Procrastination [video] & Art Journal Page

Today’s art journal page was inspired by this video.

Procrastination from Johnny Kelly on Vimeo (via geeksaresexy.net)

(I wasn’t really procrastinating, it was more of a warm-up exercise. Making a cup of tea first was definitely procrastinating though.)

'Procrastination' 8x12" art journal page © Klair Scattergood 2010

Art Journal Page – ‘Helter Skelter’ [video]

I’m currently hooked on two things: image transfers and pen & wash drawings. Most of my art journal pages the last week feature one or both. I described the way I do image transfers in this post.

This page was inspired by a combination of Alice in Wonderland (was reading about the new Tim Burton film) and listening to Siouxsie & the Banshees’ ‘Helter Skelter’.

Supplies & Techniques

• The girl and spiral were sketched in pencil then inked in with a quill pen and Parker black permanent ink. I painted in the spiral in acrylic.
• The image transfers were created with Golden soft gel medium, then washed with Cosmic Shimmer paint in ‘Rose Hue’.
• The lettering was all done in Uniball Posca paint markers and the swirls were made with a purple Sakura Gelly Roll Glaze pen.

'Helter Skelter' 8x12" art journal page © Klair Scattergood

A Piece in Progress

Amidst editing a host of videos for Boomaking 1-2-3 part 1, this is what I’ve been working on this week. She’s called Sophia and she’s sister to Charlie from ‘Cracked…Almost’.
I’m also testing out the Wordpress iPhone app, so if any/all of this is weird/missing you know who to blame.

The Piano: Art Journal Page

'The Piano' 8x12" art journal page © Klair Scattergood

These pages were created using magazine transfers. I use good quality glossy magazine paper that separates easily into two sheets (my preference is for something like Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar) which I find gives a better transfer.

My Transfer Method

Step 1 – put down a thick, even layer of Golden soft gel medium (I was using 300gsm/140lb watercolour paper.)

Step 2 – lay the magazine on top

Step 3 – burnish the back with a damp cloth. The glossy page will start to look a bit like fine crackle medium when it’s full saturated

Step 4 – wait about 30 seconds

Step 5 – start peeling off the paper

I created both images the same way, but with the one on the left I added layers of transparent acrylic paint over the top and with the one on the right I added the paint underneath. For the right hand side image I left it a bit longer in step 4 and burnished once more before peeling off the paper. It could have done with a little longer, because it didn’t stick to the paint as well as expected.

There is no one transfer method that always works for everyone. Transfers depend on many things including the surface you transfer to, the paper you transfer from, the amount and quality of water you use (hard water and soft water yield different results), the type of gel medium you use – even how old your gel medium is can affect the transfer!

The moral of the story is, don’t be discouraged if you can’t get transfers to work for you. Just keep trying with different combinations until you find one that works for you.

Jan 29th Journal Page

'Birthday Page' 8x12" art journal page © Klair Scattergood

Some more experiments with watercolour pens and Cosmic Shimmers. This time trying to get them to blend into each other.