Hands of Friendship

One of my lovely friends Catherine recently took part in a circle journal, when she got her journal back there was still an empty page at the back so I offered to do a page for her. It sat on my shelf for a couple of weeks as I just could not think what to do.. I even asked her, and she said do something about friends/sisters or family or bringing people together... 

and then I knew what to do.. 

I started with Neocolor II crayons, adding 2 layers of blended colour. 

Then I switched to PaperArtsy Fresco paints in Bougainvilliea, Captain Peacock and Tango. I used 3 fabulous stencils by Seth Apter.. and I did literally use every bit of each stencil. For covering a page like this these stencils are perfect as they are already in a collage style. 

As much as I loved the background, it was never meant to be bright. I wanted to use busy stencils as I knew they would peep though the next layers perfectly. I added white with a brayer.

and then a little Blush Fresco paint. 

I started to sketch

and to shade..

adding more hands..

and more...

until I had joined the circle of 8. Catherine and I belong to a group of 8 friends, hence the need for 8 hands. 

I used some Blueberry fresco paint watered down to add a wash of colour to the outer spaces, and just a little in the centre. 

the quote was added using a dip pen and Parker Quink.

and here it is all finished and ready to send back to Catherine. 

The best bit for me is seeing the stencilling peeping thru the layers. 

A circle of hands, a circle of friends. Hope this fulfilled the criteria for the page. 

Darcy