Easy Mixed Media Background Stencil Tutorial

I have a thing for mixed media backgrounds.

I also love simple mixed media processes that I can repeat again and again as my muse desires.

And for many years now, I have collected many, many simple background processes that I am excited to share.

This first background is a fun technique that’s easy to do and with supplies most mixed media dabblers already have.

What is ink spray? It‘s what I call any type of coloring medium that you can spray out of a mister bottle. It’s easy to make your own and soon, I’ll post some different ways how. For now, here is a tutorial to make your own using everyday supplies.

I enjoy making artist trading cards. They’re little, so you can make them in a short amount of time, but you can still use whatever and however many supplies your creativity fancies.

So my background starts out with a piece of card stock 2.5 by 3.5 inches big:

I picked out a stencil and covered my card stock.

I squirted some white craft paint on top of the stencil.

And spread it around using a palette knife. Use a lot of paint here.

Peel off the stencil and you’ve got your design.

I grabbed some of my homemade ink sprays and sprayed it onto the wet paint.

I added more colors to my card.

Once I was happy, I stopped adding colors and let it dry.

Here is an example of a homemade altered postcard I made using the same background technique.

What do you think? do you already have the supplies at hand?

If you love these background tutorials, order my ebook with 30 of these techniques packaged into an 18 page PDF file.