Art Journaling: Mixed Media Background

1. Why Art Journal? Introduction: Hi, I'm Jennifer, and welcome to this class on an introduction to art Journaling. Our journaling is a creative way to express yourself in a private journal, using found images and words over pages painted in a fund abstract style. Using a variety of different media, you may be asking yourself what is the purpose of an art journal? Well, you may use an art journal as kind of a vision board where you may map out in a collage format. Things that you want Teoh achieve or you may want to be working through different emotions may be difficult emotions that are easier to go through in a private way where your unconscious mind can unfold as you go through images and words and a private creative setting, you may want to play with different techniques like collage and kind of surreal images. Or maybe try your hand at drawing, drawing and mixing in some collage Hamas. They're also fun, for the best thing is just getting your heart out and get into the practice of being creative every day. And so through this class we are going Teoh, get you started by explaining what materials you'll need to get started and also like to give you a project. Your project is to create a background. Now it could be intimidating to just open up to a blank page like this. But if you give yourself a few look your techniques get techniques on your belt changing and stents lane and just making a fun, messy painted background. It's so much more fun in liberating to. Then go ahead and slash your images and words and whatever it is that is coming out of you to get it on paper and put it in your journal. And you feel good about it, too, because of something that you did and you put your heart into it. And that's what art journaling is all about. It is not about the final product, making something look just perfect and artsy because we're not all great artists. It doesn't have to be that way. But we all have have soul and things inside of us that we can process. We all are creative, so we want to encourage you to be creative every day. So stay with us. We're gonna give you those steps and how to get started and beginning with materials you'll need and the next video of this class will stick around 2. What You Need: Basic supplies: Hi. And welcome back to this next video That's going to explain what you need to get your background started for your journal page spread here, objective is to create an interesting, colorful two page spread in your journal book that can either stand on its own or be used as a background for some sort of statement piece, either words or imagery or both. So what you'll need? Well, first of all, by the way, this is sort of what your end project could look like. At least the color scheme is going to be similar in this case. Okay, obviously, you're going to need some sort of journal now. This has obviously become very thick because of all these thick, wet papers that have become, um, curled up inside here. But this is a book that I fought quite a while back. That has sort of thick pages, sort of a little bit newsprint E. So you do kind of have to lay some plastic underneath the pages to keep them from bleeding through. But anyway, this is a regular, large size art journal. That's kind of made for the purpose that you could get. Um, they also make them in a smaller size. And this one what the brand is Strathmore or something like that. And it's got much thicker pages, more like water color and they go by. Certain pound count is how you by you measure the thickness of your papers in our but anyway, so this is more of a watercolor paper, and it's nice, Um, smaller size can be less intimidating and just nice for traveling as well. Um, but truthfully, you can just go to the dollars door or any discount store and pick up just a plain old composition book that has the lines on it. And But what I do recommend doing is I've done in this case is I've glued the pages together to make him thicker. Just with a glue stick. Um, blue, about four or five pages together is to make it nice and thick. That way, when you start applying, you know what media watercolors. Thanks. That's the thing, that the pages won't just fall apart on you. Just so you know that you don't have to spend a lot of money and getting started. Okay. All right. So you need some sort of journal and for this background that we're gonna make. We're gonna need some paper scraps. And this is the more of a variety, the better, But nothing fancy go through your junk mail bin recycling bin or creative. I happen to find some old sheet music. This is for texture, that stuff that we're gonna be laying down beneath the color. Um, they just make it. Make it interesting and fun when you see just little bits of things poking through that looked really random and keep them in a neutral color scheme. See, here's something that's painted over kind of white and gray and black, some handmade paper old texts from some very old paperback books that have found more handmade paper. That really is a neat, moonlike texture. Handmade paper on future paper like deli paper, round a scrap of paper of a map phone book. You get the idea. So these little scraps that you need to collect to do the collage element of your