Here at Anything But Cute we love to see all the seasoned and expert mixed media artists, but we also want to encourage those who are just getting their feet wet. Our design team will always be on the lookout for these exceptional artists, and you just never know when we might be giving out something special to a talented mixed media newcomer.
Make sure to put 'newbie' after your name in the linky so we know who you are.
(new refers to 'new to mixed media' NOT 'new to our challenge')
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Sunday, June 26, 2016

Spotlight Artist - Lisa - Brushos Techniques

Hello, everyone!! I hope you are having a wonderful week!! I'm going to share some techniques with you today using Brushos, a highly pigmented, incredibly versatile water color powder. Brushos can be used on paper, canvas and even wood and are completely non-toxic and non-hazardous. The results are never the same and can be vibrantly unpredictable...in a good way :)


To start, I punched holes in the bottles so I can easily sprinkle the powder without opening the jars each time. I used a Tim Holtz pick tool to punch the holes.


Technique #1) Brushos on Wet Paper


To get started, spritz paper with water. I used Strathmore Watercolor paper for all of these techniques.


Sprinkle as many colors of Brushos as you desire onto the paper. They react instantly with the water.


You can keep adding water and Brushos until your happy with the result.

Technique #2) Brushos on Dry Paper


Sprinkle Brushos directly onto paper.


Spritz with water and watch the colors blend!! You can either let it dry like this or...


...dab with a paper towel or baby wipe for softer, muted colors.

Technique #3) Fireworks Effect


This one I discovered completely by accident :) Spritz paper with water. Open the lid of one of the  jars and pinch a small amount of Brushos with your fingers.


Drop onto the wet paper. I love how the edges fan out, giving a beautiful exploding fireworks effect.

Technique #4) Starch on Dry Paper


For the next couple of techniques, we're going to use starch. I chose this brand with a lovely scent of mountain lavender...pretty colors, pretty smell :)


Sprinkle Brushos on dry paper and then spritz with starch.


Continue to add more Brushos and more starch to intensify the color.


Move the starch around to blend the colors.


You can pat some of the color with a paper towel or baby wipe for a nice ombre look.

Technique #5) Starch With Cling Wrap


Sprinkle Brushos on paper and the spritz with starch.


Keep adding Brushos and starch and move the starch around until you get a nice blend.


Crumple a piece of cling wrap larger than your paper and then unfold it. Pat it onto the wet starch. Let dry completely before you remove the wrap.


Once it dries, you get a nice depth of colors.


Here's another example of this technique with different colors.


And the finished result.

Technique #6) Sea Salt


You can get beautiful color and texture using sea salt.


I love this one...it looks like blue marble.


You never know what you're going to get...I love the color and texture of this one.


And one more using rainbow colors.

Technique #7) Embossing


For this one, I inked a Wendy Vecchi stamp with Versamark, then heat embossed it. I used clear embossing powder since I wanted the white paper to show through.


After embossing, sprinkle Brushos onto paper and spritz with water. You can see the circle pattern showing through. You can see it better in the next picture...

Technique #8) Bleach


To add more depth, stamp an image onto the paper (please ignore the face on my acrylic block...that happened the first time I used the Stampendous Beauty Face stamp :)


Fill a waterbrush with bleach. Paint inside the petals...the bleach will remove the color.


Here's another example using a flower stamp.


The bleach works on both lighter and darker colors.


And one more using a checkered floor stamp.


Technique #9) Using Stencils


There are several ways to use Brushos with stencils. For this one, I sprinkled Brushos onto my craft mat and then spritzed with water. Dip paintbrush into mixture (you don't want it too wet or it will bleed beneath the mask) and brush over stencil.


A pretty blue butterfly :)

Technique #10) Brushos, Stencils and Texture Paste


Cover stencil with texture past and then sprinkle Brushos over the top while the stencil is still in place.


Spritz with water and then remove stencil. I didn't show this step, but you can then turn the stencil over on another piece of watercolor paper for a beautiful background.

Technique #11 ) Coloring Texture Paste with Brushos


Combine Brushos with texture paste and stir with pallet knife until completely blended.


Spread blended mix over stencil. The color options are unlimited...you can make your own custom color of texture or crackle paste.

These are just a few techniques I've learned. I would love to hear about some of your techniques using Brushos in the comment section below. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Don't forget to join in our current challenge hosted by Niki, The Birds and The Bees. You have until July 4th to link up. Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Lisa

43 comments:

  1. Oh, WOW, WOW, WOW, Lisa! What an amazing tutorial on Brushos! So many great techniques using these beautiful pigments! Now I've got to move these to the top of my wish list, for sure! I love the result you got with starch, and opens my eyes to uses of that with other paints as well. All of your samples are just gorgeous, and your information is presented in such an organized way! Great job! Bravo and many thanks for all your hard work in preparing this! Big hugs!

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  2. Really learnt a lot here. Thank you for taking the time to write the blog and take the photos. Great step by steps. Thank you so much x

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  3. Lisa, this is one of the best technique tutorials I have seen for Brushos - so many different and unique ways to use these little pots of magic. Bookmarking this for future reference - thank you SO much! Hugs, Anne xx

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  4. WHOA! I am leaving a comment on your blog, Lisa. Thank you!

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  5. WOW! I love all of the technique!!Awesome tutorials!!
    Thanks Lisa!
    Have a blessed day,
    Migdalia
    Crafting with Creative M

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  6. Wow!!! Just FABULOUS!! Thanks so much for all these ideas and techniques, Lisa! Great phototutorial! Love it! I put this page in my favourite internet address! Amazing works!

