collection using the 6x6 paper pads. I then covered the card with a light coat of translucent white paint. I stamped on the painted background and added some rub-ons. I wondered how Luminarte Radiant Rain would mix with modeling paste ... so I experimented. This is how I created the dimensional branches ... (if you click on this photo you will really seen the dimension)

 
The birdies were traced onto Paint It Paper and then covered with Olive Vine Twinkling H20's - one of my go-to colors. I then inked the edges for more definition and added a wing - from the opposite side of the Paint It paper.

 
For the center card I crunched little pieces of tissue paper to fill a small chipboard heart and dabbed it with Poppy Red Twinkling H20's...

 

Here are the pieces together ...

 Stay tuned for more inspiration on the blog!! Thanks for visiting.
 
Supplies Used:

• #29011 - Devotion 6x6 Paper Pad
• #26438 - Luminarte Radiant Rain Dabber - Nutmeg
• #26359 - Twinking H20's - Olive Vine
• #26376 - Twinkling H20's - Poppy
• #28070 - Paint It Paper - Define

A Peak into "Mastering Twinks"- Dion Dior

Happy Friday and hello to all of our Luminartists, I love your comments, suggestions, and pieces that you share with us on the Blog and the Luminarte Facebook page. Keep up the great work and keep sharing your creative projects!
If you or someone you know is attending the Craft and Hobby show in California tell them to look for me (Tonya) and introduce yourself at our Booth # 1657. It's always nice to meet people from the Luminarte blog. I would also be honored to show you our new products and releases. Hopefully, I will see you there.

Our LUCKY WINNER for today is…………Jamie Armenta who participated our Survey. You have won the Costa Rica Primary Elements Artist Pigments and All-purpose medium, please email me your shipping address to citonya@comcast.net and I will get your prize out promptly!

       

 

Hi, Dion Dior here.  I wanted to give you a little peak into my "Mastering Twinks" online class which starts on January 31st through joggles.com and runs for three weeks.  As part of this class we will be creating some fun filled art and I wanted to share with you a simple process for creating a beautiful butterfly using masking fluid between layers of Twinkling H2O's. 

Start with a very loose and simple sketch of a butterfly. Don't put in too much detail, just the basic outline and pattern on the wings. Keep it simple and give yourself plenty of room.

Using "Solar Gold", paint a very light wet wash over the butterfly. Keep the wash within the boundaries of the butterfly.

While this layer is still wet, apply several other colors onto the wings. I used a combination of "Mediterranean", "Ginger Peach", "Jasmine" and "Teal Zircon".  Dot these colors around the wings, letting them feather out and blend into each other. This creates some lovely color mixes and the sparkle is beautiful.

Let the butterfly dry completely then apply a layer of liquid frisket or masking fluid. Push the frisket around the surface of the butterfly, dotting it only in places where you want to see the color shining through.  Follow the contours of your design. Masking fluid is like a rubber or laytex cement that is applied over a page to preserve the white or color wash underneath.  You can paint directly over it after it has dried, then when the paint is dry, you just peel or rub it straight off.  it doesn't tear or affect the paper underneath.  I use it a lot in my twinkling projects, but beware, it can sometimes dilute the  paint on which it sits and lift up some of the mica. Especially if the paint isn't fully dry before you apply it.

When the masking fluid is dry, paint over the entire butterfly with "Hunter Gray" or another dark color. You may like to paint a second layer to give more contrast to the patterns or you may like to keep it light to allow the color underneath to peak through.

When it is completely dry, gently peel off the frisket.  Many brands of masking fluid come with a special eraser, if you don't have one, use a regular eraser or just rub it gently with your finger to lift it off.

Finish it off by softening the pattern with a fine line market.  Stipple the edges of the patterns, or scribble and shade to create a soft effect. 

You can see how some simple dots and lines create more definision to the butterfly.

As a final touch, wash in a background to give the butterfly dimension.  Keep the intensity of background color close to the butterfly, and let the pigment wash out as you move away from it.  For  I  used a Tombow water soluble marker and blended the color with a wet brush.

It's a very simple, yet effective process and is great for so many subjects.  Remember, there's still time to sign up for "Mastering Twinks", click here for more information.

Thanks for checking in. xx