Lindy's color challenge August 2020

A closer look on the spread

This art journal spread was surprisingly quick to make. I didn't have an exact plan but I knew what to use for creating. I was going to use some washi tape too, but I left it out in the end. It popped out too much from the page.

I started off by giving the little stars a golden bath. I used the California poppy gold magical shaker to make the color pool. I let the stars sit there a while and then poured the excess color back to the little cup. I then left the stars to dry on that tray. The stars are actually scrap pieces from a doily die by Tonic studios. I don't have the die itself anymore but I have saved those stars for later use.

Stars are getting bathed

I took some white tissue paper, crunched it in my fist and then glued it down to the pages. I put two to three layers because the wet tissue paper teared easily. Also the regular stick glue wasn't doing it job well, so I used the gessos to adhere the tissues down. I put the clear gesso all over the spread but white gesso I put just here and there. It makes the surface to take watercolor differently than the clear one.

Preparing the surface

Then it was time to add color. I used the Lindy's South shore sand and C'est la vie cerise flat sprays. I sprayed some water to make the colors flow nicely. I added more color layers a couple of times and then used the Black forest black magical shaker to make some black color. I put it mostly to the edges but then decided to add it randomly to the pages. I left the art journal spread to dry over night.

The first color layers

Darkening the colors

In the morning I used the palette knife and added white acrylic paint. First I took the Picket fence Distress paint by Ranger and applied it generously. I spread it like butter onto a sandwich. Then I took the thicker acrylic paint also by Ranger and applied it randomly and in smaller areas. Except for one large area.

Adding whites for highlighting

I have been foiling a lot lately, so I have those scrap pieces of foil laying around. This one is the Gemini papercraft foil by Crafter's companion and it's called Icicle. The art journal spread had a frozen beach feel to it so I thought it would be great addition and it gives that nice shimmer. I placed the foil over the damp and tacky paint and rubbed it a bit and then pulled the sheet off. I added foil wherever the acrylic paint was still tacky.

Adding shimmer with some foil

I had bought a new Nellie Snellen stamp set which had two rabbits. I used the sitting rabbit from that set and stamped it with black archival ink. Afterwards I thought that heat embossing with some embossing powder might have given it a nice effect to it, too. I decided to leave the bunny rabbit uncolored.

Finally all I had to do was to glue down those stars and think of some sort of phrase.