sneak peek

i did a lot of work on the sketchbook (mine) the last 2 days, but i am too wiped right now to post it all. i chose an image from one of my favorite works in progress... this is a few steps back, though.

first i layered a bunch of ripped out pieces of dictionary on this page with gesso (ir already had about 3 dry coats), and then did another coat on top. when it was dry, i used a square punch to punch out two squares through the page.

i pulled out some old photos (from 2004). these are black and white proof prints of some images i took of my nieces, Brittani and Bianca. i cut them down to about an inch over the size of the window, and sanded the edges to be sure the glue would stick really well to them, and glued them to the back of the page, with the image showing through. i also taped the back to be sure they wouldn't slide around as they were drying, and did 2 coats of gesso over the back so i can also draw over them.



after flipping the page the right way to view the images, i edged with aluminum tape, and used a metal roller to put the 'stitch' impressions in. i also drew directly on the images with those sakura gelly roll metallic pens to add some color.

the text is from my (sadly) broken dymo label maker. it's the cheapest one... i don't know how well the more expensive ones last. this one has trouble punching certain letters, and the cutter has ceased to function.

recognize the song the words themselves are from?

of gesso + gel pens

i prepped this first set of pages here with gesso (many layers!) and some page bits ripped from my favorite old dictionary, which has contributed to many an art project in the last couple of years!

it's still got a very rough surface, so it's ready to accept any medium maralena decides to use, be it paint or conte crayon or collage!

i doodles some things, made up a little story about fish, and the last set of pages i started at Outback Steakhouse when i went for a family dinner. they were much amused to see me show up with a sketchbook and a box of pens. i asked my niece to help me (Danielle) and she started a page, but got thoroughly distracted by the cheese fries. kids today! ;)






my entry on the left here was done with sigma pens: pigma micron and gelly roll glaze. i heart these pens! a couple small accents are done with other types, and i went to the evil den of evil craft supply (nasty corporate empire), and picked up opaque white, black, and a set of metallic gel ink. i need a Dick Blick nearby. it pains me to give that craptastic hole of a craft store money!

we shall speak of it no more!

so anyway, my favorite part about these pages are the blue lips. i drew the whole thing freehand in about 20 seconds (of course it took longer to color in). that's always fun. it's a little distorted, but that makes it more interesting!

oh, yeah. regular rough gesso surfaces seem to sort of clog the gel pens. suck.