The Past | The Future

Hello, dear Friends!

Instead of writing the usual welcome / introduction, I thought I'll simply show you this exquisite detail... :)

Curious? Enchanted? Wanna see more? :)
Get ready for another stunning art journal spread created by our wonderful Gayle!

Hello lovely Finnabair friends. This month I’ve worked in my art journal which is becoming one of my favourite places to create.

Art journals can limit “dimension” in what you do however... Too much bulk can make your book difficult to work in. So I try to compensate by using rich and or dark colours, lots of pattern and some texture, and hopefully keep it interesting.

The patterns have been created from 3 small pieces of paper, 2 stencils and 1 stamp. The texture has been created with Modeling Paste and Double Sided Texture Brush. The colour comes from ink, acrylic paint and Magicals and Art Alchemy Metallique and Opal Magic Paint.

And here's my step by step of how I got to the final result:

No.1 and No.2 I’ve sketched 2 faces in my journal.

(Note: The buckles and bubbles on the first page come from the page behind where I have done some collage work and not removed all air bubbles OR made sure I dried completely between all wet layers… Sometimes it pays to dry from the back and the front and make sure your paper dries in the middle.)

No.3 The small pieces of patterned paper I’ve used are from a shopping bag and are quite thick. Art Basics 3D Matte Gel has the body and strength to stick this heavy paper down easily.

No.4 Adding some ‘soft’ texture using Modeling Paste through a stencil. Part of the patterned paper had an animal print on it. I have tried to continue this “print” into my page by just painting it on with acrylic paint.

No.5 The pink “splattered” background was done by tapping Magical powder onto paper that had been misted with water. To prevent the Magical Powder from going all over the faces, they were given a coat of masking fluid.

No.6 Using Modeling Paste, more texture can be added using a Double Sided Texture Brush to drag through (so much fun, I love using these brushes for creating all sorts of interesting textures and patterns).

No.7 When the Modeling Paste was dry, I painted over it with Art Alchemy Acrylic Paint in Metallique Black Berry.

No.8 When that was dry, using a ‘dry brush’ technique, I went over the top with Art Alchemy paint in Opal Magic Rose Gold which created a gorgeous, glowing gold finish.

Here are some detail photos of my combination of Modeling Paste, Double Sided Texture Brush and Art Alchemy Acrylic Paints.

Also a Prima Vintage Vanity “Checkered” Clear Stamp.

Pattern details with Modeling Paste through a stencil and also ink through a Finnabair Prima “Doily” stencil.

What lies before us is “blank space”, we don’t know what will happen.

Let's make today rich and colourful and full of all the lovely little details that make us happy. 

Gayle xx

Materials used: