Still going Strong....

Some ladies from my sketch group came over and we played with some of creative journaling techniques. I am having way too much fun road testing these books. The ideas just keep popping into my head and it's a great way to get loose and experiment with materials.

I am still testing the Strathmore Visual Art Journals, so far, all three are holding up pretty well and there are things I like about all three of them as well as some limitations of each. I am testing the 140 lB watercolor book, the 90 lb watercolor book and the mixed media book.

What you see above are two techniques I tried, on one page is a watercolor sketch I did of Chloe that I had scanned into my laptop. I printed it out, glued it to the page and then gesso'd over top. I will use it as a base page... for what? I don't know yet, but it's all prepped and ready to be used. The darker page is a mixture of prints, used post it notes, fragments of a menu. I spread Soft Gel Medium over top, then a layer of acrylics. Then rubbed on some ink and stamped some red hearts. One page even had some magenta that I accidentally rolled onto the paper. This page is also prepped and ready to go.

Overall, things are going well and these books are pre-prepped for further use. The idea of prepping the pages ahead of time gives you something to work on whenever the mood hits and takes away that "white page" anxiety that some people get. I can do anything on top of these pages, including sketches. It adds more depth to the sketchbook.