Art Journals 2: Ideas and techniques with watercolor

 So, you have your supplies. Now what? 

Let’s create! 

I have my notebook. 

I really like the sturdiness and heft of this art journal. 

You can organize your book with washi tape tabs. 

Washi tape is just decorative tape. 

All you do is take a piece of tape and, leaving a bit of sticky on the end, fold it over. Attach in your book to organize your ideas. 

This was created with watercolors and markers. 

You can use a wet brush to make a puddle of water and blow to create little strands. Watch the video below! 

I blew on the puddle and created legs. Note that in the video I used a spray bottle to create the puddle of water. 

Now watch me use markers to create the text. Make sure your watercolor is completely dry before you write. 

This is the finished and dried result:

This is the same watercolor technique along with some colored pencil sketches.

Next we’re going to use the watercolor to make a border! 

Fun, right? If you don’t want to blow directly on the page, you can use a straw. Next, let’s talk about how to create a stenciled watercolor splatter! 

This is a pair of scissors I splattered over them. Watch the video on how to do this! 

Make sure you use an old toothbrush for this project. 

Collage time! 

I love collages because they make your book nice and thick, and you can document important memories this way. All you need to do is find scraps of ephemera and attach them into your book. The traditional way of attaching is by glue stick, but experiment! The following video shows a few of my collage pages. 

There are different ways of attaching those bits and pieces. One is to make a pop up! Let’s learn how to do that. 

Make sure you have a perfectly square piece of paper. I promise this fold is sooo easy. 

Finally, let’s talk about text. If you don’t like your handwriting (been there, done that), watch the following video to learn how to do faux calligraphy and make a cute heading. 

Now, put all of these ideas together to make your art journal! Always be looking for creative materials, and have FUN! In art journaling 3, you’ll learn how to finish your art journal, and get a video tour of my finished book!