background. Okay, so journal collage paper and I will put all these down in a list on the blog's as well. Okay, next, um, you will need some paintbrushes getting messy with nothing. Think actually. Ah, a lot of the spreading paint is going to be done with just a plastic old card like this, a gift card or some sort of store. Whatever you call that store card, whatever. We're just gonna smooch some paint on using a plastic car like that. So those guards hand if you have one. Um, otherwise of you are a painter and you have one these little spatula things. You've been a kitchen spatula. Sometimes you don't even need fans. I do have a couple nicer brushes. Not super nice, but just for trimming edges if I feel like it. But you don't have to have those I use Ah, kind of old scruffy, very cheap brush for applying blue and then a phone brush, because we're gonna be doing some stance. Lane and foam brushes are great, super cheap, and you can always throw em out afterwards. But I end up for using them all right. Like to recycle and I'm cheap. So So Brushes, card, um phone, brush, credit card. Okay. Wax paper. The reason you will need wax paper is because, like when you do this kind of work, it gets messy in wet and you don't want to bleed through the pages like this one did. So we use wax paper put underneath the pages so that it doesn't lead due to the next one. We have a couple of wax paper, handy and paper towels. Always gonna be handy. Wipe brushes off and to keep near your water because you will make messes. Um, water jar with water in it, you will need a little water sprayer. This just happens to be an old hair spray bottle that has a nice mist. Spray to it. So? So, something that will spray and mist of water, too. Blur some of your paints things when needed. And some paint. Okay, Acrylic paints is the kind of paint we use. And there are all different grades of pains, but I don't get fancy. Um, let's just stick with the colors right now. We're thinking of the colors. Um, you are going to be needing for this project. A turquoise, a lime green and a yellow thes two happened to be Americana brand. This is a cheap, just a storebrand. Find and notice. These three colors come from one part of the color wheel. Okay. The yellow through the green and turquoise over here. And then you're also going to use some contrasting colors, Uh, sort of a deep burgundy and, uh, well, like a bright pink or a fuchsia. Okay. And these would be down here on the opposite side because you're gonna be using these together, and then after it dries, you'll use that. You never want a mix these colors with these because they make brown. Okay, so when mixing contrasting colors need to make sure that these air dry before you add the opposite ones. Okay, Just something toe tuck in your brain and remember, um, about color. Okay. And that was free. Um, you will need some black ink. This is India ink. You're just gonna be using it as a splash to make a splash of ink here and there. And this one has a drop. Are already in it, which is great. Um, you can also use acrylic. Be able to just drop it somehow on your journal page, and you will You'll see how that goes when we get to it. Next. Ah, black watercolor. Cran. You buy these in a set? This is super cheap. I got these at five below store. Um, you know, you can color on something and then get it wet, and it makes a nice watercolor type of fainting. You can smudge it. And where the real fun to work with this is called Creamy Cran by Alex that I got upset with in the, you know, kids craft area at five. Below. Okay, next. Uh, just so we love Jessica, Jess, it was a very thick white paint. Minds almost gone this way. It's upside down and you use it. Um, first of all, it's great for covering up mistakes, but in this project, also, we will be using a little bit lightly to prepare place on the journal page to place your focal point image or your words. So, after all, would put Alcala Ron, we use a little bit of that just to prepare an area. And it's great for preparing pages like, if you did use a cheaper notebook like this, you could use some of the just line to prepare the page for the ink. It gives it kind of a tooth or an edge to it, so paint sticks better. So just so is your friend and that maybe maybe the more, more expensive item he might have to buy maybe $8 for a big bottle like this. But it's worth it. Let last for a long time. Next is either mod podge or I ran out of my mouth patch. I just use a cheap white blue, and I water it down a little bit for gluing on, you know, like thes collage papers. You wanted to be a watery subsistence doing that. Next, Some use stencils. Um, you can either get them in the in the paper craft and stamping area of the craft store. Or some of these were from a kid's kids crafting section some of these random stencils. Or you can make your own thes air all just for patterns. So this is an old dish, Matt. Okay, just a plastic thing that I cut just a small corner out of it and, you know, you sponge the paint through the tiny squares, and while that you got a pattern thistles, some kind of packaging that I rolled on some white paint and made a pattern out. So, you know, be creative, find some things that will give you texture in the form of a stencil like the think think