Zero Drawing Nautilus

Hello! I have a fun technique that I haven’t done in ages to share with you today. I remembered it as soon as I saw the new Nautilus stencil from A Colorful Life Designs. It’s called Zero Drawing and it only requires a few basic drawing tools, plus a stencil.

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I’ll start by saying that it’s great to have Pixie Spray for the back of your stencil for this technique. It will really help you keep nice, crisp lines as you work. You’ll want to take a charcoal or graphite pencil and some sandpaper and sand the pencil on to your cardstock. I used Canson’s Mixed Media Cardstock, but you can use what you like. Once you have a nice pile of charcoal or graphite, you’ll take a sponge dauber and run the dust into the paper. Fill a space that’s a bit bigger than the card front you want to create.

Next, apply your stencil to the area. Make sure it’s stuck down well. This is where the fun stuff really starts. You’re going to take an eraser or two and remove the graphite from the open areas of the stencil. I like to have the Tombow Mono Eraser for large areas and the Tombow Zero Eraser for small spots. Keep erasing until all of those spaces are basically back to white. If you’re using a stencil that has a distinctive outline, like the Nautilus, be sure to erase that outer edge too. Then you can remove your stencil and admire your work. It’s such a fantastic effect!

Normally I don’t seal my cards, but for this, I highly recommend it. In a pinch, you can use a Workable Fixative, but I much prefer to use a Matte Spray Sealer so that the image won’t budge at all. After it dried, I added a sentiment from Pinkfresh Studio and mounted it on to a black card base. I think this Zero Drawing effect is so cool. It’s perfect for masculine cards and will work perfectly with many stencils. Please be sure to visit A Colorful Life Designs if you’d like to shop for incredible stencils. You can use my code, AlFan10 to save 10% off of your purchase, not including Master Bundles. Thanks so much for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!