Hi - hope you are all having an amazing month - I know I am :)  This month I got a little carried away with an idea, and setting myself 'to try' goals - I ended up with a very long list!  I had been browsing on Pinterest and come across the work of Loui Jover who creates amazing art over the top of book pages.  Now this isn't a new thing, but I found it particularly inspiring and couldn't wait to try this for myself, luckily Lulu art has some great collage packs and I was able to grab just the kind of paper I needed to begin this project - some fabulous vintage book papers.  I also had a whole pile of Gelatos from Faber-Castell that I have been collecting and a few arty ideas and goals I wanted to tick off my 'To-Do' list.  I thought that combining these into an art journal page might be interesting.......

BASIC PROCESS

Use a beautiful matt gel medium to glue some vintage paper into a black journal - overlap papers so the white page borders are invisible.

While the matt gel is still damp spray and flick over a walnut ink based spray for added 'vintage appeal' - I used Moonshadow Mist from Lindy's.  Spread some around with a brush and leave some as ink spots for some variation to your background.

Next draw or transfer an image onto your background, I chose to sketch a face (more about my 'creating a face for beginners' method in the video).  I used the Pilot G-20 07 pen to draw this because it's water soluble and you can pretty much make it vanish with a little water when used over matt gel medium!  Great in case you make any mistakes.

Then it's time to use your fashion skills and create a color blocked face!  Start with the darker areas and add gelatos, layered one over the other to build up the layers of color.  Then once the shadows are colored, add the lightest colors - don't be too fussy, don't try to 'color in' just get the color onto the page.

With a damp angle brush, begin mixing the colors on the face, if one begins to take over, wipe the color off the brush and keep going.  You will get some odd little lines as you mix, most of these vanish as the Gelato's dry and you are left with a beautiful creamy base layer.  

Grab a Double Scoop Gelato (these are the BIG ones) and use this to draw hair - I really like using this as it's so large you have to hold it differently to a normal pencil and it was kind of forcing me to be more 'loose' than normal.  I found my efforts at drawing hair were much better than normal just by not being able to be as precise or fussy.

Use a brush to activate the Gelato hair lines and then drag the brush through the color to fill in the spaces between - this gives you hair, but still with defined shape.  I also added some color to the hair - the same Gelato colors I used on the face - just to add a little interest.

Now it's time to add a layer of matt medium to seal the color and add a little pencil work and paint pen over the top, just to add some light and life into the face!  These tiny touches of pencil around the eyes, nose, mouth and hairline really make the color on the face stand out.

The touches of white make all the other colors look more intense - it's completely insane how different it looks once the white is added.

You can watch this being created step-by-step in the video below.

I've finished the page with a little of what I call 'messy letters' - basically stop trying to be neat and perfect and just get it on the paper!  I can procrastinate for HOURS about how to add the lettering to finish a page perfectly - when what I really need to do it just finish it.

and the finished page.....

To-Do List Items

• Try Gelatos
• Try painting on vintage papers
• Draw hair with curls or waves (this task was set by my niece - thanks Charlee!)
• Work on using creative colors for faces 

SUPPLIES

• Faber Castel Gelatos - Aqua Dolce, Guava, Snow Cone, Peach, Caramel, Coconut, Cinnamon and Iced Rose
• Art Alchemy Paints: Light Patina & Rich Turquoise (Metallique) and Mermaid Sparkle (Sparks)
• Lindy's Moonshadow Mists - Bluebeard Blue Violet
• Dylusions Creative Journal Black
• Liquitex Matt Gel Medium
• Vintage Book Paper Sheets
• White Paint Pen
• Aquawash Waterbrush with Pigment Ink
• Golden Taklon Perspex Brush
• FudeBall Pen - Black
• Waterbrush - Detail Tip