had stickers on it. And I could just add the pain to their to give a pattern of circles through the empty holes . All right, uh, senses or stamps. Since we're talking about texture here, you can. You have some rubber stamps that have some sort of pattern on them? Um, does it good and just a black and could be fine with that. You have an ink pad with that, And I have one somewhere around here, it is fighting. Okay, there we go. All right, So you're keeping up with me and all these materials list them on the screen as well. Okay, just so stencils almost done here when we get to the end, creating our background, um, optional. You may find a quote that you like that. You want to put something on top your background. You already know you want to be a finished piece that you can even pull out of your book if you want. You can print out a nice coat that you find online and print it out on this was done. Some vellum, which is a thin, almost transparent kind of paper, and you can attach it to your journal using some very fun decorative washi tape, W a s H I tape that you can find in crap stores. Even even opposite by stores Have had this, uh, who will tape, and we're going to just use a black and white pattern just to keep keep it from getting too crazy. So it's stands out against all the colors you already have going on in your pitch. So those are the things you will need. I hope you can gather those things up and get ready for the next step. You also need just some kind of cheap paint palette. This is an egg carton. Make sure you wash it out. So don't get salmonella on your fingers. Um, I'm gonna use a little bit put in some of my paints. There's the top half of a garden, Just a piece of plastics. All you need for a paint palette. Nothing fancy. Okay, so there are your supplies, and we're going to get going in the next video, creating a collage background. So, um, we'll see the next video. Thank you. Bye. 3. Start with Texture: paper collage: 4. Adding color : 5. Stencil #1: 6. Fuschia Paint Dribbles: - uh 7. Stencil #2 in Black : way. 8. The Purpose of Gesso : Okay, so here you have a background that's halfway finished. Um, but you might be asking yourself, What am I doing? This looks like a mess. I'm not really very happy with it. It's kind of crazy and crowded with too many colors and patterns. Well, if that is bothering you, um, wonderful news. Is there something you can use called Jess? Oh, that will help you do what you would do when you refresh something. You pressured page on the computer. You can also refresh your page with some white, just so to lighten it up a little bit. So that's what I'm going to do in the next step. Um, just so is a sick, usually white, kind of like a paint. And you just use it to through brighten things up a little bit. And I'll do this speeded up so you can see how it turns out more quickly. And you can apply it in different ways. It could be really sick. Um, and then you can apply it with, like, a plastic spreading knife like that, even just a plain old plastic knife. Or you can use a phone brush or a credit card. Use all different ways to put your just alone. So I'm gonna go ahead and do that. And remember, heart journaling is all in a journal. It is yours. It is personal, and it is all about the process. And we'll talk about that another time when we want to do ones that are more project oriented. This is a project. But yet it's all about being mindful and keeping the the effects of the process as the priority. This is just making more mindful and enjoying your creativity. Enjoying the moment South. Stay tuned. 9. Lighten Up With Gesso : 10. Stencil #3 in Turquoise with Yellow Splotches : 11. Ink Drops: 12. Review: Art Journal Background Steps : Hello. Here we are with our peace in progress are art journal background. And before we finish up our final steps, I just like to do a quick review of the steps we've got. We've gone through to get it this farm. So the first thing we did, of course, is we made of some texture by laying down the paper collage and you feel that you could feel a different kind of papers and bumpiness that you might have on your paper. And then, of course, all these steps let it dry between so takes a bit. The next thing we did is we coat spread some cola, Ron. It's the yellow, blue and green. Then we added pattern with the different stencils. And of course, your background may look quite a bit different than mine because of the different background in the different papers. So don't worry about that. And, um, next was just a surprise blah church. You here and there with some inks dripping down seldom can't be seen as much anymore. But that's OK. You can always go over them or tweet him a little bit, um, blotches of ink here and there, and then we had some black, both in the stencils and in some of the drips. Just add a little definition and then to lighten it up, we added some Jessa where you see a lot of white kind of covering up some areas. Okay, so at this point, you might like to just pause and take a look at it. But don't let your inner critics get you down too much. Um, it's easy to do that. Just try to stay in the flow of being it being a process and not a product. Um, instead of thinking, Oh, this is terrible. Think of how can I make this