This small piece of art was created last year using colored pencils and the “gamsol technique”.

I printed the quote from my computer and traced over with pigment ink pen. I colored the background with colored pencils and applied gamsol with a Q-tip. I applied gold metallic pigment ink with a Q-tip to complete the “nebula” look I was  aiming for.   I am extremely pleased  with the result, even nearly a year  after I created it.

Gamsol is a brand name of odorless mineral spirits, but any brand of mineral spirits works fine for this technique.  A search for “colored pencils and gamsol” on YouTube will lead you to many helpful videos if you’d like to learn this simple technique.  I first discovered it on the Gina K Designs StampTV website, which offers products and tutorials for card makers.  I created a second card in a different color scheme, which I feel also turned out fabulous.

The quote is from Thomas Carlyle, but I slightly modified it which is why I didn’t attribute the quote to him on the art pieces.  I enjoy creating quote graphics to post on my social networks and I consider the green art card image my first quote graphic since I jazzed it up with a photo editor and I use it as a promo image.

Read about more nifty art techniques and be inspired!