Citra Solv Special Effects

posted in: CRAFTY HOW TO | 21

Citra Circles watermark

Today I want to share a technique using Citra Solv concentrated cleaner, National Geographic pages, and stencils to make beautiful artwork.  In previous posts, I have described using Citra Solv and stencils on already altered pages. Now, I am going to tell you about a new twist on that technique.

The first step is to cover a canvas with torn strips and pieces of unaltered National Geographic magazine pages. Yes, they do have to be from a National Geographic because of the process they use to print their beautiful images.  I like to follow a color scheme a bit, like colorful, or browns, or blues and greens…. Be very careful to not get the adhesive on the front side of the paper, as it will make it difficult for the Citra Solv to do its magic.

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Next, spray the entire surface liberally with Citra Solv, then cover with plastic wrap.

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After it has sat for awhile (I suggest 5 to 30 minutes), give it all a vigorous rub and peel off the plastic wrap.  Lay a stencil on the “softened” surface and use a paper towel moistened with Citra Solv to rub away the ink through the stencil.

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Pull away the stencil and check out the beautiful results!  I love to use these as a starting point for my artwork.

literature watermark   birds at midnight watermark

For more Citra Art, check out the Citra Solv Artist’s website.

I used Crafter’s Workshop Stencils, but any with a fairly large pattern will do.

21 Responses

  1. Kathy Hunter

    I wish that I could clone your artist’s mind! So creative, you are! And, a marvelous sharer. Thank you, Kayann.

  2. victoryrd

    I had to hustle out before I got to tell you how much I enjoyed your spice boys. Love them, and so glad you shared them with the group! Inspires me to pull out some of my assemblage projects!

  3. Mr. Rooster | from victory road

    […] I have had roosters on my mind for awhile now, paying special attention to images of them I see.  As with all of my pieces, they stir around and formulate themselves until they finally cannot be contained any longer and must express themselves!  The thing holding me back on this rooster was the background.  I just couldn’t decide what it should be. Then I hit on the idea of making my own chicken wire stencil…. with nice big openings suitable to one of my favorite Citra Solv techniques.  Check out a how to on that here. […]

  4. Bev

    How long before the CitraSolv smell goes away? I don’t want to put papers in my journal with this smell….

    • Kayann Ausherman

      The smell can last quite awhile. I spray mine with a workable fixative and that does seem to help.

      • Bev

        Thank you for the reply. I have just continued to let my sit out in the open air and the smell is not so offensive now.

  5. Estelle

    Beautiful! What kind of adhesive did you use to glue down the strips and what did you seal the finished collage with?
    Thank you

    • Kayann Ausherman

      Thank you Estelle! I used Liquitex matte gel medium both to glue the strips and seal the finished piece.

  6. Carolyn

    Beautiful and so informative. Thanks. I am curious where you got the stencil. It’s lovely.

    • Kayann Ausherman

      This stencil is by Crafter Workshop, but I believe is discontinued. I also offer my own stencil designs in my etsy shop if you are interested.

  7. Dalebroux

    Hello ! I live in Belgium and we don’t find CitraSolv here… Are there some similar stuff to use to have same effects ?

    • Kayann Ausherman

      I have not found any good substitutes, but if you have a concentrated citrus based cleaner, you could try that. Good luck! Please let me know if you find something that works!

  8. Becca

    Kayann, this article is from 2015 and I’ve only just read it. I have to say this is a beautiful technique. It is so uncomplicated and yields such lovely results. Thank you for sharing your technique. I’m looking forward to using it in my mixed media projects.

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