Blue Archipelago

This scene is inspired by the archipelago where I grew up, which has a lot of stone islands. I planned it on scrap paper first and tried a few different combinations before I was happy with the placement of the islands. It is interesting to note how the placement of a stamp can change its normal application. The island to the top left, is a fairly small stone stamp, but its placement close to the boat makes it look like it is a relatively large stony island instead.

The scene is done on glossy cardstock and coloured with dye inks using a Stylus Tool. All the stamping was done with Archival Jet Black ink. At first, I was planning to do a black and white scene, but instead I added shades of blue into the water, while keeping the stones and the sky largely black and white. I added just a tiny bit of dark blue to the latter to make everything blend together. I started out applying Aqua on the sea and gradually built up darker layers with grey-blue and grey inks. I wanted the sea to be pretty light, so I left a fair amount of the white of the paper. Finally, quite a lot of mist was added to the water and the sky by dry brushing white pigment ink to the scene. Highlights were added with a white gel pen.

Supplies: Stampscapes stamps: Brookside Boulders 185G, Boulders with Lichen 205F, Foliage 035A, Leafless Limbs 053F, Reeds 067B, Rock (2) 130B, Rocks and Grass 301A, Sailboat 153B, Rocky Cliff Rt. 134G, Cloud Bits 292C, Eerie Moon 292F, Shimmering 286E; Adirondack inks: Aqua, Lake Mist, Slate, Denim; Distress Inks: Weathered Wood, Stormy Sky, Black Soot; Memento: Paris Dusk; Archival Jet Black; Colorbox Frost White; white gel pen; Kromekote glossy cardstock.