Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Pebeo paints

This past couple of weeks I have been experimenting with a new art supply. I was introduced to Pebeo fantasy Prisme paints and their cousin the fantasy Moon paints. Both of them create amazing effects as they dry. They are oil based (maybe) and have quite a strong smell so need to be used with caution in a well ventilated place. They clean up with white spirits so could easily ruin paint brushes if you are not careful. They are touch dry in about 6 -8 hours but take 72 hours at least to dry completely depending on heat and humidity.
 I bought one sample set of each type of paint so I didn't need to worry about choosing colors. Although the pots are small there is a fair amount of paint in each because it goes a really long way and you probably wouldn't want to use a lot in any one project.
 The paint is very thin and needs to be continuously stirred to make sure you pick up the metallic pigment in the bottle. For the samples I did I used toothpicks and kebab sticks to stir and also to apply the paint. You can drop blobs of paint directly from the sticks so you don't need to worry about cleaning paintbrushes later on. Pebeo has a lot of good videos on their website if you want to see fine art applications. I also tried using a variety of 3D line making paints. The Viva brand liner was 3D until it dried but it went flat so didn't really hold the paint in place.

 The paint needs to be on a surface that doesn't absorb them before they have a chance to work so they don't work on paper. I used glossy card for the pear and square samples at the top of the photo. I worked well. How thickly you apply the paint determines how big the dots are in the Prisme paint.

 
 This is a closeup of the pear that was outlined with the Viva gold paint. It was then painted with gold Moon paint and a bit of white Prisme. The Moon paint has made the prisme sink to the bottom so they don't really mix together at all.

 The hearts were done with the Viva outline and Moon paints but the viva gave way and paint ran everywhere. They were tried on some Tyvek in the hope that I would be able to stitch through them later. The tyvek buckled like paper so that was another reason the paint ran everywhere. I won't try the tyvek again.
 












 

 I did some pears when I was trying the tyvek fabric and although the paint went everywhere I was able to cut out the shapes of the pears and use them in this textile art piece. I had left them to dry for at least a week so I could easily sew through them with my machine.


I still wanted a thin surface that would be stitchable so next I tried some clear cellophane. I taped it to a piece of card to hold it flat and it has worked. This was a cellophane packaging bag that a birthday card had been in. I cut it up and used it here.

 I had some Scribbles fabric paints that are dimensional so I tried them for the outlines. They worked really well when I let them dry first but it meant I could draw any shape I wanted. The christmas ornaments were those silver stickers you see at craft shows that are meant for cards. Although they worked it was fiddly work and I won't use them again.

 I tried gift wrap cellophane too but it has buckled, especially the thicker paint so I won't use that again. Maybe the cellophane packaging was actually thin acetate? I will cut out all of these objects when they are dry and make another textile piece with them.


My final experiment was to use the packaging bag again and a bought stencil. I used a permanent marker to trace the stencil onto the packaging that I had taped to the back of a green cutting mat (it was the closest thing to me at the time, lol). I then outlined the design with the black Scribbles paint. When it was dry I filled in each section with the Prisme and Moon paints. I didn't want the paints running into each other like before so I did areas that were not touching first and let them dry before filling in the rest. I am now waiting for this to dry so I can use it somehow. 

I have had a blast trying new things with these paints. We all love learning new things don't we? It really sparks my imagination in a hundred different directions. Although meant for canvas paintings these paints will surely inspire many mixed media artists too.