Showing posts with label gel pen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gel pen. Show all posts

Saturday, May 24, 2008

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.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

a couple of details + color fields

these are three spreads in order. well, more specifically, a detail of a spread, 2 spreads, and then a detail. you can see how the prismacolors + watercolor were used in the portrait. layering these two media is delish.

the blue is just watercolor over gesso. the last image is a little detail done with gel pen.






sometimes it can be hard to draw with the gel pens. pressure is important, as is the surface you're writing on. slick surfaces tend to work a little better than rough ones. with gesso, you have to be very careful not to clog the gel pens.

i love white pens!