When it comes to art there is no limit to the type of canvas's one can use. By canvas, I don't mean the classic fabric canvas. I am referring to the surface you want to make your art on.
Fabric, wall, paper, clay, plastic, wood (of course), oh! I could go on and on.
My go to canvas is wood. Maybe this is because, in my mind, wood is my soul element and probably why I fell in love with pyrography in the first place. Wood burning is the first thought most people have when it comes to starting a new pyrography project. However you can burn on many surfaces: Click here to read about some unconventional surfaces for wood burning.
Having said that I am a curious person (also easily bored with just one thing) and like to experiment various other media on wood. What comes naturally to me is mehndi (aka henna) art.
Thus my first experiment was applying mehndi to wood with, unfortunately, not the best results. No matter how well the wood was pretreated, the mehndi stain bled through...
Well, for few days I was super bummed cause you know thinking of a new project comes with its excitement and the hurry to see a superbly crafted piece. That didn't happen but I wasn't giving up. I thought to myself: "Mehndi is a paste. What else can I make that is thick enough but also flowy so that I can apply is as mehndi."
And so the experimentation continued. Acrylic paints? Maybe. But they are too thin. Wateroclor? I thought if I used the watercolor paints in tubes, they could work but those were also not the right consistency...
And then I got hit with the "aha" moment. I remembered seeing Lippan Kaam work done when I was little.The word 'Lippan' means 'clay' or 'dung' in local Gujarati, and the word 'kaam' denotes 'work'. Lippan Kaam is essentially mud-relief work that incorporates mirrors. It is used to embellish the interior and exterior walls of the circular adobes that these communities live in. The image on the left is an example of this medium by LippankaamByKetaki.
With this visual inspiration in mind, I knew whatever I was going to fill the cones with could be 3D and so I hunted down puff paint. I put in the dimensional paint into the cones and voila! I had what I was looking for. Oh gosh! A pandoras box just opened up. So many pieces I can now make. Anything I could do pyrography on (except for food safe pieces) I could cone paint on and probably even paint on more surfaces.
Dimensional color painting is nothing new. What is new here is the cone application that allows me to make even the most intricate of designs without wasting a drop of paint and the cones are ergonomically friendly. They can be made with materials you find around the house, making them eco friendly (no more plastic cups or bottles).
I love it so much that I created a tutorial on how to make your own cones and I also make pre-filled cones if you just want to jump right into it, without the set up.
I would call cone making and cone painting a win win project! What's to not like? Here are some samples of projects I have made.
But my obsession with embellishing wooden surfaces doesn't stop at cone painting...
Recently I delved into making string art or nail art!
Hammering nails is just as therapeutic as wood burning is meditative. Draw or find a simple image outline and just experiment! You will be making more intricate art in no time. You can follow my step by step guide on how to draw a mandala, or head over to my freebies page to download one of my designs there!
I can't wait to see what inspires you and what kind of mixed media you play around with! Don't forget to tag me @prettyful.creations on Instagram or Facebook to show me your work!