From this, to that! When I stopped working on the art journal, the front looked like this.
The doll and hand were already glued down, but the doll wasn‘t finished.
The flap, which folds over from the back to keep the journal closed, had nothing done to it after the book was assembled. But that‘s good, because I can show you the process I used.
I used coordinated Copic markers to color in the black and white design stripes.
When that was dry, I painted over the flap with inexpensive acrylic craft paint, the kind that comes in the little bottles. I also sponged some of the paint through stencils onto the flap.
Now I was down to the part I was most worried about. It was one of the things that was stopping me from getting the journal finished: How to get the words for the title onto the flap. I ended up “cheating” and used my Sizzix to cut letters and glued them into place.
I felt the letters needed more contrast, so I used a purple Derwent Graphik paint pen and a lighter purple Copic pen to accent the letters.
Then I used colored pencils to add accents to the doll and her clothes.
One of the things that was blocking me from moving forward was including my own writing. My actual handwriting isn‘t legible. I print everything and have since I was a freshman in high school. But I really wanted to include stories with the pictures in this journal.
I decided it would be OK to print the words, and I discovered a trick: First, I printed the words using a paint pen that was a color that kind of blended into the background. Then, I retraced the words with a contrasting color pen. This worked great and I was able to correct a couple of minor mistakes without it being obvious!
The words on the page are:
“Then: She spent the entire morning, dragging her red wagon along behind her, while she collected every yard ornament from every house in the neighborhood. Every gnome, sun globe, squirrel, flamingo and plastic flower was carefully arranged in her own front yard. Her Mother was not pleased!
Now: Her installations are featured in the most prestigious VR museums and holographic collections. She is pleased with herself.”
I added some more details to the page: More shadow for the doll and the hand, hair enhancements, and I darkened the edge of the page to frame it.
At the top of this post, you can see what it looks like with the back flap folded over. I also darkened the edges of the flap to match.
I‘m glad I decided to pick up this project and finish it. I‘m very happy with the results.
Tandika*