Instructions

Step 1: Today I’m working in the Dina Wakley Media Journal. I started by spreading a thin layer of Dina Wakley White Gesso all over the page. I’m working on what I think might be one of the watercolor papers but I’m not sure. Regardless, I knew I was going to be working with Heavy Body Acrylic Paints so I wanted a good primed surface to begin. Once that was dry, I used Dina Wakley Glazing Medium on my entire page before laying down my colors so they would blend more easily. I pulled out the colors of a sunset knowing I wanted the top and the bottom of my page to be dark with Night, then I just randomly squirted paint directly on my page using Magenta, Blushing, Lemon, Turquoise and Ruby. I just used my fingers to spread the colors and lightly blend them together until I was happy. I used my Heat Tool a little to speed up the drying time but mostly I just let it air dry. The paints can take a little longer to dry with the Glazing Medium so it’s best to be patient before moving on.

Step 2: Remember, how I said to be patient? Well, that just isn’t my nature so I moved to the next step a little too soon but I’m so happy with the result! I took a flat palette knife and spread some Night paint on it and started scraping in some mountains – this is when I realized my paint was still super wet but I loved the instant highlights I was getting as I moved my palette knife across the page to create valleys and peaks. I was channeling my inner Bob Ross with this step!

Step 3: Now, once that was fully and completely dry I wanted to add my quote “My Favorite Color is Sunset.” I started by lightly sketching it out with a Stabilo all purpose pencil so I could wipe it away (or so I thought, it didn’t really remove the way I wanted but oh well!) Then I took my Fude Ball pen (this is the best pen for journaling – it writes over paint beautifully and is super dark) to go over my sketch and add my thicker downstroke lines. After I did this, I added a little texture with Dina’s stamps but I didn’t like the way it looked so I attempted to cover it with more of the same paints I originally used. I got rid of most of it but you can still see some of it, which doesn’t bother me. Finally, I wanted my quote to pop more so I used the Ranger White Opaque Pen to outline my words. This takes a little bit of practice and patience (eeeek, for such a simple page, I sure did need a lot of patience) you can definitely get it working over the paint. I love how a white outline just makes the entire quote pop off the page.

Here are some close ups of my completed art journal page. I love this page so much I can’t wait to transfer it to a large canvas! That is one of the beautiful things about art journaling – you get to practice different ideas and techniques without the pressure of making something perfect.

Thank you Ranger again for inviting me to share my art with your readers using my favorite Ranger products. This is one of my most simple art journal pieces but it has become one of my favorites. I love the colors and the texture of Dina Wakley Heavy Body Acrylic Paints.