Ahhhhhh yes......torturing poor defenseless felt!! Elizabeth Woodford from the Arttechniques Yahoo group offered a wonderful tutorial on Tortured Felt this month. Using her instructions as a general guideline, here are my creations. I tell you....this technique is a great way to vent some frustrations!! :) Take THAT you felt, you!!
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SAFETY FIRST!! MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ADEQUATE VENTILATION!! THERE ARE FUMES AND SOMETIMES SMOKE FROM THE MELTING FELT!!
(Also, make sure you place your felt on a heat safe surface. I used a large wooden block covered in several layers of foil.)
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All the pieces below follow the same basic recipe:
A piece of felt (cheapo craft felt), acrylic paints, foam paintbrush, heat gun, and embossing powders.
I randomly squirted some acrylic paint onto the felt piece. I smooshed and pounced the paint around the felt with a foam paintbrush. I added embossing powder (usually 2 or more colors) and then pounced and rubbed it into the paint. I then used my heat gun to "torture" the felt. Begin with the gun up high away from the felt so you don't blow away all of the embossing powder. When you start to see the powder melting, move the gun closer to the piece. The felt will begin to "melt" and create holes. (Your acrylic paints may also start to bubble) Use your heat gun on the felt until you achieve the look you desire. (make sure all of your embossing powder is melted!) Your felt should feel stiff and the embossing powders "enameled" when you are done.
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Hot Pink Felt
Bright Yellow Felt
Hot Pink Felt: This piece was covered in a VERY heavy layer of acrylic paint. I tortured this piece until there was almost nothing left!! LOL!!
Navy Blue Felt: This particular piece of felt was much more "substantial" than the others. It was denser and thicker. I did not get many holes, but I liked the results anyway. I REALLY had to crank the heat on these pieces. I also used some Pearl Ex Inkpad Reinkers on a couple of these pieces. I used 2 Interference colors. (Blue and Violet) The reinkers are a much thinner consistency than the paints. They tend to create a more distinctive pattern in the felt. (the middle piece below is a good example)
Here are a couple of pieces that I actually CREATED something with! Whoopie!!! :) Both use a molded UTEE piece as the focal point.
This goddess is black UTEE colored with metallic rub ons.
This sun is black UTEE colored with acrylic paints. (SNEAK PEEK-- This background is a piece of Acrylic Varnish and Mica Powder Paper. I will be doing a tutorial here next week AND I will also have a swap of these background papers next month on the Yahoo Group: Arttechniques.)
Love what you did with the tortured Felt. And the molded UTEE pieces are fabulous.
ReplyDeleteWell Mz Artful Mama I am very impressed you achieved some awesome results and you made some cool pieces with them! Great job wow!
ReplyDeleteSusan, I love the hot pink! You have such a great feel for color. BTW the inespensive felt that melts the best is called 'kunin'. Unfortunately the name isn't usually indicated on the felt in the stores. I suspect that the felts that don't melt are not the same stuff.-------AND yor paint scraping examples inspired me to try that technique too--you are an awesome colorist. Ruthie
ReplyDeleteThis work is sooooo KEWL!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is my first post I'd love to congratulate you for such a great made forum!
ReplyDeleteWas thinking this would be a nice way to make my first post!
Sincerely,
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Do they end up so crunchy and fragile that you can't work with them (like adding them to a canvas) because they fall apart in the process?
ReplyDeleteI absolutely ADORE this technique!!!! Thank you for sharing it!
ReplyDelete