Art journaling

He is so cute!

This is the first project in the Blurred Edges class with Mindy Lacefield

She had us use a stamp in wet gesso. How cool is that?

The other page of the double page spread

More stamping into the wet gesso

Me working out some angst

Do they still publish Mad Magazine? This was the catch phrase when I was a kid

I love to learn. I really like to explore supplies and say, What if I did this? or that?

This has taken me years, but I have reached a point of admiring other's work but still doing what I feel is in my heart, my mind. I will let other artists inspire me, but not dictate as to what I am doing. I'm not sure when this shift happened, but I strongly suspect within the first 20 days of the 100 Day Project. All those tags. All those possibilities.

I thought it might be fun to pass along my current favorites in that supply department:

1. My Speedball brayers.. Can't do an art journal page without them. It is how I put down the base coat of paint.
2.. Chalk paint by Waverly, from Walmart, and Martha Stewart Satin paint, now only available online or at Michael's. Love the intensity of the colors and the matte finish. Your pages will not stick.
3. Black Archival Ink from Ranger for stamping. Always.
4. The Number 6 Catalyst Wedge. Holy Smokes, but Mindy Lacefield has taught us how to use this tool to perfection.
5. Derwent Inktense pencils. Yum.
6. Stabilo All pencils
7. PaperMate mechanical pencils, for serious drawing. The lead is fine (.05), erases easily, and applies like butter. Great shading tool as well.
8. Liquitex Gesso in the pour bottle, and Utrecht Artist Acrylic Gesso in the jar.
9. Pilot Multiball black ink pens in fine and medium nibs. Available from JetPens online. This ink is permanent after 6 hours of drying time. Up to that point, you can remove it from your page with a damp paper towel.
10. Caran D'Ache watercolor pencils, and the NeoColor II crayons. Double Yum!

I could go on and on. But you will note I did not say anything about stamps or stencils. Yes, I still use both constantly. But as I progress with this new batch of classes, I am finding myself less dependent on them. For lettering, like in the above journal page, I still prefer to use a stamp. That set of letters is from Paper Artsy, and I purchased them online from Frantic Stamper. Fun stuff.

Time for the morning journal. Enjoy your day.
Linda