Recycled Bird Print

Good evening. Today was a whirlwind day, and it kind of escaped me. Even though Dexter did not take a nap today I did find some time to create a little something. I wasn't in the mood to break out a ton of supplies, so I made something from older materials.

A few years ago I took a screen printing (stencil style) class at my local Museum of Contemporary Art. It was there that I illustrated a bird to put on a tote bag. I liked it so much that instead of trashing my used stencil, I kept it. I didn't know how well it would hold up, but I think it did okay:

I started off by taking some left over Paper Source patterned paper and laying it flat. Then, I took my recycled bird stencil and positioned it on top of the paper. I went through my cans of spray paint and decided that my neon chartreuse would look best. I sprayed my stencil and let it sit for about 30 minutes. After that, it was dry to the touch. I liked how it looked, but it needed some more definition. The spray paint left a 'halo' effect on the paper below. I used a regular Sharpie black marker to outline all of the bird's shapes. Finally, I cut it to the size of my frame and hung it right at eye level at my desk. It didn't take that long, and I am happy with the finished product.

I think tomorrow I may go back to fabric...