of pencil, marker, gesso, and papers

when i first started working on this journal again, i did 2 coats of gesso on a bunch of spreads. though i like the surface of the paper, i like to be sure the paper can take a bunch of working, because i know both maralena and i like to work with layers.

above is a detail of a page i did using gesso, watercolor, and some samples of a wall covering foamy stuff which takes paint atop it. it's like instant texture. i really can't remember what it's called, but picked it up near the plastic window screening in Wally World.

what you see below is largely a building up of various layers, from 2-7 coats of gesso, papers, inks, or watercolors, respectively. i mostly added small elements to existing pages, or started the bases of other pages, including backgrounds and drawings.











the journal is finally showing some thickness from the built up pages! it wont be long before maralena's journal is just as heavy as mine. there's a lot of gesso and paper in these pages, not to mention paint, thread, tape, beads, charms, and artsy awesomeness.



more photos to come soon, when i've worked a bit more in my sketchbook, which maralena just recently sent back to me. woot!

oh, btw, these aren't all the photos of pages i worked on. when i first started this project, i photographed every little thing. i still photograph every page, but i only post the ones i think are the best to share. the others usually get posted at a later, once they've been layered up. or, uh, the photograph i took of them isn't completely crooked because the sun was in my eyes and i couldn't see the digital read out...

ahem.