"Beautiful" art journal page by Sue Plumb

Hi everyone!

Sue Plumb here to share my latest design team project with you. Today I have an art journal page to share using the BRAND NEW Colour Artist Inks. I was so excited to get my hands on these, and I have to say I am in love with them already! 

Beside the inks; I also used both black and white heavy gesso; Colour Paste and a Colour Spray.

Here is my complete page...

Below is a step-by-step process of how I created this. Hopefully, you will be inspired to follow along and create your own journal page or artwork.

Start with some collage materials and a matte medium. I used sheet music and a paper napkin. Tear up some pieces and adhere them onto your page. 

Choose any materials you wish for this step - you might like to use tissue paper, paper doilies, patterned paper - use your imagination and whatever you have on hand.

Next, take a few Colour Artist Inks (I recommend using similar colours, so when they blend you will not make "mud"); and using a small brush, apply the colours randomly around the page. (I used Lime, Mermaid and Oasis.) If you want them to blend and run into one another, you can spray the page with a small amount of water first so you are working wet on wet. Once you are happy with the colour, dry your page thoroughly before moving onto the next step.

Next, I took a small face stencil (this one is by The Crafters Workshop) and traced through the design using a Sharpie pen. (If you have good drawing skills, you may prefer to draw your own, or alternatively, you could use an image cut from a magazine.) This becomes the focal image of your page.

Once I had the outline in place, I then took a finer tip Sharpie and scribbled over and around the lines to give it a rough, sketched look.

Now my page needed some extra texture and contrasting colour; so I chose Lovely Lilac Colour Paste and used a palette knife to add some highlights through her hair and few extra smears around the page. 

I decided my page still needed a bit of extra contrast, so this time I took my Slipper Colour Artist Ink (which I already had in a water pen, but you can just use a brush dipped in the jar). I added a few swipes onto the face and around the page where I felt it needed some added depth.

Next, it was time to break out the black and white heavy gesso. I used the gesso to help tone down the colour in some areas and add darker shading in others, which provides cohesion for the existing layers, and helps bring the focal areas of the page to the front. (In this case the spot where my quote was going to be placed was my primary focal area; and the face was my secondary focal point.)

I started by applying the heavy white gesso with a brush, then moved to using my fingers; before switching to black. (Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty - fingers are great for applying thicker mediums.)

Now it was time to add my quote (this was an Everyday Etc card from the Flutterby Designs 'Flawsome' collection); and I also added some butterfly stickers to tie the theme in. (The butterfly stickers are by From A Mother's Art by Kelly-ann.)

It was then time to add some extra detail, and really help things pop. I used my white Posca pens to add some finer shading detail to the face, along with some highlights on and around the butterflies and quote. I also added some doodled spots.

The final step in my process was to add some splatters. I used Bubblegum Colour Spray (you could use a Colour Artist Ink for this step - I used Colour Spray because it was convenient to simply unscrew the cap and flick it around).

I hope you have enjoyed reading my process, and I do hope this will inspire you to try creating something like this yourself. (If you do, please share it with me - either via the Colour Blast Creative Corner Facebook group or tag me @sue.plumb on Instagram)

Here's a closer look at the finished page...

For anyone in Brisbane, I will be demonstrating the Colour Artist Inks, (and other Colour Blast products) on the Colour Blast stand at this weekend's Logan Craft Alive show. 

I will be there on Saturday, so if you are attending, please pop over and say hi and pick up some Colour Artist Inks too. 

For details about the show, head to the website HERE

Thanks for stopping by today. I will be back again in a couple of weeks with another project to share. Until then, happy scrapping!