Sharpie Brothers At Work

My intention this month was to explore some web links I had bookmarked for myself, most with techniques I wanted to try.  I planned to share them with you as well.  Now, just posting a link is fine, but I wanted to try them first and have something to show for it.  Right now, I have a few things in progress, and this is one of them.

I will definitely tell you where the idea originated, because I want to give credit where credit is due.  I don't know these artists, and I hope they don't mind that I send you their way.  This technique is Sharpie Ghost Writing.  Looks like a cool background to try and I will be doing more of it.  I came across it on YouTube, posted by Leslie Herger a couple of years ago.  You can see the video here. 

Gesso a page, write a whole bunch with different Sharpies, gesso over it (full instructions in the video). Given that Sharpies are supposed to be permanent, it is amazing that the color does indeed float to the top through the gesso.  It's magic...

Have you ever noticed that even if you've seen it before and done it before, there's always something new to learn.  My favorite part of what Leslie did was to use water color crayons, then paint over them with white gesso.  I always find those watercolor crayons to be a mystery.  They are fine, but so are regular watercolors.  But this gives them a whole new dimension for me.  Love how that technique works.   Enjoy!