GOD ONLY KNOWS ALTERED PLAYING CARD

Hello Creative Carte Blanche Community and every one else who's stopping by my blog today!  I'm so glad you're here.

This month, the lovely Linda Ledbetter is hosting our unique adventure.  For your inspiration, please check out THIS VIDEO on Youtube.  It's an amazing conglomeration of visual delight and various talented musical artists coming together to recreate that old Beach Boys 1966 classic "God Only Knows".

We are asking you to stretch your imagination and use this musical video as your inspiration to create something; anything related to the song and link it up to our blog.  It will be fascinating to see everyone's personal "take" on the lyrics, the sights and the sounds you will view on this video.

As I was viewing this video, I was overwhelmed with the bright colors, the whimsical flowers, hot air balloons and cloud like images that seemed to be pouring out of my computer screen. Combined with the wonderful lyrics, the song began to take on a whole new meaning for me and I tried to express that through the symbolism of my card.

For me, it's not so much a song about love between two people but the love we should have for all people.  In this modern world, we are all so interdependent on each other and wouldn't the world be a far better place if we thought about how "God only knows what I'd be without you"?  Thus the symbolism of my piece.

This was my first time to alter a playing card.  I had so much fun!  This is one of those pieces that came together in no time.  It's a small work surface so that helped but I tried to create a lot of meaning, detail and dimension in that small space that shared the feelings I experienced while viewing the video. That was a bit more challenging.  But I did it and here is my finished altered playing card ...

I used primarily DecoArt Media products but you can use whatever acrylic paints and other mediums you choose.  Here's the steps in creating this altered playing card:

I began with a regular playing card, a die cut of Tim Holtz' Vintage Globe (cut from plain Grungeboard) from his Movers and Shapers Vintage Fan and Globe set, and some die cut mini people from Tando Creations.   

I painted a healthy coat of DecoArt media Gesso over the surface of the playing card and also over the surface of the die cut globe. 

I heat set the Gesso on the playing card and purposefully got the card a little too hot to make the Gesso bubble on the surface.  I liked the texture it created!

Once the Gesso was dry, I added DecoArt Media Modeling Paste to the continents of the globe to create dimension and more texture.  Then I let that air dry.  

Note:  Clean your brushed immediately after using the Gesso and Modeling Paste!

Next I began to create the outer space realm for my planet to rest on.  I used brush and lightly painted on a combination of DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Cerulean Blue and Titanium White.

For more depth, I wiped just Cerulean Blue onto the card using a baby wipe.

To begin to pull the color into the center and create a definite darker blue edge to the card, I added Phthalo Blue around the edges using a baby wipe.

Finally, to further define the edges of the card, I added a touch of Paynes Grey using my fingers around the edges.

While the playing card was drying, I painted six of the mini people in different colors; representing different races and genders and orientations. Let dry.

Now it was time to bring "life" to planet Earth. I began by painting the oceans with combinations of Titanium White, Primary Cyan, Prussian Blue Hue and Cerulean Blue.

The water was created, now it was time to create the land masses and give them more of a realistic appearance.  The first layer was Yellow Oxide followed by shadows of Burnt Umber and highlights of Titan Buff.  Let all of this dry.

I added a bit more white to the background of the playing card behind the area that planet Earth would sit.  Then I glued the globe in place followed by the six mini people.

I painted Diarylide Yellow followed by Primary Yellow onto a piece of heavy white cardstock and gently heat set it.  Then I drew little flowers of varying sizes onto the yellow and cut them out to create layered flowers to add to my altered playing card.

I dabbed a bit of Glossy Accents onto the bigger flower and let it dry.  Then I added the top flower (using a dab of Glossy Accents on the back) to create a little bit of dimension. I then glued the flowers onto the green stems and let them dry.

For more detail and a "cloud like effect", I added a little Glossy Accents onto the card surface and sprinkled White Flocking over the glue then shook off the excess.  It left little puffy white clouds!

Across the bottom of the card, I glued my flower stems in place.  These would soon be covered by a "cloud" cut out of white cardstock and coated with the White Flocking.

Here you can see the added cloud and the computer generated "God Only Knows" title along with some little musical notes I drew onto the card.  Finally, I added Glossy Accents to the centers of the flowers and over the mini people to add a bit of gloss and also dimension.

Throughout the month, my insanely talented and creative cohorts will be posting their unique art to our Creative Carte Blanche blog.  You won't want to miss those! 

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope that my little altered playing card has inspired you to join us at Creative Carte Blanche for our September art adventure.  Just add your creation to our community by using the Inlinkz button.