Step-by-step journal page

Postup jednoduché stránky:
Simple journal page tutorial:

 1 - washi pásky a potištěný hedvábný papír
1- washi tapes and printed tissue paper

 2 - první vrstva barev pro zmírnění kontrastu pozadí a barevné sjednocení
2 - first layer of paints to soften the background and unify the colours

 3 - postupné přidávání barev v odstínech žluté a zelené
3 - adding more paints in shades of yellow and green

 4 - přidání kontrastní barvy - růžové
4 - adding a contrasting colour - pink

5 - přidání vzoru přes šablonu (matná žlutá texturovací pasta)
5 - adding a stencilled pattern (yellow matte texture paste)

6 - ztmavení okraje stránky (pomocí hnědého inkoustu)
6 - adding a border to the page (using brown ink)
7 - dozdobení stránky (citát, foto atd.)
7 -  adding embellishments (quote, photo etc.)

Mixed Media Easter Eggs

Let me share with you my mixed media Easter decoration. I know Easter is long over but life's been busy round here lately...

PaperArtsy - Guest Blog Post #2

I was asked to do another guest blog post for PaperArtsy. The theme was "Abstract".

You can find the blog post here.

Thank you again, PaperArtsy team, for this wonderful opportunity!!



P.S. If you are familiar with my style, you might recognize this type of layout. I used to do quite a lot of these geometric paintings. This is a slightly different approach but the result is very similar. 

Two simple backgrounds

Some time ago, I wrote a simple tutorial for Hurapapir and I thought I'd share it with you here.

I have lots of patterned paper - nicely stored in my drawers... But anytime I decide to make a card or some other project, I almost always create my own patterned paper. 

I love making backgrounds. I will be showing you two of my go-to techniques for very simple backgrounds.   

3D-effect painting tutorial

I still get requests for a tutorial of “my” 3D technique which I “discovered” by accident when I was trying to recreate a look I'd seen somewhere else. [I avoid saying “invented” because someone else out there might be the original “creator”.] After several failures, I found suitable supplies and improved the whole process. It is now something I'm comfortable with, something I know very well, something that works for me, something I rarely fail at.

I tried to explain it several times but now I decided to make a video. (see it here)

I usually start sketching the outlines on a piece of cardstock/chipboard/canvas. I recommend using a thicker background that won’t curl. 

Then I apply something that will stay dimensional after drying. I usually work with "Potch 3D Effect" or "3D Lack" varnishes (see the note on supplies below). But you can experiment with paints and mediums and find a paint/medium/glue/structure paste/whatever that works best for you. I don’t usually use my paints/mediums on surfaces they are primarily intended for...

When the 3D pattern is dry, I paint over it with acrylic paints. [I sometimes gesso the surface first.] Crackle paints look nice when I have a more intricate pattern with lots of small spaces. 

I start with a coat of background colours - just a simple background layer, nothing fancy.

Then I start adding more paints on top. I use kitchen sponge to dab the paints on because it helps me to blend the paints better. Sometimes, I shade it around the raised areas with a brush pen (Faber-Castell PITT pens are ideal for this).

When I'm happy with the result, I highlight the raised outlines with a white contour paint. 

To seal it, I usually apply some medium on top of the finished piece - regular gloss or matte acrylic multi mediums, Glossy Accents or anything that dries transparent. Here, I used the same product I used for the raised areas (only a different brand - see the note on supplies below).

Note on supplies: 

• Most of the paints and art supplies we get here are from Germany. I'm sure there are similar products on your market. 
• 3D varnish: The two I use (Potch 3D Effect by C.KREUL, 3D Lack by Nerchau) are intended for “découpage” (napkin technique). Both are opaque when wet, transparent when dry. So they can be used to create a “glaze” effect (similar to Glossy Accents) on a finished piece. 
• Outlines: The ones I use (Glas-konturen Paste (Outlining Glass Paste) by C.KREUL, Relief Paste by Marabu, Cerne Relief Paint by Pebeo) are intended for glass art - to create an outline on glass or porcelain which you then colour in with paints. But because they are water based, I use them in my art. I tried Enamel Accents but the consistency is too thin for a detailed outline. Stickles might work too... The key is in the thin applicator and thick consistency of the paint.

Here are some other examples (more on my Flickr):

altered painter's palette 

a canvas

I call them doodle-tiles, I'm not sure what they are 

good for but I had fun making them ;-)

Thank you.

Gelly Gelatos

Valentine's Day is not my thing... Don't get me wrong, I'm a hopeless romantic but all this commercial circus around this particular day makes me uneasy. We didn't even celebrate Valentine's day in my country until very recently.
But this year, I was challenged by Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft to create a project related to Valentine's Day - and - most importantly - I had a Gelatos technique to test...

So, this is what I created:

First, I glued down some heart cuts (remember, I got a Silhouette Portrait - I'm keeping it busy) and then I stencilled more hearts using moulding paste.

I gessoed the whole thing.

(detail)

Then I added Gelatos...

... and blended them with my fingers.

Then I took Gel medium and dabbed it on the Gelatos with a piece of foam.

Just tapping the gel on...

 (detail - sponged area vs. non-sponged)

To make the shapes stand out more, I added some shading with Dark Sepia PITT Artist pen.

Then, I used acrylic inks for drippage (sorry, I forgot to take pictures of this phase). Finally, I added the quote and embellished the finished piece with tiny hearts.

I used the same technique for these two cards:

... and this doorhanger (though, I might have overdone the drippage part).

So now, I think, I can safely pronounce this technique tested. ;-)

Revisiting one of my old techniques

During one of my show-and-tell U-streams, I showed some of my ancient artwork - by "ancient" I mean something did more than 10 years ago...
Some of them featured a technique I developed and used for some time. It is a bit messy, so I abandoned it never to return to it. But never say never.

Two details of the effect achieved using this technique:

Awakening my ancient muses, I decided to make a journal page using this technique. So here's another step-by-step tutorial:

1 - You will need watercolour pencils (you will be destroying them, so I recommend using cheap ones). Remove the wood from your pencils - you will need only the leads for this technique.

2 - Now, crush the leads.

3 - Spray your paper with water and start sprinkling the powder on top of it. You can either go for random patterns, or you can mask some areas out and use different colours on them later (just like I did on the first image on the top of the post).

5 - Spray with water. You now need the powder to activate with water, so be generous. [Note: You can see I used too much of the powder here so it is a bit muddy.]

If you want to distribute the colour more or create patterns, you can use a sponge dauber to distribute the wet "mud" all around the page (see the second image of this post).

6 - Let it dry completely and then scrape the excess pieces of the powder away. I use a metal paper clip that has a straight sharp edge. Keep removing the pieces until the paper is nice and smooth. Be careful not to tear the paper - just remove the bumps on the surface.

You can get better patterns if you are less generous with the powder (this is the sample from the YT video):

... compared to what I got here in my art journal:

And this is the finished "O is for Obstacles" page in my Alpha Journal:

[quote by Fontenelle]

I promised to do a YouTube video - so here it is.