My RGAJ3 Mixed Media Art Journal is all finished.
It was a fun journey and I learned a lot along the way. The biggest lesson I've learned this time is:
"When you want to create art,
don't think, just start!"
This is the motto I used for each and every page of this journal. Instead of thinking about what I want to do, I can just sit at my work area and grab what is handy and use that until it's done. The same went for writing the blog posts for each page. Just sit and write, don't think about what you are "going" to write, just write!
Since this blog is about mixed media and art journaling, I'll list the supplies below and how they worked, or in some cases didn't work, for me and the lessons and workaround that I learned.
Enjoy the art journal flip here:
The Supplies: (The good, the challenging and the workaround)
Recycled product manual as a mixed media art journal:
- Advantages: You get to use something that would otherwise end up in the garbage
- Disadvantages: Masking tape: you would think it is good to protect the spine, and it is, but the gesso doesn't stick to it and sometimes even wood glue doesn't let your pieces stick to it. My journal is still in one piece, but I noticed cracks in the paint from the folding and now I see that in some areas the masking tape is showing and the paint/medium is threatening to come off.
- Lesson learned: Think about your binding and what will actually bind with the page and the mediums you are planning to use.
Recycled paper:
- Advantages: You get to use this piece of paper 3 times;
- Printing your stuff
- Mopping up paint
- Using it for collage.
- Disadvantages: I can't really think of any.
- Lesson learned: In this particular project of an art journal, I found it best to cluster similar colors/shades together before applying hem to my page. This way it is easier to see forms..etc.
Tissue/Napkin paper:
- Advantage: Always goes a bit transparent when glued, especially white background
- Disadvantages: Might stick to your brush when you are applying the glue
- Lesson Learned: Apply a very thin layer of glue to the surface and then the tissue/napkin, dab this down with your fingers and then apply some glue onto that with the brush, or your finger. Just be careful not to soak it or the tissue will tear as you try to spread the glue.
Transfer/Pattern paper:
- Advantages:
- It is always easier to write on the transfer/pattern paper before you apply it to your mixed media surface, as it will probably have a texture that makes it hard to get straight lines with your letters.
- It lets the color of whatever is behind it come through a little bit, which lets it blend nicely with the page.
- Disadvantages: Depending on the type of transfer/pattern paper you use, it will not go as transparent as a napkin/tissue will and you'll be able to see it.
- Lesson learned: When using transfer/pattern paper make sure to cut the size that will complement your page and the form, as it will stand out and you need to have it fit in nicely.
Nail-Art stickers:
- Advantages: They are ready-made forms and colors that have adhesive on the back and are super easy to apply.
- Disadvantages: They are tiny and sometimes hard to get hold of with your fingers. The adhesive on it may not stick on all surfaces, especially if you picked it up with your finger and your hands were a bit greasy.
- Lesson learned:
- Use tweezers to apply them and your fingers to press them down well.
- If they are not sticking well enough, you can always apply some wood glue or matt/gel medium. This will let them stay where they are.
Masking tape:
- Advantages: It does protect the spine from paint leaking to other pages.
- Disadvantages: Gesso will not stick to it, not the kind I use anyway. And sometimes, if you don't apply enough glue, in my case wood glue, your medium will not stick well to it.
- Lesson learned: An idea I got for the next time I do this, is to apply wood glue to a strip of paper and then stick that to the spine. I believe this will make sure that the spine stays clean and that all my painting mediums will stay where I put them. This is yet to be tested.
Wood glue:
- Advantages: By far the best I have used for art journaling (better than water-based as well as acetone-based and glue sticks.)
- Disadvantages: Lets off a lot of chemical fumes when dried with a heat tool or hairdryer, which can cause nausea and headaches.
- Lesson learned: When using wood glue, always work in a well-ventilated area. Use a mask on your nose and mouth, so as to minimize any possible inhalation of the fumes, when drying it with a blow dryer or heat tool.
Gesso:
- Advantages: It gives you a nice clear canvas to work on.
- Disadvantages: Because it is water-based it may not stick on the surface of the booklet you are recycling. As was in my case, it didn't' stick well and in some areas, it flaked off when I applied other layers of acrylic paint.
- Lesson learned: When working on a recycled surface, use white acrylic paint instead of gesso. If you need the grittiness, mix gesso with white acrylic paint, more paint than gesso. This will make sure it sticks to the layer below and the one to come above.
Acrylic paint:
- Advantages: Sticks to almost all surfaces, you can mix all the colors together
- Disadvantages: Can't think of any really :)
- Lessons learned: Keep using it :)
Fabric paint: (in copper, gold and metallic blue)
- Advantages: I got them because of the metallic colors that I couldn't get in acrylic paint.
- Disadvantages: They have a sticky top layer once they dry
- Lessons learned: Always cover with a layer of acrylic varnish (matt medium) to stop the stickiness of the top layer.
Permanent markers:
- Advantages: They work very well on all surfaces.
- Disadvantages: Some of them are a bit transparent, but you can just add more layers.
- Lessons learned: Sometimes a tube of acrylic paint with a small nozzle will give a better effect than when using a permanent marker, it's also cheaper.
Fluid permanent marker: (the white)
- Advantages: Will work on any surface.
- Disadvantages: You never know when your pen will be empty and sometimes it may not have a constant enough flow to let you finish your work.
- Lesson learned: Keep using it until it goes empty and then replace the ink in it with white acrylic paint. I now also use my tube of white acrylic paint with a thin nozzle that works very well for detailed and gives me a nice texture.
Ballpoint pen:
- Advantages: Adds instant dimension when applied around the fluid white permanent marker.
- Disadvantages: May not roll easily on all surfaces, especially wood glue.
- Lesson learned: When outlining white marker on wood glue, make sure to trace the inside edge of the white marker, this way you are writing on the white ink and not the wood glue and this will work.
Gel pens:
- Advantages: They come in many colors and a loofa them have glitter.
- Disadvantages: They will not write on all surfaces. When using acrylic varnish to seal your pages some of the glitters will be lost. If you use god/silver or white the actual paint pigments might move around and ruin the writing.
- Lesson learned:
- Avoid writing with gold/silver and white.
- If you use the colors, try to use them on paper or transfer paper, they work well that way.
Acrylic varnish:
- Advantages: It is nice to seal the page and make it water-resistant when it is dry.
- Disadvantages:
- Pages will stick together in your art journal if applied on both pages.
- Gel pens might smudge when you apply a lot of varnish on them.
- Lesson learned:
- When using gel pens make sure to only apply a very thin layer of acrylic varnish and swipe it only once over the writing.
- After sealing your art journal page with it, use a tea light candle to put a very thin layer of paraffin wax on the page and it won't stick anymore.
Paraffin wax:
- Advantages: Protects pages from sticking together after applying acrylic varnish
- Disadvantages:
- Once you apply that you can not apply anything else to your page.
- Your work surface will be a mess with wax bits all over when you use it.
- Lesson learned:
- Use the block of wax out of the tea light candle to apply it by scrapping a very small amount of it onto the page.
- Use your hairdryer or heat tool to melt it and spread it all over with your hands.
- If you get little pieces stuck to your work surface, just heat it and wipe it off with tissue paper, kitchen or toilette paper will do just as well.
