GETTING STARTED

Things

A few years ago my wife discovered art journalling.  She gathered her art supplies, visited our local art supply store and started producing  high quality finished works of art.  I have been doodling in sketchbooks and notebooks as long as I can remember but have not created many finished works of arts.  As a product designer I lent my talents where necessary painting designs on walls, floors, and even creating a trompe l'oeuil mural , but I had nothing to show for my work but some tatty notebooks.  Here was a way to create finished artwork that was produced only for my own enjoyment. 
   My wife lent me access to her art supplies, she shared some of the techniques that she had learnt on youtube, she bought me an appropriate journalling sketchbook, and I began creating art. 

Here is the cover of my journal.  One of the techniques that I love is gel transfer.  This was painted with a square of white gesso, covered with a layer of yellow and gold acrylic paint, and then a thick layer of gloss gel medium was applied by knife.  The image was torn from a National Geographic magazine and brushed with the gel medium.  The image was then placed on the gel medium already on the cover and brayered down tight and allowed to dry.  When dry, the paper was wet and scraped away leaving the ink transferred into the dry gel medium.  IT WORKED!  A few defining lines with black acrylic and an old gift card, and then write the title on.  The whole thing is sprayed with fixatif to preserve it forever!

I am ready to start Art Journalling in earnest!