Easter Style with Stamps & Die-cuts

Boticelli’s Birth of Venus offers another classic example of thirds-based compositioSometn

The sky, sea, and land are divided into horizontal bands of approximately one third the image height. The groups of figures are arranged in 3 columns; the angels on the left occupy the top two thirds of the left column of the image.

oticelli’s Birth of Venus offers another classic example of thirds-based composition

I created this Easter Fashion themed mixed media piece, but something didn't seem right. The background seemed too close to the tones of the dresses and the embellishments were disappearing against it.     

I don't know why, but something in the flow of the piece or shape of the 2 dresses on the right reminded me of Botticelli's Birth of Venus, so I looked to that for clues as to how to rearrange the composition.
Boticelli’s Birth of Venus is an example of thirds-based composition. The sky, sea, and land are divided into horizontal bands of approximately one third the image height. The groups of figures are arranged in 3 columns; the angels on the left occupy the top two thirds of the left column of the image.

By coincidence (or artist's intuition) I already had the division of thirds, both horizontally with the central stencilled panel and vertically with the 3 dresses, so it was just a case of rearranging the elements to closer match that of the painting and using a white background. 

Have you ever tried a Scrap Lift from a painting? This might be a good challenge for another day.

Here's the final piece. I fought my urge to apply paint splats & texture beads to the white paper...white space is something I struggle with, as I am more of a "Maximallist"!

 Here are some of the techniques and materials used in case you wish to try this at home:

I stamped the dresses with DI Black Soot onto 3 different papers from Kaisercraft True Romance 6" pad. I chose these as they are lovely rose florals in pastel, spring tones.

For the centre panel I used The Artsplorations Flourishes stencil on white paper. I used a mix of Distress Inks and applied them with a mini Smoothie sponge. This gives a soft, blended finish.

I stuck the heat-embossed letters onto tags from Kaisercraft True Romance collectables to match the papers.

 

I die cut some roses, swirls and leaves and heat-embossed some and used Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays and pigments on some others. Lindy's products have mica in them, so this adds to the glamour of the piece and ties in with the gold in the embossing powders.

Materials:
Dies: X-Cut Alphabet, Memory Box: Pennington Rose Blossoms, Little B Bouquet, Poppy Stamps Small Marianna Vine outline, Bo Bunny Flourish, Joanna Sheen Swirls and Curls, Ultimate Crafts Rose Cutting
Stamps: Dawn Bibby Designs - Fashion
Stencil: ARTplorations by Stamplorations - Flourishes
Paper: Kaisercraft - True romance 12" Passionate and Paper Pad 6", Collectables (tags)
Embossing Powders:
Wow! Rose Mist, Mulberry Mist. Ultra thick clear embossing powder,

Inks: Distress Inks - Spun Sugar, Shabby Shutters, Black Soot

Lindy's Stamp Gang - Cactus Gold Glitz Spritz, Tres Chic Magical Powders

Challenges:
Craft Heaven - Keep Calm and Love Spring #18 8/4
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Stamplorations - Anything Goes

Cutsplorations - die cuts & Garden Party Fashion Stamploratons Product Used: Stencil flourishes RW