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Paper:
I LOVE fabriano artistico (either natural or bright
white) 140 lb. hot press (smooth) watercolor paper.
You can get the best prices through
www.dickblick.com
or
www.danielsmith.com
depending on who's running a sale. I buy the
sheets in the 22x36 size and cut them down to make a
journal out of them. (I'll explain journal binding
in the next "how-to"). Anyway...of course, any
paper will do, but I have come to know and adore this
paper in particular. Try buying a sheet or two,
cutting it down to 8x10, and then just journaling on the
individual pieces of paper. Do not buy Arches
unless you do not plan on folding it. It cracks
along the fold and even though may be cheaper, is not
good for binding.
First Layer: Watercolor.
When I have my 8x10 (favorite size) journal bound and
ready to go, I'll just do a color wash on the first 10
pages or so (after those first few pages get completely
filled I then do the next 10 pages). I use either
Daniel Smith tube watercolors, Golden liquid acrylics,
or occasionally other paints such as fluid acrylics made
for pens or twinkling h2o's. I just squirt paint
directly from the tube onto the page and smoosh it
around covering the page with color. I
don't necessarily try to make any designs at this point,
but rather play with color combinations and enjoy the
process of painting. Try lifting off the paint
with a paper towel while still wet on some pages, or
just playing around with different ideas that come to
you. You can sprinkle salt on a watercolored page
but must wait a long time for it to dry. when
thoroughly dry, brush off the salt and you'll see a
wonderful texture in the paint. Also try taking a
regular old Crayola crayon in a light color and drawing
a random design on the page before painting. Next,
using the watercolors in a darker shade, paint over the
crayon. You will see a vibrant line emerge from the
crayon that looks fantastic with darker watercolors.
Second Layer: Collage. I
like to cut a shape out of a large color/pattern that I
might find in a magazine. For instance, look for
colors/patterns you especially like in the clothes of a
fashion magazine, or the sofa's or curtains in a
decorating magazine. cut strips, stars, circles,
blumps, whatever...and add them to your journal. I
usually have a piece of collage that I really like and
I'll look through my 10 painted pages to see which page
it looks best on. The image may be in pink and
orange but it might look superb on the turquoise page
you painted. start placing images here and there
on the pages, making borders around the edge and
somewhat working on a theme for the middle...for
instance, houses, flowers, leaves, people, faces,
spheres, triangles, etc. Have something in mind,
so you know which shapes to cut out and generally place.
However...do this fast and without thinking too long and
hard about it. Be instinctual about it and do not
think too much about the outcome beyond a vague idea.
Do not add too much collage. Pieces here and there
are good but leave yourself room for other layers.
you can always come back and add more. To find
good collage fodder, look through magazines upside down,
so your mind can't associate as well with what it is
seeing. Also...even if you buy my collage sheets,
use parts of the images rather than the whole image.
Be frankenstein and put different things together to
help it become more your own. (after getting some
finished pages under your belt, take your journal down
and make color copies of the pages, making reduced
copies and enlarged copies as well. Then use parts
of these pages in new and different ways in future
journaling pages.)
Oh and
about adhesive
for the collage: I've been using double sided
tombo mono adhesive in a roller. However, we just
found a new product which we like so much we are
carrying it.
(Click here to
order)
It is called
Trio tape
and has 3 different widths of double sided adhesive in
the same applicator.
Third Layer: Crayons.
This is my favorite part and favorite medium. I
use caran d'ache neocolor II's. These are water
soluble artist crayons and can add lots of energy and
color to your page. They also help incorporate
your collage into your page rather than the collage just
sitting on top, looking like you just stuck it down.
I go around the edge of my collage pieces with this
crayon, drawing a little on the image and a little off
the edge of the image. I also use these crayons to
change the color or design on the piece of collage
itself, making it more my own. Sometimes I use
these crayons to draw words as well. Although I
rarely add water to the crayons which make them into a
paint-like medium, you can do that as well.
However, be careful to just add small amounts of water
(with the tip of a finger), so you don't start wrinkling
the pieces of super thin collage pieces from magazines.
Fourth Layer: Pens and pencils.
I like neon gel pens, colored pencils, graphite, Faber
Castel PITT brush tipped pens (great for going over the
crayon and glossy collage), Faber Castel PITT
superfine in black (love this pen for writing...but it
won't go over the crayon), and assorted other pens I
pick up here and there. I use these instruments
for doodling, writing, adding details to some of the
collages, and basically messing around with lots of
details. The colored pencils are good for shading
and adding depth here and there and even more color.
Lastly:
I keep working & working & working on the pages, jumping
around between the 6-10 that I painted, always finding a
page I feel like adding something to. It takes a
long time for me to feel the page is finished. as
long as there are empty spots, it isn't finished.
However...when I finally feel like they are close to
being done or I am ready to move on to new stuff, I'll
paint the next 6-10 pages and begin all over again with
the layers.
I like to do all the art-ie stuff at home and do all the
writing when I am out at coffee shops or bookstores.
The two activities are totally different and you'll have
more success of you don't try to do both at the same
time. It is a lot of fun to be in the mood for
writing in your journal and opening it up to find little
spaces here and there on the pages that you have already
decorated. You fill in all the holes with words
and your page will be full, energetic and
done....although I usually go back after the words are
written and work it even more with colored pencils, gel
pens, ink, whatever I feel in the mood for.
lastly...no, I don't seal or spray my pages. If I
do occasionally use portfolio brand water soluble oil
pastels (which add great color as well) I rub them in
very well and they simply don't transfer to the other
page. I have a feeling this has something to do
with the good paper I use. It seems to suck the
mediums down inside and trap them there.
Good luck journaling. and most of all, have fun
with it. play and don't care about how it turns
out. you will have pages you like better than
others and some pages turn into one giant mess...but you
learn from these things. and for the record...I
have a lot that come out bad. But sometimes, these
bad pages turn into some of my most favorites, because
you put extra effort into them trying to turn them into
pages that work.
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