Tag: materials

Art Journal FAQs

What type of journal do you use?

I make my own art journals. They measure about 4.5×6 inches (11×15 cm) and are filled with watercolor paper. They’re simpler to make than it looks; the only special materials you need are chipboard, an awl, and waxed linen thread. Check out the tutorial I use here.

In the past, I’ve also used thrifted books or handmade books by other artists.

What supplies do you use?

I use many different kinds of paper for collage, from graph paper to security envelopes to vintage book pages to other things I’ve collected over the years. For adhesive, I use a regular glue stick.

When adding color, I use a variety of mark-making tools, acrylic paint, tempera paint sticks, and acrylic ink.

What is your process?

  1. Lay down some collage
  2. Scribble
  3. Add some paint
  4. Add some drips

I always let the wet media fully dry before adding new layers.

How do you take and edit photos of your work?

I take photos with my phone in natural light, placing my art on a white foam core board. I used to edit the shots with A Color Story, but it stopped being usable. Now I use Snapseed. Both apps are free.

More questions? I’d love to hear from you. Reach out through my contact page or on Instagram!

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Security Envelopes

A pile of the patterned insides of security envelopes.
A pile of the patterned insides of security envelopes.

I use a variety of papers in my collage foundations for my art. One of favorites is security envelopes: they’re free in abundance (hello, junk mail), come in a variety of color and pattern, and add great texture to a collage.

Generally, I balance them with warmer-toned collaged papers like vintage book pages, or papers that are darker or lighter for contrast.

This afternoon, though, I collaged an index card using only security envelopes and a glue stick. The result is interesting — it reminds me of patchwork denim.

Other artists also incorporate these papers into their work. Christine Tischio of TurnstyleART uses them to create well-known character collages. Elizabeth Duffy creates beautiful lantern-like installations. Scraps of security envelopes pop up in Austin Kleon’s collages, too.

There’s also a host of inspiration on Instagram — check out #SecurityEnvelopePatterns.

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Mark-Making Tools

In all my recent mixed media work, I layer color and texture, paying special attention to the size and shape of each element and ensuring that the composition stays in balance and is visually interesting.

When adding lines or small splashes of color or visual texture, I turn to my mark-making tools. My favorite and most-used supplies are:

A word of warning from this self-taught artist: I just learned this year (!) that oil-based materials should be always be added on top of acrylic or water-based layers — “fat over lean.” Oil pastels can seep through acrylic, I’ve found out, and not in a pretty way.

Do you have suggestions for must-have tools I should try out? Let me know.

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My Toolbox: Birch Panels

“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Over the past year or so I’ve been exploring going bigger in my art. I have been painting and collaging in books since at least 2008, the largest pages of which have been about 11 x 14 inches. Creating single, stand-alone art — as an alternative to a bundle of spreads to be viewed as a multiple-paged whole — is new territory, as is experimenting with new materials.

Being used to a smaller, hard surface, attempting to switch to large canvas has been a new learning curve. Canvas has a lot of give, and it pushes me to use a gentler hand — something that ultimately changes the style of my art, I think, for better or worse.

A few weeks ago, though, I decided to try out wooden panels. They don’t come in as wide a variety of sizes as canvas, but is a good place to start broadening my horizons while working on a surface that retains some of paper’s characteristics. I bought some small panels on sale at Michael’s (their website is currently down) and later ordered larger ones from Amazon.

I’ve had a lot of fun experimenting on these. More experiments will certainly follow.

If you work or have worked on wooden panels before, I’d love to hear: do you gesso or otherwise prep the surface? Do you varnish the piece when you’re finished? Any other tips?

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