Black Gesso, Gelatos and Geometric Shapes

Hi everyone!

Today I'd like to share with you an art journal page I've created using black gesso, metallic gelatos and geometric shapes. 

The Process

1. I painted the whole page with a thick coat of black gesso.

2. Using a fine tip Posca pen and a ruler, I randomly ruled lines for the geometric shape effect.

3. These are the gelatos I initially selected, but I ended up swapping a few for the metallic ones as the colour and shimmer showed up better on the black gesso.

4. Random colouring around the page with the gelatos, leaving random shapes around the page black for more visual interest and a striking effect.

1. You can see here how it looks with the colour added, and blended with a sponge.

2. I then used a thicker-tipped Posca pen to go over the lines again and make them stand out.

3. I used this opaque white crackle paste with a stencil in various areas around the page.

4. Then went over the rest of the background with this clear crackle paint.

1. Here's what it looks like with the white crackle paste...

2. And with the clear crackle paint.

3. I then dabbed some Tim Holtz distress ink on the white crackle paste.

4. Which gave this effect.

1. Next, I used some Shimmerz Texturez paste with a fine circle stencil...

2. as you can see here...

3. and silver Texturez with a rings and puddles stencil...

4. as seen here :)

1&2. Then to add another layer of depth (cos I can't help myself!) I used Versa Mark ink and embossing powder to stamp around the page. 

3&4. Then some Dylusions ink spray over the page in black.

1&2. Finally, I used white Dylusions ink spray to splatter the page a little.

I added a little quote ("Don't sacrifice your peace trying to point out someone's true colours. Lack of character always reveals itself" Mandy Hale) with white Posca pen, and voilà! There you have it:

I felt this quote rather suited the way this page turned out with the pops of colour peeking out against the black background. It's a quote that I've liked for some time. 

I hope this has inspired you to try something a little different, or to experiment with some mediums you may bit have used before. 

Thanks for looking.  Catie xo

Black Gesso and Gelatos

Hello again!

Last night I did some experimenting with black gesso and gelatos in my art journal.

I've taken some step by step pics of the procedure to inspire you to play and try something perhaps a little different.

1. First I just applied a layer or two of black gesso to my background. The white lines appeared because there's already stuff on the other side of the page. I was going to give it another coat and make it completely black, but decided I like it the way it is.

2. Then I started drawing some circles with different coloured gelatos. 

3 & 4. I used a small paint brush and went over each circle with a little water to spread the colour and set it with my heat gun.

1. So in #1 in the set below, you can see what the page looked like after I'd added several different coloured circles. At this stage, I was just playing around really, and didn't have any set ending in mind.

2 & 3. I then decided to cut off some chunks of gelato and melt them on to the page for a splatter effect.

4. I liked that, so decided to blend 2 colours at once. 

1. Then, to create some different texture, I used my scalpel to spread the melted gelato around a bit.

2 & 3 & 4. More mixing and blending and melting colours together 😊

1. So, a little tip when melting the chunks of gelato: spray the gelato with a little water, then hold your heat gun up high above the page until the gelato starts to stick a little, otherwise it will just go shooting off your page! 

2. As it starts to melt you can bring your heat gun down closer to the page and use it to direct the melted gelato all over the place to create a splatter effect.

3. After I felt there were enough random splatters around the page, I used my scalpel to scrape and smear again.

4. And this is how we're looking now!

1 & 2. The page was feeling a bit chalky and gritty now, so I sealed it with some gloss gel.

3. It's a little tricky to see, but the brush strokes stay in the gel, giving some more texture to the page. Love me some texture!

4. I then used a white Pitt Big Brush Stampers Pen to draw some flowers. I tried a gel pen for some finer detail, and a chalk marker, but neither of those would work on the gel. 

1. You can see the butterfly I drew with the pen... Not quite enough, so I went over it later with the Pitt pen.

2. I then went over the white and added detail with a black marker (a Sharpie).

And here's the finished product! 

This was fun, just playing around with different techniques, which is what art journaling is all about for me. I probably won't add any words of wisdom or inspiration to this, as I like it how it is. Hope you've been inspired to try something a little different. Thanks for reading along

Catie xx