Old School 2: Shaving Foam Backgrounds

Hello!

Part 2 of my ''Old School techniques revisited" series!

Today..... Shaving Foam Backgrounds!

Yes, we've all played about with this technique in the past, I think it's about time we tried it again!

This is my finished piece....

Just LOVE the swirly colourfulness going on!

Right...refresher time..here's how you do it!

Firstly, squirt some shaving foam onto a paper plate...

Paper plates are brilliant because you can just bin the whole messy lot when you're done. If you want a bigger print though, you'll need to find something bigger! You really need the cheapest shaving foam you can find, nothing posh with fancy bits added, no need for them. This can was 26p from Tescos!

Next, smooth it out so you have a flat-ish surface...

At this point you need to restrain yourself from going all 'slapstick clown' and shoving the resulting pie into someones face. Unless that's just me.......

Next, drip on some inks. I've used a combination of Bombay inks and Daler Rowney inks, but I'm sure any drippy ink would work. Experiment!

Using a skewer, drag the inks into each other. I've just used a simple design first..

Take a bit of card (I've found the thicker the better, and NOT coated!), and place it on top of the inky mess. Gently press down so all the surface touches the inks..

Peel it off....

Now we need to remove all the excess foam! You will get the best results if you scrape it off all in one go, so try and use something a little wider than your card. I have used a bone folder here, but things like long rulers work just as well.

Scrape the foam off in one movement, dragging your chosen implement in one direction across the card.

Then admire your design!

You can also go back to the foamy mess and do a little more pattern making...

This time I have created swirls and circles with the skewer on top of the lines already made. The result from this looks like so....

You can also take multiple prints without messing about with the design in between...

With these three prints, the one on the left was the first 'pull' from the foam. I went straight back in with more card to produce the middle print, then the print on the right is the design created when going in for a third time. As you can see, the inks get less the more prints you pull, but the designs are fab!

I chose to use the middle print from the three above in my final project.

The ink swirls are great, with no mixing or muddying of colours..

You can add stamping over the top of the design...

I used a bit of another print for the dress of my Stampotique figure...

I must warn you though....once you start you can't stop. I now have a big stack of prints all ready for use!

The other thing you need to know is that it's messy...very messy! Make sure you have a lot of paper towels on hand to wipe up after yourself!

Have fun,

Trish xxxxx