Art Journal Tutorial by Guest Artist Mary Wangerin
Somerset Place is thrilled to welcome guest artist Mary Wangerin, one of Stampington & Company’s very own published artists and author of the inspirational blog, The Turqouise Paintbrush: a guide to treasures + truths. Today, she stops by to share a colorful art journal tutorial with us. We hope you’ll find Mary Wangerin’s advice helpful, as you continue to fine-tune your own creative process. Just remember, “The page is finished when you believe it is.”
There are SO many different ways to create your very own art journal. I’m here to tell you about one particular method that worked really well for me! This art journal has become my favorite place to spill out creative thoughts, new project ideas, scribble down lyrics to my favorite song, or paint something just for me. Beware: this method is highly addictive!
Mary Wangerin’s DIY Art Journal:
Materials Needed
- Any book/journal/notepad of your choice
- Gesso
- Paintbrushes (I love a good assortment!)
- Colored pencils
- Magazine clippings
- Watercolors
- Crayons
- Acrylic paint
- Oil pastels
- Feathers
- Ribbon
- Stencils
- Whatever your heart desires
Tutorial
1) Choose your journal.
You don’t need to go out and purchase anything special! If you’re anything like me … you probably have a million blank books lying around – any of them will do!
2) Prime your journal pages with gesso.
This will get them ready for the painted mixed-media goodness you’ll add later. If you don’t have endless hours to spend watching gesso dry, I recommend having something else to work on while you wait.
3) Start adding color to your pages. (Here is where the real fun begins!)
I love using my hands, brayer, and paintbrushes for gorgeous, varied texture.
4) Use stencils, cut + paste papers, add more paint, sew on some ribbon. Keep adding layers until the background is complete.
5) The page is finished once you believe it is!
About Mary
Mary Wangerin is a girl who loves cutting, pasting, getting her hands messy with colorful paint, and can’t live without coffee (a girl after my own heart!). Her inspirational work has also graced the pages of Artful Blogging. To view more of Mary Wangerin’s creations, please visit her blog: theturquoisepaintbrush.blogspot.com.
Posted: Thursday, March 27th, 2014 @ 8:00 am
Categories: Art Journaling, How-To Project Tutorials.
Tags: art journal, DIY, Guest Artist, mary wangerin, Mixed Media, project.
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beautiful pages Mary!
Pretty pages but where’s the tutorial part? I can’t just throw paint on a page and have it look like that. Some demonstration??
Keep your fun. Ideas.comig
Great tutorial!
I just love the free spirited painting, mixed messy media. Good way to relieve stress….
What a treat it is to peek at the pages! I love Mary’s work and this has inspired me to revisit my own art journal. Thank you so much for sharing.
pretty pages :) inspiring :D
Thank you Mary and Stampington! I have been wanting to paint, to let my muse be free and play in a puddle of purple!
I am late to comment but I loved these paintings in this journal so much that I went to her blog and spent hours going backward in time and reading her posts. Here work is so inspiring and her words so insightful. A breathe of fresh air as they say. Thanks for sharing.
Katie B.
Incredibly beautiful! !
Actually, I have a rule about not commenting negativity and I am more sharing “constructive criticism” honestly… I completely agree… I followed thru pin to see a “tutorial”
Thanks anyway