A Painting for Halloween

It's the first of October, and that means I am gearing up for Halloween.  I have an extensive Halloween collection and I can't wait to get it out.  This year I did not made a new Halloween item.  At the end of September, I decided that time was so close that I would do a painting instead.  Well, sort of a painting....  The background and moon are painted, and the lettering and witch are stenciled.  I used a round lid to draw on the moon.  The paint was so translucent that it would not cover up the light pencil drawing.  Trying to cover it up was just making things worse, so I decided to quit while I was ahead.

I made my own stencils.  The witch stencil was created by tracing a small wooden witch from the craft store onto a piece of manila file folder.  I used letter stencils to create the words.  All of the forms were cut  out using a craft knife with a sharp blade. 

I used the cut out portion of the witch to help me determine where to place the witch on the moon.   To make the witch stick to the canvas, I used a piece of painters tape rolled over on itself so that both sides were sticky.  Once I had the placement where I wanted it, I placed the stencil over the witch and made some small registration marks on the stencil so I could line it up once the witch was removed.

When I finished the background and moon, I was almost hesitant to put on the stencils.  I have had trouble in the past with paint bleeding under the stencil no matter how carefully I painted.  I was particularly worried about the witch because she had small cut outs that might be prone to moving around.  I found some craft advice that worked.  In some magazine long ago, I read a suggestion to spray the back of the stencil with craft adhesive and let it tack up for three to four minutes.  I used Elmer's Spray Adhesive and let it sit up as directed.  It worked well.  The adhesive was tacky enough to stick and keep the paint from infiltrating under the stencil, but was dried enough that the stencil came off without leaving residue. 

Originally, I was planning on adding Oct. 31 above the words, "All Hallows Eve", but it made the paining look crowded.  Overcrowding also took away from the background.  I really liked the background and decided I would rather have more of that rather than have more words.  I guess people will figure out what day it is from the painting.

This year has flown by so fast.  I can hardly believe that Autumn is here.  The trees are already dropping their leaves.  At this point, the leaves are just starting to turn color.  Some of the dogwoods have already turned red.  The Forsythia in the yard, have turned a deep burgundy, but the cool morning and warm afternoon weather is tricking them into thinking it is spring.  Many of the bushes  are turning purple and blooming with bright yellow flowers.  I guess I can relate to the Forsythia.  I am not quite ready to let go of summer either.