Alice Mixed Media Journal Page (Testing Mermaid Markers)
Today I have a fun little journal page that took me waaaay down the rabbit hole, with one of the new Fowler Face stencils from Artist Cellar! Now for those who find drawing faces from scratch a bit intimidating, face stencils are the perfect way to get started! They give you a wonderful framework that you can play with and make your own. For this page, I decided to use the 1/4 turned face stencil called 'Joy'.
To start, trace the face onto journal page in pencil and add some hair. My page will have an Alice in Wonderland theme so I've tried to make the face and hair look a little bit 'Alice'.
Once happy with the basic look of the face, grab some clear gesso and apply a light coat to both pages. This gives an even surface to work on and will stop the pencil lines from smudging. Then add some Neocolor II Wax Pastel in yellow, and activate with a water brush to create your foundation layer of colour. I've left the yellow for the hair quite strong and only added a tiny amount of purple to create shadows on the face.
To make your pages match, add some of the same Neocolor II colors to the opposite page and mix with clear or white gesso to activate. This will give a paler, though matching background look.
For a little extra interest, add Golden Light Molding Paste through a stencil to create a frame for the pages.
Add a thin layer of white gesso over the face and hair before continuing, this both sets and mutes the colours a little. I added the gesso a little more thickly in places over her hair to create some variation in colour. Then go over your face in pencil so it's still easy to see.
At this point, I decided to try a new product that I hadn't used in this way before - Mermaid Markers from the Jane Davenport line. I added a little colour using a water brush around the molding paste designs and then spritzed with water, so that the colour ran and spread around the design. This created a subtly coloured border to the page and looks pretty fabulous.
Feeling brave I decided to add a little mermaid marker to my image as well, it stained the gesso and added a very purple pink undertone to the face - this is the part I call the 'ugly stage' and while it looks a bit scary it does add a little something extra to your final colour - so be brave and try adding a few under-layers. You can see I've added the colour where the shadows and contours would be on the face.
Now it's time to start making your image 'pretty'. Add thin watery layers of acrylic paint in 'Santa's Flesh' and a little white gesso for highlights. Adding this thinner layer allows some of the underpainting to peek through and add interest and depth.
Once happy with the general colour, use a black permanent marker to begin outlining the features.
To finish add some Finnabair wax over the molding paste to highlight the textured design and finish colouring the face with Prismacolor pencils - these are great for adding the last few fine details.
A little text and a few hand-drawn embellishments and the page is complete!
For me - if I'm happy with the eyes, I'm happy with the face! I love Alice's eyes with their little bit of sparkle from the Wink of Stella pen.
I filmed the whole process and you can view the clip below - or on YouTube of course:
SUPPLIES
- Fowler Face Stencil - Joy
- Golden Light Molding Paste
- Dina Wakley - White Gesso
- Liquitex Clear Gesso
- Jane Davenport - Mermaid Markers: Jellyfish, Beach, Bluebottle, Coral
- Neocolor II Soluble Wax Pastel: Yellow, Golden Yellow, Periwinkle Blue and Sky Blue
- Tim Holtz Blossom Stencil
- Dylusions Creative Journal Square
- Prismacolor Pencils: Henna, Pink, Hot Pink, Deco Blue, Non-Photo Blue, True Blue, Copenhagen Blue and Salmon Pink
- Wink of Stella Marker - Clear
- Sharpie Pen - Black - Fine
- Ceramcoat Acrylic Paint: Santas Flesh
- Finnabair Metallique Wax: Rose Gold and White Gold
- Sharpie Paint Pen White
- Molotow Paint Marker: Black
Hoping I've inspired you to be a little brave and perhaps take a trip down the rabbit hole yourself!