Hi Guys,
Khyati here and I am back after ages with some art journal tutorial for you all. I had removed my video setup as I was not up to make some tutorials for you all however I will slowly and steadily start now 🙂 I have tons of video tutorials that I have shot but not had a chance to edit. Today however I thought I will share a step by step picture tutorial so stay tuned.
Before I get in the tutorial just a reminder that our monthly challenges will end soon, so those of you who want to participate do check out the link here
I have already shared some birthday inspirations with you all on the main challenge page and today is time to go back to basics which for me is anything mixed media. So today I thought I will share some simple art journaling tips and tricks with you using which anyone can make a beginner-friendly art journaling page.
I also have a free course on HNDMD course website for you all who want to know more about art journaling and want to start the same with some basic supplies.
So lets get started on our step by step Art Journal page
Step 1 – Apply a Basecoat of primer (Gesso)
You can use any art journal of your choice in my case it’s an old novel and since the papers of the novel are normally thin I have stapled multiple papers to make a single page in my journal. Normally papers are porous so whatever mixed media technique we do on top of it everything will seep into the paper making it soggy and hence it’s very important to apply Gesso first (trust me guys at the beginning of y craft journey I have wasted many layouts and learned the lesson!!)
This also helps me make the page more muted and give me a more basic white coverage to start with.
Step 2 – Apply your base collage paper – In my case it is CrafTangles Transfer It
Now that our base is ready we are ready to progress our page. Now one of the quickest ways to add interest is to add a base design to work with. For that, you can use anything like old papers, magazine cutouts, tissue napkins, collage paper, decoupage paper, deco thin papers, scrapbook papers or like in my case I have decided to use CrafTangles Transfer Its. The one thing you need to keep in mind is thinner the paper it will look more seamless on your background.
This is how my page looks after adding transfer it, I have torn the transfer sheet by hand before applying to give it a more organic feel.
Pro Tip – Also to add variation using the same transfer it on the left page I have applied for transfer it using the regular amount of water to give it a more seamless background. However, on right, I have changed the variation of water in some areas I have added more water and some less giving it a more torn vintage feel. This happens because the transfer it is made from paper which contains starch and it reacts with water.
You can see the vibrancy of the sheets in my next closeup –
Step 3 – Adding Gesso on top
Now for my layout, I felt the background was too vibrant and hence I added a coat of gesso which you can definitely skip if you like the look of your page. However remember that this page is now going to your base to work with things like sprays, pastes etc, hence I would suggest you go over with a coat of clear gesso if not white gesso.
Step 4 – Add some textures on top
You will need to now start to build layers and textures on your mixed media art journal page. There are many ways to do it like adding laces, adding another layer of papers, adding texture pastes. My favourite way is to add some texture paste with stencils.
In my case I have used CrafTangles texture paste with CrafTangles Argyle Stencil to and have randomly added it to places, again there is no rhyme or reason my logic was to cover more than half the journal page with some textures. You can add as many layers of textures as you wish in my case since its a journal page and I cannot add a lot of bulk I decided to keep it to a single layer.
I know it may not look much now but bear with me at the end it will all come together 🙂
Step 5 – Placing focal elements and checking how the end result will look (Optional)
What I personally like to do now is to place my focal points on my art journal page and see how everything looks. I have already fussy cut elements that I want to use from CrafTangles Wanderlust Element pack and here is how I placed them.
This is just to give you an idea of how everything will look at the end. Normally at this point, I also take a picture and keep it for my reference for when I will be sticking these elements later on.
Step 6 – Adding some more interest using flat layers using Stamps
Now before sticking the elements I normally like to add some more contrast and interest to my page and the best way I feel to do this is using some mixed media stamps. For that, I have used CrafTangles mixed media stamps and Versafine Onyx black ink which is waterproof. Having a waterproof ink pad is very important.
Again as you can see there is no logic to it my only thoughtt was to keep it around the elements where I will be placing and then do some light stamping at the corners.
Step 7 – Sticking the elements to start creating layout
Now I move on to sticking the elements using either glue to foam tape to add some dimension. This will create the main layout of our art journal.
Step 8 – Adding some pops of colour (Optional)
Now you can stop your journal page here and all the other steps are optional this is more of my personal preference as I normally don’t like my pages to be very clean and simple. I normally like them to look vintage.
So I have used some CrafTangles sprays in colours Lemon Tart, Soulmate and Bamboo Brown first to add some pops of colours and make the layout more balanced rather than having a lot of white.
Even though I have added a very light wash and diluted sprays a lot you can see the difference between then and now.
I further wanted to pop up the edges to make it look more torn and vintage and for that, I have used Distress Inks with CrafTangles ink blending brushes and you can now see everything is coming together nicely.
Step 9 – Adding final touches – Sentiments
For me, any mixed media layout is incomplete without adding a sentiment to help a viewer understand what this layout is all about. I use many kinds of sentiments like stickers, time Holtz chat stickers, CrafTangles Sentiment Sheets or even make my own using my label maker. For this particular piece I selected a few quotes from Tim Holtz chat sticker book and here is the completed outcome.
Some closeups –
I hope you enjoyed today’s tutorial. Link of supplies used are as below –
CrafTangles Gesso
CrafTangles Transfer IT
CrafTangles Stencil
CrafTangles paper texture paste
CrafTangles Wanderlust Element Packs
CrafTangles Art Sprays
CrafTangles Color Mists
CrafTangles Mixed Media Stamps
Foam Tape
Ranger Tim Holtz Distess Inks
CrafTangles ink blending brushes
Versafine Onyx black ink pad
Tim Holtz Chat sticker
That was the post for today folks hope you enjoyed today’s tutorial
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I will join you in my next post till then take care and Happy Crafting.
