Memento mori by Lori Woods

 

Hello creative friends! 

Today I have a canvas for you inspired by the phrase Memento mori. Latin for 'remember that you have to die', it may seem like a rather morbid topic for a project but it actually reminds us to celebrate and enjoy life while we can. 

I loved the effect I got from using resist canvas in my last project that I had to use it again for this one! I laid it down in strips to create a background almost like old wallpaper. I then layered up various embellishments and mould pieces and gave everything a good coating of white gesso.

Originally I thought I would keep the canvas as a monochrome palette and used Ink Black acrylic paint to create shadows and highlight the details but I realised I wanted some colour. Purples and reds from the liquid acrylics range were perfect- I watered them down quite a lot which gave me a good balance between vibrant colour without being too intense. Again I got out my white gesso and gave everything a good dry brush to create an old vintagey effect. A bit of Vintage Silk wax to highlight some details and I was done!

I have a video for you here if you'd like to watch the whole process: 

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