Whenever I buy a Hello Kitty product, I make it a point to keep the labels and tags that go with it. They’re too cute to throw away! As they accumulate, I figure I should do something with them so why not create some cute collage artwork with it? That said, the other morning, I was in an intuitive mood again and went ahead with creating some cool background. Having no idea what to do with it, I came across the idea of firstly using up my scraps from previous artwork. It was then when I began noticing my huge Hello Kitty labels collections and thought, aha!
Gorgeous Green Background
I used my usual Strathmore Mixed Media sketchpad for this (190 gsm). First, I coated it with some white Gesso mixed with a few drops of Ph. Martin’s Hydrus Liquid Watercolor in Hansa Yellow Light. I let it dry completely before spritzing my Dylusions Ink Sprays! This time, I went for three different greens: Dry Martini, Shimmer Cut Grass and Shimmer Fresh Lime. Shimmer looks amazing! I let the inks run downwards. The reason for this streaky appearance is that the gesso was coated using downward strokes with a short and thick bristled wide brush. Looks cool so far!
Making Use of Leftover Scraps
Once dry, I sprayed some finishing spray so these water-based inks won’t run and bleed too much when painted or glued on top. And now the collage begins! Check out the scraps I’ve used in the past. You might recognise some from my previous work. The big blue Hello Kitty I used for stencilling in Hello Kitty Blues. And there’s that Hello Kitty origami paper! This is when I decided to add some old Hello Kitty tags as you see below with the pink one that I believe came from a plush doll. I glued them on using some Matte Medium.
Adding More Cuteness
I went through some of my collection and found a few cute Hello Kitty labels and tags I thought would suit this piece. Then I grabbed some pink paint (Jane Davenport’s portraits) and made bubble wrap imprints. Hello Kitty faces were also added with a rubber stamp and Distress Oxide in Worn Lipstick. Of course, how could we not add Little One too! I painted her in with some acrylic markers and Jane Davenport’s portrait paint. Two of her in fact were drawn to emphasise the sweet happiness.
Final Details
I then added the smiling eyes for Little One. For the Hello Kitty, I had to cut out another of her face from my Sizzix die cutter to trace the correct alignment of her nose and eyes. I could have used the cut-out shape here but there was no room to. So now another excuse for more Hello Kitty art! As finishing touches, I drew some hearts in the background with my fluorescent pink Sennelier Acrylic 3D. Now we’re good to go!
It’s not often I do collages like this, even combining it with a bit of drawing. What fun that was! Something different, and it’s always a breath of fresh air to experiment with new ideas. I’ll definitely be doing this more often, especially since I’m inundated with all my cute Hello Kitty tags and labels. Exciting times!
My Kawaii Quarter 