I really like the idea of keeping an art journal but I'm intimidated by it. Recently I joined the Documented Life Project group. The other members of the group are very talented and creative and their journals are beautiful. One member of our group had her work published recently in Somerset Studio magazine. Each month we have a theme. April's theme was Color Safari, exploring inks and paints. Dyann Reaverley was the guest artist. It was fun learning how to use the new Dylusions paints and inks and I enjoyed fun working with such a creative group of women who are encouraging and inspiring.
Here are some of my Color Safari projects using Dylusions paints and ink. This background page was a lot of fun and used very little paint. The Dylusions paint by Ranger is one of my favorite journaling products. It's thin, goes on smoothly, doesn't soak through the page and dries quickly. It's a definite improvement over the heavier acrylic paints. To achieve this background I applied orange Dylusions to the paper in a circular motion (with Ranger Foam Blending Tool), next turquoise was added around the edges, followed by grass green and then purple was blended over the entire page. When using Dylusions, a little goes a long way. Always dip the foam blending tool in the paint lid (not directly in the paint) and swirl the paint around on a non stick craft mat (I used a small white glazed tile from Home Depot) to blend it, then apply the paint to the paper. Keep adding light layers of paint until you achieve the desired color.
These next photos are journal pages using Dylusions paints and inks.
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| Annabelle Lee |
The background of this page was made using turquoise and purple paint. The background was layered using Stencil Girl's Square Dance (circles in squares) 6x6 stencil and applying Tim Holtz Vintage Photo distress ink to the stencil. The page was misted with water. Once the page had dried, Stencil Girl's Talia the Rain Goddess was centered on the page and Viva purple metallic embossing paste was applied over the stencil with a palette knife. Remove the stencil from the page and soak in water immediately to remove the modeling paste. Let the page air dry over night. Once the page is dry, outline the circles in the background with a black Sharpie marker. Outline the black circle with Dina Wakely Heavy Body Acrylic paint- Penny and a fine tip applicator to fit the paint tube (this is available from Ranger). Make a circle in the middle of the large circle, using the Penny colored paint. After the page is dry add the quote of your choice.
I was reading Edgar Allen Poe's poems while waiting for this to dry and decided to use a quote from Annabelle Lee. The eyes of the piece are mesmerizing and Talia turned out beautiful so I chose the line " The stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes of the beautiful Annabelle Lee."-Edgar Allan Poe. Annabelle Lee is being copied and framed to hang in my home, without the white gel pen quote.
This bird was created by layering yellow Dylusions paint over the entire page and then adding bright pink and orange around the page. I used Stencil Girl's Eyes 6x6 stencil and Tim Holtz Vintage Photo distress ink over the stencil. To cover the entire page, move the stencil around. Outline the some of the areas of the stencil with white gel pen and other areas with a fine line black Sharpie pen. Outline black outline with Dina Wakely Turquoise Heavy Body Acrylic paint and let it dry. Center Stencil Girl's Perched Bird 6x6 stencil on the page and cover with Liquitex Light Modeling Paste. Let the bird dry. Once dry, use a Bronze metallic Sharpie marker to draw in a branch and outline the branch with the fine line black Sharpie. Color the leaves and the bird's eye with the Dina Wakely turquoise paint and make a freehand swirled border around the left side and the top of the page. Let the paint dry. Outline the swirled border with white gel pen. Use TCW's Doily stencil and white Dylusions paint to add accents around the top and sides of the page. Once dry, lay the stencil over the white stenciled areas and add bright pink Dylusions paint. Once the page is completely dry spray with Walnut Ink Java color and then spritz with water until the ink beads up. Blot with a paper towel and repeat. Gently wipe the ink from around the bird to outline him.
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| Pearls |
While working in the Life Project class, we had sprayed so much water on our pages that the spray ink had soaked through the page. I was using the Canson Mixed Media journal and the paper was not heavy enough to prevent the ink from saturating the page and bleeding through the back. I didn't want to waste the page so I used the medium mask from Dylusions Flossie stencil and mask. After laying the mask on the page, I used Dylusions purple paint the cover the entire page. Next I used a Hedi Swapp stencil and applied key lime Dylusions paint over the stencil. The paint turned gold when it reacted with the purple. I outlined the stenciled squares with white gel pen (on the right side of the page) and outlined Flossie and added her pearls with the gel pen. The chain was made by making small circles with the Penny colored Dina Wakely paint. The Fleur de lys with made from scraps of paper using the Martha Stewart paper punch, after gluing them to the page, they were outlined with turquoise Dina Wakely paint.
