Today and I'm being brave and stepping out of my comfort zone a little, to share a bold and vibrant page inspired by the art of Tracy Verdugo.  My art journal spread was created using an array of my favourite products from sprays to paints - available from the Lulu Art online store!

The basic idea for this page is lots of layers, LOTS of LAYERS, each one different to the last, using different products for each layer, though I had to incorporate some of my absolute favourites!

 The finished page is super vibrant, layered and completely and utterly jaw dropping BRIGHT and I love it!

STEPS

Start by coating your page in gel medium and adding colour using Lindy's Starburst Sprays while the Gel is still wet.  

Once dry, use a water brush to add in a little Dina Wakley acrylic paint in several colours, drying between 'unfriendly' colours eg: green and orange, also stipple on a little paint through some Punchinella for extra interest.

Then add some extra shimmer by adding glazes and small designs with Metallic Accents paints, vary how thickly you add this.

Spray the facing page with water and spritz and flick on some of the same colour sprays (Time Travel Teal, Shaby Turbine Teal and Hi Maintenance Magenta), to create a lighter but coordinating background.  Keep working on the other page while this dries.  You will notice a huge difference as to how these behave and look, when applying over gel medium vs wet paper. 

Using a pencil or chalk, lightly sketch designs onto your painted page, make sure you include the best bits with the most interesting colours and patterns into your designs.  

Then use a fine tip white paint marker to trace over your design.

Fill in the areas between your drawings with white Gesso and dark colour acrylic paint (I used Night from Dina Wakley).  You can also add in another colour if you like - I used Magenta.  Mix and blend the colours for more interest to your background.  Add more white for a pale background and more of the darker colours for a bolder background - both look amazing.

Outline and embellish your designs using fine detail paint pens in both black and white to make your designs really POP.

Using black gesso and a bold quote stencil - this one is from Donna Downey, add a quote to the facing page to finish your journal spread.

And up close the finished elements look like this - no editing or enhancing required the colours really do look just like this...

You can watch the whole process start to finish right here - so you can follow along and create your very own page :)

SUPPLIES

• Strathmore Mixed Media Journal
• Dina Wakley Acrylic Paints: Turquoise, Night, Lime, Magenta & Tangarine
• Dina Wakley: White Gesso and Black Gesso,
• Golden: Hansa Yellow Meium Acrylic
• Liquitex: Regular Gel (Matt)
• Donna Downey Stencil: She chooses
• Pental Aquawash Brush
• Lindy's Starbursts - Shabby Turbine Teal, Hi Maintenance Magenta and Time Travel Teal
• Prima Metallic Accents
• Punchinella
• Sharpie Marker: White
• Artists Tape
• Prima: Frank Garcia Brush
• Golden Taklon Wide Brush