Tissue Paper Art!

You probably all played with this in Kindergarten, I know I did. But I started using tissue paper in an entirely new way. It all began over at Hazel Terry's blog - Printing With Tissue Paper. Hazel is always experimenting with new and creative ways of working. Well, this particular post lit a fire under me. It's so cool! So on the way to uni after reading her post, I stopped to pick up some tissue paper and try it for myself. One problem. Most tissue paper these days has a binder in it so that the ink doesn't run. Well, that's exactly what I wanted it to do, so none of the stuff I tried worked. I asked Hazel about the tissue paper she used and she, lovely lady, actually sent me a pack. And I was OFF! First, I experimented. You just rip off a piece of the paper, lay it where you want, then apply water to the back. Layering different colors creates new colors. Some of the papers are juicier than others. Some lift ink off of the ink below them. And you can use a piece of paper more than once. If you're lucky, it'll pick up the ink from a previous layer of color and create entirely new things. All in all, it is a very messy and fun process!But that's exactly what's so fun about it. It put me in touch with my inner kindergartener, and is wonderfully unpredictable.I have a ton more experimenting to do (which I am looking forward to with my upcoming semester of pure studio time!), but already, I just adore this media. I'm applying it to a new line of illustrations I've been working on - more on that soon. Here it is, still a work in progress as I haven't removed the tissue paper yet. I'll show you the results soon.