Nature Art Journal

There is inspiration EVERYWHERE if you just look for it.  Lately, like many of you, I've been spending a lot of time in my backyard.  I practically live out there!  Since I live in Los Angeles, I have things constantly blooming in my yard so I decided to use nature as my jumping point for this art journal.  Pressed leaves and flowers and vintage botanical prints always look wonderful in a journal so I gathered up a bunch of those to start.  I also wrote out some of my favorite nature quotes to get me going. Hey, whatever you have to do to stay creative and positive, right?  Create something today, my sweet friends, and always Make Your Mark!

Rubber stamps & embossed tissue paper are always fun in a journal!

Everything I used for this project:
Xyron Creative Station: https://bit.ly/2yuW31n Permanent Adhesive Cartridge: https://amzn.to/2KaMzuC Derwent Inktense Pencils: https://bit.ly/3cynWUN www.DerwentArt.com & www.Xyron.com MY AMAZON STORE: https://www.amazon.com/shop/markmontano

Pressed leaves used as a mask on book pages...Perfect backgrounds!

Watch how I art journal here OR
Watch the video on my YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/R10MZJwSEuw

My Derwent Inktense Blocks are great for leaf rubbings. 
They can also be used with water like watercolor!

Happy journaling!

Fun Art Journaling Techniques

Sometimes I'll take hours and hours on an art journal page and other times I like it to be impactful and fast. It depends on how much creative energy I have running through my body!  When I have the need for speed, there are a few techniques I always use and I'm sharing them with you today.  First I glue ripped book pages down with indoor spray adhesive.  Next, I apply color on every page with something that dries quickly like liquid watercolors. It's a great base and it's light enough to build on.  After that it's all about big foam stamps and paint markers.  That's it.  Just a few simple things and you can fill up a journal in no time and have beautiful pages to jot down your amazing thoughts.    Check out the video below to see just how I did it and make sure to check out Discount School Supply, Joggles and Artistro for some of my favorite art journal supplies!  

Now get out there and  Make Your Mark, my creative friends!

 I filled in the circle shapes with acrylic paint

Be fearless with color! 

Watch how I do it here!

 Work on a few journals at a time!

 Huge fan of Joggles Foam Stamps!  Big and BOLD!

Happy Journaling, my thoughtful friends!

Art Journaling

Last week I got to teach an Art Journaling class at Craftcation in Ventura!  What an absolute blast I had, too.  The first thing I emphasized when I began the class is that there are no rules in art journaling.  None at all!  I mean it, too.  What I'm sharing here today are the techniques I use to create my pages.  Of course I use DecoArt paint because I love it and the colors are just amazing, as you can see.  So with that, cut a fancy magazine in half or grab an empty notebook and start creating your art journal.  I guarantee you'll be more healthy for it!  Remember to use every color in the box and always Make Your Mark! 

 A few of my pages

 Stenciling, clip art, rubber stamps...Oh my!

Watch how I art journal here!

STUFF I USED

Gel Press and brayer

Americana Premium Tube Acrylics

Americana Premium black and white gesso

Americana Matte Medium

Americana Neons in Sizzling Pink

Magazine Art Journals

Art Foamies stamps

DecoArt Stencils

Book pages, masking tape, plastic cups & clip art

HERE'S HOW

1. Bray orange and hot pink on your Gel Press

2.  Press an art journal page on the Gel Press to transfer the color

3.  Bray green and teal on the Gel Press

4. & 5. Create circles with the mouth of the plastic cup and transfer to a book page

6.  Apply strips of masking tape to the plastic Gel Press protector

7. & 8.  Load the Gel Press with hot pink and yellow, create squiggles with a comb and press on the masking tape to create washi tape

9.  Press more yellow and teal on another book page

PART 2

10.  Stamp the journal pages with Art Foamies using white and black paint

11.  & 12.  Rip and adhere the printed book pages to the journal pages

13.  Cut and adhere clip art to the journal pages

14.  Dilute paint colors to add a color wash to the clip art

15.  Add some of your printed washi tape

16.  Stencil some large flowers using the white gesso

17.  Color wash them with diluted paint

18. Stamp the pages again with the Art Foamies

DONE!

Don't like a page?  Keep adding to it until you do! 

Happy journaling!