Vancity - ATCs, 2011
ATCs inspired by Vancouver. Collage, acrylic medium, sharpies, gel pens, and a final coat of matte acrylic varnish. Started in March 2010, completed August 2011.
work in progress...
I used a free, trilingual, Asian newspaper for the first layer of collage, making sure to use photos with people and buildings on each card. I chose blocks of text based on their appearance - but I have no idea what the words say, or even which language they are in. As an anglophone in Vancouver it's really common to come across signage and posters that I can't read or understand. I was hoping that perhaps I might serendipitously choose some words that would turn out to be appropriate... so if anyone knows what they say please let me know ;)
I sketched over the collage with silver-blue gel pen (right image), then applied a layer of acrylic medium (left image) which darkened the ink and left a nice hazy blue wash over the whole card. I used Sharpie ultra-fine markers and a variety of gel pens over top of this, then finished it with a few coats of Golden Archival Varnish in Matte. The varnish is nasty, flammable/explosive, probably carcinogenic stuff, but it works beautifully! I used 3 coats, which was enough to prevent smudging, but still left a bit of shimmer.