Tuesday's {Tips} Art Journaling Techniques

Many of you have been sending me questions about my art journaling pages. I thought I would take today to answer of few of them for you. Also be sure to check out the product list at the end. I will share some of my favorite products I always use and that are mentioned here. So, let's get started.

Q: "There is white 'writing'. What is that and do you mind sharing your technique? It's very cool looking."

A: The 'writing' I think you are talking about is the stamped text. I have a text stamp that I load up with white gesso and just stamp it on my page. Makes for another fun effect. I have used a white pigment ink stamp pad before but I find it takes way too long to dry even with my heat tool. The gesso dries much faster and gives the same effect. I do clean my stamp off in the sink once I have finished.

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Q: "I saw the typewriter in your studio tour, assuming you used that to type on the tag? Maybe not, because of the font size differences...how did you do it?"

A: I used my typewriter for some of the text. The larger font is stamped. I stamped the 'P' first then typed the principle. Once that was typed and I saw how much room was left on the tag, I stamped 'for His Glory'. There are also two different types of alpha stamps used here but both are retired. There are plenty of wonderful alpha stamp sets out there.

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Q: "In the background it looks like a page of a book is collaged?"

A: Yes, that is book paper (to the left of the blue flower and to the right of the blue flower in green). I generally keep hymn paper and book paper on my art table. I use it to dab off extra paint, clean off stencils and stamps, etc. Once the paper is full, I keep it to use later. I tear it up and use on my pages. The bits of collage paper you see are just torn up pieces from those pages. 

Here is a collage paper that I created when I made my last art journaling page. Feel free to download it, print, and use (right click and 'save image as').

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Q: "Do you prep your pages with gesso?"

A: No, I do not always gesso my pages first. It really depends on what I am doing but I will say for the most part, I do not put a layer of gesso down in the beginning. I use the Strathmore Mixed Media journal, and I find I don't need to gesso the pages first.

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Q: "What is the white pen you use for whimsical lines?"

A: I use the Sailor Mini Correction Pen - 1.0 mm from JetPens. Love this pen. Truly works better than any other white pen I have used.

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Q: "How do you START layering like that?"

A: You just have to start. I almost always dislike my pages in the beginning. But I just keep adding more and more until I finally feel it's where I want the page to be. If I don't like something, I can always cover it up with collage paper or gesso. There are lots of ways to start. Here are just a few suggestions:

*collage your page with patterned paper, book paper, or other found papers

*use stencils and beginning by misting on your page

*use a Gelli Plate and begin putting down acrylic paints

*paint the page with watercolors

*use a brayer to spread acrylic paint; there are even textured brayers that I love to use (see product list).

*use and old credit card or hotel room key to spread acrylic paint

*do a mix of all of the above and watch the layers form

Once I have that base layer, I just keep adding more of the above (paints, stamps, collage paper, etc.).

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Q: "Do you do process videos?"

A: Unfortunately I do not have any process videos. I have done a few tutorials on other art, and I find it very time consuming. Plus I never work on a piece in one sitting. I sometimes only get 5-15 minutes to work. I leave it all out in my studio, and just add bits here and there as I have a few minutes. I find this process really helps too because I can step away then get a new perspective on the page when I come back to it. I highly recommend that you watch these artists on YouTube. You can learn a LOT from them, and I truly appreciate the time and effort they put into their videos!  

Rae Missigman
France Papillon
Ronda Palazzari
Andrea Walford
Vicky Papaioannou
Katarzyna Krzymińska
Roben-Marie Smith
Lorraine Bell
jennibellie

I hope this has been helpful. Don't forget to download the collage page above and use it on your next creation. Let me know if you have more questions, and I will answer them in the comment section. Thanks for stopping by!

Product List (click product tags for more info)

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