more decorated pages...

Hello! Thanks for visiting. I'm continuing to enjoy taking my Decorated Page workshop, and I wanted to show you my latest progess.



Next up after Lesson 1, was decorating our journal covers. I found this cool crown on the cover of an old paperback book I was trashing, so it was the inspiration. I also had some very old Scenic Route paper, letter sticker squares and square brads. I was going for a medieval royal English take on it, like 'decorated by royalty', a pun on the title, since my journal pages are decorated, too. :-)))

I created this by first gessoing the cover, then painting it black with a little azo gold glaze mixed in. I collaged the papers on, then brushed on some micaceous iron oxide (and blotted some of it off with a paper towel), followed by another glazing of the azo gold. Then I adhered all of the other stuff. That was Lesson 2.



Next up was Lesson 3, which included several techniques for prepping page backgrounds. This was an exercise in using poured acrylic paint on a page. Some people did exactly what was instructed in the book and had some messy accidents, because we were supposed to dilute the paint a lot with water. You know me, I couldn't bring myself to do that. So, I began by blobbing on tiny dots of paint on one page and smacking the 2-page spread together, then pulling apart. Then, I did it again with a little dilution. Then, a third time with more dilution.

Next technique was watercolor washes. Now, I suck at watercoloring, no doubt about it.



My first attempt is above. I tried the traditional method of watercoloring: activating dry pan colors and brushing on left to right, top to bottom. You can see every single boo-boo stroke. Thank goodness that watercolor is okay to look imperfect.



Second attempt, above. Things are looking better, eh? Practice makes perfect, but I also switched my brush out. Ya gotta have the right brush, I guess.



This wasn't even part of the assignment, LOL. I just decided to color with my watercolors. Totally hand drawn and primitive. I think I will journal in the center boxes.



Here is another detour I took. I was having a convo in the workshop with Tim and she said she uses her watercolor pencils. I was like, how can you get such a smooth surface blend with those (a wash is supposed to be smooth). Then I thought, baby wipe? So...

LAB EXPERIMENT!

Above is my first try and wow, did it work awesomely! I've named this technique "watercolor rub". Thanks for inspiring me, Tim!



And here is another try at watercolor rub. This time I used different but complementary colors, orange and yellow. Don't know about you, but I plan to use this technique a LOT. All you do is apply color with your pencil liberally, then rub it gently with a baby wipe. Be warned, though: the harder you rub, the more you rub off, so go gently into that good wash, lol.



Last watercolor technique was to lay down a wet wash of watercolor and then scrunch some saran wrap and lay it down for 5-10 minutes, then pull off. I did not really care for this one, but I did it instead of another option, which was to add table salt, which I liked less.



This technique was to sponge on some acrylic paint using a stencil of some sort. I chose a piece of sequin waste as my stencil.



And, next was to sponge on some ink using tape to divide it and create a pattern. I used that blue painter's tape (stuck it to my clothes first to de-stick it a bit) and chalk ink. This is one of my fave pages. Love how it came out (and I only tore my page just a wee bit on the bottom right when trying to pull the tape off).



On to image transfers (can you believe this was all on the assignment for just one week? It took me two full weeks, people, and I worked on it throughout. Phew!). By this point, I was just wanting to take the quickest route to finishing, so I found a 3M Adhesive Remover Pen in a drawer and I knew that would give me a fast transfer. I'd printed out some photos on my Laserjet of my favorite actress Norma Shearer. That's a toner-based image, which is what this solvent-based transfer will work on (sorry, no inkjet copies). This is Norma in her 1925 silent film, Lady of the Night. I've shown the original image beside the transfer so you can see how well this works (make sure you have proper ventilation cuz the fumes will overpower you).



Here is Norma in the title role of her 1938 movie Marie Antoinette, which I have not yet seen but very much want to, of course.



The final technique was to stamp a page. I stamped a lovely french flourishes border on one of my pages I'd rough-brushed with azo gold glaze.

Well, I am temporarily caught up with this class now, but Lesson 4 is about twice as voluminous as Lesson 3. Thankfully, it's the final lesson, so once I get through with it I'll be done and I can earn a real live certificate! And, the best part? Gwen Diehn, author of the book, is gonna sign them herself! Whoo-hoo! And this workshop was FREE. :-))) Check out Artists of the Round Table group on yahoo...they seem to always have a new workshop starting.

Maybe I'm crazy, but I just joined On The Wing's new workshop. It's called....The Decorated Page! Yup, doing it again, lololol.

Until next time,