31 Days of Scripture Art Journaling:: Day 9: Making Your Mixed Media Art Journal

Day 9: Making Your Mixed Media Art Journal 

(Here are a few I've already made.)

Oh gesso. Where do I even begin?

Gesso is right up there with coffee for me.

It's basically a primer for acrylic paint.

It's the stuff that stretched canvas is coated with to prepare it for paint.

If there's anything you want to paint

(wood, cloth, metal, paper, ANYTHING)

just slap a coat of gesso on it and you're good to go.

It's also thick, so you can make some great textures in it.

I love old books and I love gesso.

Could there be a better combination?

Okay, let's get going.
Here's what you will need:

Materials:

1. Used books
2. A big roll of paper towels
3. Water
4.Brushes
5. Gesso
6. Your favorite acrylic paint colors

SO I use old hardback books as my mixed media art journals.

You can find them for next to nothing everywhere:

garage sales, thrift stores, friends of library stores.

Don't pay more than $1 for one.
I like to use big children's books  with thick pages.

First, coat the cover with gesso.

Squirt some gesso on and wipe it roughly with a dry paper towel to give it some texture.

Then squirt a color or two, right on the page.
Mix colors on the page with your paper towels or your fingers.
Last, I cover it with a paper towel to get the excess paint,
and the pattern on the paper towel makes a cool "stamp" into the paint.

I like colors on the paper towel so I'll save it for later to use in the journal.

(first page)
After you've coated the cover, do the same thing to several pages.
This is the first page. I prep 5-10 pages at a time.
Put wax paper in between each page to prevent them from sticking together.
*The wax paper WILL stick some, and will rip some,
but I like the texture that it creates. 

 (Second page)
Sometime I cover the whole page, or if there is an image or words that I like.
I'll leave them uncovered, or wipe away the paint.

These pages are a little thinner than I like, so
I'll glue some together to make them thicker.

Now go!

(Third Page)

* A word on content:
At this point I have no idea which scripture I want to use.
I'm not really thinking about what the content will be.
I just want to get the pages covered.
Tomorrow, as we layer to build texture
I'll dive more into content.

Day 10: Layering with Paper and Paint

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