Today I am going to show you how to create an airbrushed background on vellum using Spectrum Noir markers in the Craftwell eBrush airbrush system. I will be using the following Spectrum Noir markers for this tutorial: CR6, CR8, DR4, DR7.
To begin, you will need some shapes to use for your background. With Valentine’s Day approaching, I decided to use my Cricut to cut several different styles and sizes of hearts. For this, I used a scrap piece of cardstock.
You will use both the positive and negative cut shapes for this project. First, choose a couple of the negative cuts, place them on the vellum where you want your darkest shapes to be, and use some scrap papers to mask off the rest of the background around the negative cut, leaving only the shape as a little “window”. This will protect the rest of the vellum from getting sprayed with ink.
Negative shape looks like this:
After masking, it looks like this:
Choose several shades of Spectrum Noir markers from the same color family. I chose reds DR7, DR4, CR8, CR6.
Starting with the lightest color, eBrush over the masked shape. You do not need to totally cover the shape. It will get filled in as we layer more colors over it. Continue to eBrush the next lightest color, working your way up to your darkest color. Below are the four stages of eBrushing the negative heart shape.
1st Color (CR6):
2nd Color (CR8):
3rd Color (DR4):
4th Color (DR7):
Remove all of the masking and the negative shapes.
Voila!
Lay down the positive shapes where you want them to appear in your background.
You can use a removable adhesive to keep them in place. I use Crafter’s Companion Stick and Spray for this.
Continuing with the same process, eBrush one color at a time, starting with the lightest, over the entire paper, including the shapes already eBrushed.
1st Color (CR6):
2nd Color (CR8):
3rd Color (DR4):
After eBrushing the last color (DR7), remove a few of the positive shapes:
Then repeat the process with the same colors.
After a repeat of the 4 layers of color, it will look like this:
Remove the remaining shapes, and once again repeat the process, each time making sure to spray over the newly uncovered shapes as well as the existing shapes, to build up the layers of color. The entire process really only takes about 15 minutes, quick and easy!
Once your background is complete, you are ready to add it to a project.
Spectrum Noir markers used:
Background: DR7, DR6, DR4, CR8, CR6
House Mouse stamp:
Heart – DR7, DR6, DR4, CR8, CR6, CR3
Skin – FS9, FS6, FS2, PP2, PL1
Hair IG9, IG6, IG4,
Nose – True Black, IG8
Grounding – BG6, BG3, BG1, Blender
I hope this tutorial has inspired you to use your Spectrum Noir markers to create your own one-of-a-kind eBrushed backgrounds for your projects. Happy eBrushing!
Clark's Crafty Corner 