Finishing the 14-Day Art Journal

Here are the last four days of Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's 14-day mini art journal series.

Day 11 - Abstract (left page)

The technique for this day was to stamp with acrylic paint multiple times on the page and then color in the negative space with watercolor to form an overall abstract design. My stamp did not give me as abstract a result as Julie's but the technique was interesting.

Day 12 - Black and White Doodles (right page)

This technique was simply drawing lines with black marker to form shapes and then to doodle on the lines and within the shapes with both black and white pens of different widths to form patterns. My white pens didn't show up well on the black - it seems they soaked into the pigment so the result is far more subtle than desired. I discovered several dried up pens, so I was also able to declutter!

Day 13 - Mixing Media (left page)

This technique used water-soluble crayons (I used Tim Holtz Distress Crayons) and acrylic paint. Three colors of the crayons were scribbled on the page and then spread with a paintbrush and water.  The yellow circles and dark blue marks were also added with the crayons. In order to make this layer permanent, I used matte medium on the gel plate and printed over the entire page. . This is a great tip to fix any water-soluble medium instead of brushing over.  Once this dried, the light blue acrylic paint was added for extra interest.

Day 14 - Monoprint and Sketch (right page)

This page was already painted from the extra acrylic paint (blue) that I used up from the previous page. Then I used the gel plate to print a second layer with orange paint. When dry I sketched the flower with permanent pen and then used fluid acrylic paints to color the flower. Since these are transparent, you can see the sketch marks and previous layers underneath. I also doodled with white pen since the page was quite dark.

I thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with these techniques - some old and some new. It was a great distraction from what's presently going on in the world. Art is therapeutic!

Art Journal pages

Here are two more pages of the mini art journal class - days 9 and 10. I can't believe that there are only 4 more to do!

Day 9 on the left was made using the gel plate and a DIY "comb" to use for design and texture. Four layers of paint are on this page. The first layer was green acrylic paint spread on the gel plate and then printed on the page. The comb was made with an old credit card, cutting "teeth" into the side. Then a layer of yellow paint was added to the gel plate and the comb was dragged through the paint to make designs. This allowed the green to show through. The third layer was using white paint and another side of the credit card from which I had cut triangles. The card was again dragged through the white paint on the gel plate and printed on the page. And lastly, orange paint was placed on the gel plate and I used a cotton swab to make circles. I only printed half the page with this. It is interesting to see what each layer reveals. There is no limit to the combinations of colors and designs that could be made!

Day 10 on the right was using the gel plate again. This time a layer of magenta paint was spread on the gel plate and then the "tracks" stencil was placed on top. This was brayered over with a clean brayer which removed most of the paint from the holes of the stencil. Then this was printed on the page. The second layer was using the star stencil on blue paint on the gel plate. I removed the stencil before printing and only printed on the right side, giving me the blue stars. This same technique was used again with red paint and a rays stencil on the left side of the page.

I had forgotten how much fun it is to use the gel plate!

More Art Journal pages

Having fun playing in my tiny little art journal following Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's techniques.

Day 6 (on left)

This day was repeat stamping to make a pattern.  Julie used a nice tiling stamp that she had hand-carved. I didn't have any stamps like that so I used a zigzag I had hand-carved awhile ago.  It's not as graphic a result as hers but it worked ok.

Day 7 (above right)

This technique was "rainbow roll stamping" using a brayer with multiple colors and a large foam stamp. I had forgotten how much fun this technique is.

Day 8 (double spread below)

For this page we did layered stenciling. First a thin layer of three colors of acrylic paint was applied over the entire page and dried. Then a contrasting color was stenciled over the page. Lastly, a thick coat of acrylic paint was placed all over and then quickly wiped away through a stencil with a baby wipe.  The possibilities for this are endless, depending on the colors and stencils used.

Art Journal pages 4 and 5

Here are two more days of Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's art journal technique series.

Day 4 (on left) was using watercolors. Concentrated colors were used to make marks on the page (she used arches; I used rectangles). Then a wash of color was added to the background and, when everything was dry, the rectangles were outlined with white pen. It worked well, considering this was not watercolor paper.

Day 5 (on the right) looks scary! The theme was doodled collage. A magazine image of a woman was glued to the page and then doodled with gel pens. I only have a few of these, so had to make do with what I had. This is a fun technique and could be used in so many ways to enhance a magazine image.