Salvaging an Art Journal Page Screw-Up

First, a loose-leaf page I collaged that will be saved for possible insertion into an existing journal. Now for the topic of my post: Salvaging an Art Journal Screw-Up.

My page began looking like this: black gesso covered by white rub-ons. The file name is "Page-13-just-needs-quote". My troubles began when I tried to hand-letter the quote directly onto the gesso.

I grabbed some different Gelly Roll metallic pens, a white charcoal pencil, and a Uniball Signo white gel pen. And I just began lettering, first with Uniball, then with the charcoal pencil. I got bored doing that and filled in letters with the metallic pens.

Things were going good until I took a break to let my work-in-process dry and came back to check it. I took my finger and gently rubbed. The charcoal pencil, of course, began to smear and in that moment, I snapped to wondering what the heck was I thinking using that?

So, I knew I had to start over or cover this up, so I took a damp paper towel and I was amazed at how easily the gel pen came off! I was under the impression that once dry, it was permanent. Maybe so to a gentle dry rub, but not waterproof. Hmm, good to know. This is where some lesson-learning comes in. Might as well, make lemonade, lol.

I  kept wiping until I got it all off, then I painted over it with some black acrylic. You can see where, because the gesso is glossier than the matte acrylic. Since I decided I'd spent enough time on this spread, I have opted to find a nice font and create a quote in PSE to cover the black, maybe print on vellum or deli paper for some transparency. The black splotching will be covered and muted.

You can also see the right hand page in this photo. I layered some scrap card stock strips and squares onto the page, then painted with Lumiere White, then added some black rub-ons to each square. I found some quote strips in my stash that go along with the left hand quote, and will add to the white areas between the squares. And call it done. Stay tuned for that. Once again I have to make some cards, but should be back with at least cards.

Oh, why does the spread look this way? I was looking for a way to use up those rub-ons, plus check out how black gesso plays. The curse of having too much stuff is that it completely rules what you make. They neglect to mention that when they're addicting you, haha.

Thanks for stopping by. I love reading any and all comments! xoxo