Markers & Masonite

When you talk about working with wood and mixed media, copic markers aren't really the first thing that spring to mind. But in reality, they're a really good fit. One of my favorite woods to work with is Masonite. It's a nice thick material, that's easily altered. The only problem is that it's really dark so it doesn't take color very well. So I thought I'd post a tutorial on how I work with Masonite and my markers.

For this project I used a piece of Masonite, acrylic paint in white, copics with airbrush, and panpastels.

Here is my starting piece. It's made by Coffee Break Designs. It's actually the center part of a one of their frames.
The second step really depends on what you want to do with your markers on the wood. If I want a smooth surface then I go with white paint, if I want a textured surface I go with gesso. Normally if I'm going to draw on the surface or apply pastels then I go with the white paint since the texture of the gesso can be problematic in getting a smooth application. I went with the white here, I just put a light coat.
You'll notice I didn't really cover all the brown; I knew that I was going to airbrush a darker color so it didn't matter if I covered all the brown, but if you're going with a lighter color then you need to cover the Masonite with a couple of coats so that the brown won't show through.

Next I sprayed the Masonite with my Copic markers and airbrush attachment. I used R39 for the center and RV99 on the outer edges.
When the color is dry I added a center image and sponged on some Panpastels with a dot stencil. The pastels go on really nicely--the acrylic gives the wood some tooth, which in turn gives the pastels something to grab onto.

You can layer multiple coats of panpastels in different color for a different look, or layer a sprayed stencil and stenciled pastels for a different look as well. The possibilities are really endless.
That's it for me today. Hope everyone is having a good week. I'm off to the studio to create more art!