more fun, or how can make this process easier or make me happy about doing it? Maybe Maybe you do want to switch up your color at some white to lighten it up or, um, add another stencil or something if it just needs something. But don't get too caught up in it. Don't overthink it. Just, you know, stay in the flow and just tramped. This is just get out of your own way and have fun with it. And it's it's okay to be brave and start over by Jessica and over it all. You really need to or, you know, take a detour. Had something that inspires you. Suddenly, um, just take small steps and don't give up. So the next steps you're going to be doing is to prepare for a focal point. And we're just choosing to use a quote, any quote that that you want Just some words. Of course. If you want, you can do it. This is your project. You can add a big picture somewhere if you want, but before you add whatever you're gonna add, you're gonna wanna make lighten up a space for it. So I'm going to use some just so, and I just can't reported into this little cup. There's the bottom and it's again. It's a thick white paint that you can just spread over it. Um, just a minute. Spread that over there. Thank you. If you think it's too too sick to see you a little bit, you could make it more transparent by spraying it with water. You kind of lighten it up a little bit. You still want to see what you got going on under there, but you don't want it to be you don't want to be overwhelmed. Too much college. And I'm gonna grab baby white paper towel and, like, even some of it off because you don't want totally obscure all that hard work to get. Okay, so you're gonna let that drive, and then you're gonna find your piece of data? Or is this tonsor whatever you want, Helen Piece. That's gonna be your focal point there. I chose this quote. Um, one way that you can do this. I found a quote by just, you know, my Google. They're looked up my fever quotes, and then I Google imaged it looked up, Google clicked image and found, ah, one that I could actually print out. Just make sure you don't breaking any copyright rules, but find something you could print out or use your own fonts and write it out. You know, I print out your quote, and I printed this on a people called vellum, which is kind of a plasticky transparent things. You can kind of see the collar right through it. So the next steps I'm gonna go ahead and let this dry first. Then I blew it down, but that I'm also gonna add some some washi tape fund decorative stuff in black and white to make it more definitive. It'll stand out against the color, and then I'm gonna add some, um, just edging on the edges. I'm gonna put some black, you'll see how to do, and then we'll be finishing up. And so I'll be really eager to see some of your projects. And I hope you're enjoying this. See you later. 13. Conclusion: and welcome back. So here we've got it. We have the final result of our art journaling class. Um, as you can see, these are three different journals where I applied the same steps that we went over in this class. Some of them came out a little differently than others. This is the one that I worked on as I did all the steps and just as a reminder, those steps as review were we started, of course, with the texture of the different papers that we laid down you can't even see anymore. But when you feel it and you look real close, you can sometimes see it needs to actually left those steps out. That's why they look a little flatter. Um And then, of course, we added color. We added texture was before we added pattern, which was the stencils. And you can also use stamps and other ways of doing pattern which will do in the future on this channel. Here, people would call it a channel, and, um, we did explain Ish is and drips. Some of those trips are more obvious on these other art journals that I completed alongside the one that I filmed and also see meal. So added the focal point. Place that quote. Or maybe you had an image. So I'm looking for other version of exerted. Okay. All right. Focal point. And then your finishing touches, which was the washi tape. And also the black edging on the top in the sides. Okay, All the edges, the paper there edging. And this one just came out kind of muddy, so I'm not as thrilled. But that's the wonderful thing about art. Journaling is you. You're don't you just close it up in here, look, And you put it on a shelf and you show people the ones you like, and you just keep the others for yourself and you enjoy the looking back of the process. And you think about what you liked about about making them. And I do hope that you had fun taking this class, this basic art journaling class. And I hope that you will go ahead and finish your projects and share them. Please upload them on this page where you can a blood your your products, your compositions, or whatever you want to call him and, um, leave it leave Comments. I want to hear from you. I'd love to give you any answer. Any questions you might have about art? Journaling. And please come back. I'm This is my first video here, but I've got lots of other ideas. Things I want to share. So come on back to Jennifer Storm Nelson, Seoul Studios, Seoul Storm Studios here on skills share. Thank you. I hope you had a good time.