Hello friends! Today I want to share a tutorial for an art journal page, using watercolor pencil. I used a bible journal, but if you're not into bible journaling, but love altered books, scrapbooking, mixed media, or altered art, you can apply these techniques there, too.
If you don't already have a set of watercolor pencils, I would encourage you to pick up a set -- decent sets can be found for just a few dollars.
For this bible journaling project, I chose to work on an "in between" page. I wanted to experiment with using watercolor pencils over clear gesso. I love using the "in between" pages to experiment with different media and techniques. If you are feeling a little nervous about drawing in your bible, I would encourage you to start with these extra pages to build your confidence. The bible I'm using was purchased from a thrift store precisely for this purpose, and I have other bibles that I use for study. This bible is used specifically for art journaling on passages I'm studying.
Doing art directly onto a page allows you to meditate on what you've studied, while you decide the best way to represent what you've taken from a passage, through art.
The page was prepped with a couple of light coats of clear gesso to prevent bleed-through, to give a little tooth to the page for the pencils, and to allow the watercolor to move around a little on the paper. A couple of coats of Tri Art clear gesso works well for this. Liquitex clear gesso is a bit too gritty.
To create this page, I started by sketching a rough outline of stylized flowers, using the watercolor pencils. These a VERY basic flowers that anyone can draw. Start by drawing the middle of your flower, then draw five petals, then draw two or three leaves.Trust me. ANYone can do this.
Next, I lightly colored in the outlined areas.
The colored in areas were then "painted" over with water. I used a water brush, but you can use a regular brush. After doing the green leaves, I waited till they were dry before wetting the flower petals. This prevents the colors from running together and making a mess.
I like to build up layers when working with watercolor pencil, so I start with what is effectively a light wash, then add detail, one layer at a time.
You can mix colors dry, right on your page, using the pencils, and this can give you a very painterly effect. I've mixed a couple of different greens, some yellow, and some blue on my leaves, for example. I even went in with a touch of red for the veining.
I continued layering up the colors until I had the look and the amount of detail I was going for.
I used black colored pencil to outline and shade the edges, and then went in with a fine black pen to add detail.
To finish it off I added some Tim Holtz Idealogy word stickers, and outlined them with pencil and black pen. If you've be on the fence about trying bible art journaling, I hope this tutorial encourages you to give it a try. While I am using a vintage bible from a thrift store, there are a couple of journaling bibles now being published that have extra wide margins for notes and sketches.
If you enjoyed this project, please subscribe to House Revivals in the sidebar, so you won't miss the fun projects we have planned. Find us on Facebook, too, so you won't miss any of the "in between" stuff, and see what I'm working on dailyon Instagram. Feel free to link today's project to you favorite social media sites.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Amanda
If you don't already have a set of watercolor pencils, I would encourage you to pick up a set -- decent sets can be found for just a few dollars.
For this bible journaling project, I chose to work on an "in between" page. I wanted to experiment with using watercolor pencils over clear gesso. I love using the "in between" pages to experiment with different media and techniques. If you are feeling a little nervous about drawing in your bible, I would encourage you to start with these extra pages to build your confidence. The bible I'm using was purchased from a thrift store precisely for this purpose, and I have other bibles that I use for study. This bible is used specifically for art journaling on passages I'm studying.
Doing art directly onto a page allows you to meditate on what you've studied, while you decide the best way to represent what you've taken from a passage, through art.
The page was prepped with a couple of light coats of clear gesso to prevent bleed-through, to give a little tooth to the page for the pencils, and to allow the watercolor to move around a little on the paper. A couple of coats of Tri Art clear gesso works well for this. Liquitex clear gesso is a bit too gritty.
To create this page, I started by sketching a rough outline of stylized flowers, using the watercolor pencils. These a VERY basic flowers that anyone can draw. Start by drawing the middle of your flower, then draw five petals, then draw two or three leaves.Trust me. ANYone can do this.
Next, I lightly colored in the outlined areas.
The colored in areas were then "painted" over with water. I used a water brush, but you can use a regular brush. After doing the green leaves, I waited till they were dry before wetting the flower petals. This prevents the colors from running together and making a mess.
I like to build up layers when working with watercolor pencil, so I start with what is effectively a light wash, then add detail, one layer at a time.
You can mix colors dry, right on your page, using the pencils, and this can give you a very painterly effect. I've mixed a couple of different greens, some yellow, and some blue on my leaves, for example. I even went in with a touch of red for the veining.
I continued layering up the colors until I had the look and the amount of detail I was going for.
I used black colored pencil to outline and shade the edges, and then went in with a fine black pen to add detail.
To finish it off I added some Tim Holtz Idealogy word stickers, and outlined them with pencil and black pen. If you've be on the fence about trying bible art journaling, I hope this tutorial encourages you to give it a try. While I am using a vintage bible from a thrift store, there are a couple of journaling bibles now being published that have extra wide margins for notes and sketches.
If you enjoyed this project, please subscribe to House Revivals in the sidebar, so you won't miss the fun projects we have planned. Find us on Facebook, too, so you won't miss any of the "in between" stuff, and see what I'm working on dailyon Instagram. Feel free to link today's project to you favorite social media sites.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Amanda