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  7. What a gorgeous tutorial! Thank you so much for sharing all these fabulous techniques with us!

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  8. this is amazing!
    love it!
    have a nice day!

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  9. OOoh what a bumper post...packed with tons of technical information...awesome Lisa
    Cheers
    Dr Sonia

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  10. WOW! I love these! Thanks for the tips...I'm going to save for future use. Big hugs, Robin

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  11. Hi Lisa, I've recently purchased some brushos for the first time so I really appreciate this tutorial, very informative, thank you x

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  12. Amazing! Love all these techniques, and thanks for showing the photos in each step. Some of these I have tried, some I have not! All yielded stunning results too (and you know how I love brusho-s!) Recently saw where crystals were sprinkled on acrylic block, spritzed, stamped, adding a new layer with each stamping (rainbow effect). You've done a magnificent showcase of the product and these techniques. Way to Go girl. Can't wait to see all these samples turned into your fabulous cards! (also have you tried using the postit pins to plug the center hole in the cap top? Works great). TFS & Hugs.

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  13. Gosh, thanks for all the info and snaps Lisa - you've really given the brushos a fantastic workout. I especilly love how the bleach fades the colour - very cool. I can't get over how evenly you poked out all the holes in the lids!!! Perfectly done!! Enjoy your week. Nicola x

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  14. Wow, Lisa, this is the most wonderful tutorial about Brushos I've ever seen! So many awesome ways to use them! I am going to bookmark this for the future reference and I am so inspired to play with brushos! Amazing job, my friend! Big hugs! Branka xx

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  15. A lot of work went into this tutorial and I so appreciate it. I can't wait to try a lot of these. My first attempt was a mish mash so I'm ready to try these. I love the rainbow colored one. They are all so bright and cheerful.

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  16. What an excellent tutorial, Lisa, thank you! Brushos are on my (very long) bucket list, for sure and now thanks to you, I know how to use them.

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  17. Fun Lisa, those are most of the techniques. Great tutorial my friend Love all the color combos

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  18. Lisa Dear you have covered a myriad of methods with wonderful results. I love how you just kept experimenting. Love everything! Embracing Creative Bliss...

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  19. thank you for sharing all this techniques .

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  20. Thanks for all the great Brusho tips!

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  21. Amazing Lisa - the Brusho folks should be proud of all that you have done here for them. You did a lot of work and for sure it will be helpful to many Brusho users. Congratulations on your Spotlight! j.

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  22. So many amazing techniques! Thanks Lisa for making this tutorial! I am going to have to get me some Brusho!!

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  23. Awesome techniques and wonderful tutorials Lisa! I can't wait to try some of these techniques!! Your such an enabler, hehe!
    Sherrie K

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  24. Enjoyed Lisa's fantastic tutorial post yesterday, and was wow'd by all the things you can do with Brusho-s. Some I knew, most I had not tried. Will be now! Who knew! What a great post showcasing this product. TFS it again. Hugs & Have a good week.

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  25. Wow!! Thank you so much!!
    sandy xx

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  26. I never, ever would have thought of all of these fab techniques! What fun! Thanks so much for a great and detailed post! Can't wait to try these techniques with my Infusions. Hugs, Autumn

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  27. Ooooh Lisa, you are bursting with inspiration! Thank you for this incredible tutorial! I am stunned at the amount of techniques you've shown. I soaked up every one and look forward to trying some this summer. Amazing spotlight that will benefit all. Thank you, my sweetest friend! :o)

    Hugs and blessings,
    Karen

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  28. Dear Lisa, thank you for this wonderful post, it summarizes to the perfection all what we can do using brushos!!!! I love your samples, each one a beautiful start for future artworks.
    I even discovered one or two ways to use them that I didn't know or would have thought to... !! Thanks.
    Hugs,
    Coco

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  29. This was a great tutorial! Thank you!

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  30. WOW...so many very cool techniques..this stuff is fabulous!!

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  31. Fabulous tutorial and there are several techniques I've not seen before or thought to try - thank you Lisa! Karen x

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  32. Hands down, the best tutorial I have come across for using the pigmented powders. Thanks for taking the time to demonstrate and for sharing it with all those who are eager to give it a try.

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  33. So many great techniques using these beautiful pigments, i love all your ideas and all your photos. thank you.

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  34. Thanks for sharing these techniques. I love brushos but I've only tried them with water so far. You've given me some inspiration to try other techniques now,thanks.

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  35. These are great. Just wondering if you can use brushos with alcohol to make alcohol ink?

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  36. Thanks for the inspiration and technique tips - love 'em!

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  37. Are you kidding me? I feel like I just read a book on using Brushos, which I love playing with. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with your fellow crafters. Can't cook dinner tonight I gotta go play.

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  38. Wonderful, well presented blog post on Brushos -one of my favourite mediums for colouring. I've tried a lot of the ideas but will be trying the rest very soon. I've been meaning to try spraying with alcohol blending solution as well. BTW they are great on a gell plate -just sprinkle on a pre-wetted or dry plate and spray again with water. Can use several colours and spread around a bit before taking a print (or 2-3 prints) from the plate. I want to try more with the gel plates and also the mini shaped gel plates, especially with Christmas cards.

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  39. Wow, this is amazing, have had brushos for ages and never really used them to their full potential, these ideas are just so inspiring, thank you....luv Ursula xx

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  40. Gorgeous + Informative. Thank you. What kind of bleach did you use please? Like Clorox liquid?

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  41. Thank you for explaining these powders, very interesting and striking

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  42. I just saw this. Thank you for sharing. Great ideas

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