Inktoberfest

It's October, but for artists, we might know it as Inktober.  A 31 day art challenge where we strive to create new inked art every day for the entire month of October.

I'll be joining the challenge this year.  You can follow along on my Patreon, Facebook event or on Pinterest.  I've been preparing all week for this month long undertaking.  I have papers cut to size and an art journal being prepped for the arting to begin.  Here's a sneak peek onto my art table....

Papers cut to size, and an art journal being gesso'd for arting.

So many, many pens.  They've all been checked and ink is flowing!

Metallic and white gel pens for dark paper.

Let's do this!

Be sure to check out many great artists participating this year!  Facebook ---> #Inktober

Follow Gillian's board Inktober 2015 on Pinterest.

Art Journal - a Work in Progress

I had this old blank book, which I didn't like the cover.  So I tore it apart and repapered it in the Stardust cardstack from Die Cuts With a View.  I sealed the cover of the book with matte acrylic gel medium, and it works so wonderfully.  I love the finish and the texture.  The DCWV paper looks gorgeous and the golden metallics still shine through.  It was a lot of work to manage the paper, tape and glue and more glue.  Layers of paper...

The paper isn't as flexible as other cardstock I've owned, so it tore on the spine and folded edges.  The inner core is white, so it shows up quite a bit.  For all the edges of the book cover, I had to sand, go over with sharpie and then touch up with gold acrylic to hide the tears.  But it is gorgeous and did the job.  Perhaps it would have molded to the shape better if I had slightly dampened it.  Well, trial and error.

More error...  I bound the paper into the new cover, but the binding on the paper is stiff and pulls apart.  The pages are all wrinkled and the original binding isn't very good.  I hope that homemade gesso will help give them more stability.  But too my fail.  I would dry the gesso between coats with a hair dryer, this resulted in the glue binding to soften and come apart.  I tried gluing them back to the spine to no avail.  It kept getting worse and worse.

So, I've decided to rip it out of my beautiful cover and start over.  I'll need a new paper filling for it and I watched tutorials on the technique a bit more.  I'll be figuring out how to make this work.  In the meantime, I might have to switch gears.  I have an old date book from the late 90's when I was in high school, filled with boring budgets and such.  I think I might have to repurpose it.  Or perhaps an unloved old sketchbook that sits around in a box not getting any air.  I will start an art journal.  I'm feeling adamant.

Embellishments from the DCWV paper to add onto the corners.

And since I like to work on several projects at once, I'll also be working on tea infused artist trading cards.  I tend to do two or more things at once and work on them alternately.  This prevents me from getting burned out on one thing.  And ups my productivity level.  I have found I hurt my own creativity by committing to one project.  I struggle with commissions because of this.  I do not allow myself to work on anything else and this results in an art block.  I have a guilty commission sitting on my easel taking up my entire bedroom to remind me what a louse I am.  I am feeling inspired again by forcing myself to get back to arting.

I had hurt my wrist a while back and that was my excuse.  And now my excuse is, it's too late in the day....  Yada yada yada.  Why does artistic inspiration have to come at 2 in the morning?  My schedule gets messed up all on its own without me helping it.  My routine is blocking me as well.  Breakfast - homeschool - lunch - homeschool (granted much of this homeschool time is arguing with my kid to do his work) - dinner & dishes - then it's too late.  So I resign myself to online gaming and Facebooking and deviantARTing.  Maybe watching a show or two.  And no art gets done.  I feel very frustrated by this and I need time to myself to do the art.  When I do my art, I am skipping preparing meals or dishes, etc.  But I am so happy.  I feel accomplished.  Maybe I should just tell everyone to use plasticware and paper plates for a week.  Forever.

So, I've had this Gel Medium forever and am thinking of more uses for it.  I think I can extend my paints and add a bit of translucency to them.  And then I found this excellent tutorial for using them to make acrylic sprays.  They're permanent, not water soluble like the Tim Holtz Distress Inks.  So this is brilliant.  I'm quite against spending too much money on art supplies.  Especially if it is something you can make yourself.  I made myself some glimmer mist sprays and I have an ink sprayer from my printer overflow.  Waste not and all.  I cannot justify spending $10 on a 2 oz bottle of pigment mixed with water.  Nope.  I guess, it is convenient and premixed colors and all that, but I'm poor and cannot afford fancy art supplies.  I did spend my Christmas money on a Cuttlebug with accessories, but that was a splurge.  And it has been useful.  I can squish things in it!  Who doesn't want to squish things?  ;D  (note to self: squish flowers in it onto paper to make pretty stains)  Well, without further ado, here is the video tutorial I watched, which is also relevant to art journaling.  ImperfectImpulses has more art journaling videos and he demonstrates the stencil and negative print to reduce waste and have more premades readied for scraps or whatever. I subscribed to his channel.  Hopefully, I'll someday get a video camera and have something worth subscribing to as well.  Goals.

Gillian Tries DIY - Gesso

I've been watching several art journaling videos lately and notice they all have one thing in common, gesso.  Gesso is expensive, so I don't own any.  I had some once when I was stretching my own canvases.  So, I wanted to find a cheaper, do-it-yourself option.  At least that will suffice for my purposes.  Adding texture and sealing paper to prep for painting and layering.  I might also like to attempt some medium gel transfers and creating molding/modeling paste.

I found a few different recipes, and they were all basically the same.  Some gritty material like baby powder/talc, Plaster of Paris or baking soda, white glue, water.  Some added acrylic or latex paint from the hardware store.  Variations of these can work to make modeling paste or Modge Podge.

Here's the recipe I whipped up for my batch.  1 part baking soda, then added 1 part glue.  Stir until incorporated into a smooth paste.  1/2 part acrylic paint, stir. 1part water (little at a time til you get the consistency you want).  My final product has the consistency of a slightly melted milkshake.  Now, I just need to test it out.

To make the Modge Podge, it is only the 1 part glue to 1 part water ratio.  For the modeling paste, you keep adding more baking soda to the gesso until it is the texture you want.

Apparently, you can make a clear gesso using cornstarch instead of baking soda. And add glue and water.  It will appear cloudy, but the glue dries clear.  Kind of similar to a decoupage paste.  Which I make out of flour and water for paper mache.  They all have the same basic properties.

Reviewing costs, baking soda $2/box, school glue $1/bottle, water free, acrylic paint $3 tube.  So, about $6 total, out of stuff I already had around the house.  Store bought gesso $8-10/8 oz (DickBlick).  Of course, for a more professional grade, I'd prefer to buy the manufactured gesso.  But since I'm just using this for small projects and I can make just what I need out of what I already have on hand, I don't mind it being poorer quality.  Anyways, I can make a lot more for much cheaper.  I think for better quality, I'd get the Plaster of Paris.  

I've been doing several tests on different materials.  Various paper I'd likely use.  And even on a magnet.  You know, those crappy ones that come with the phonebook or other businesses you don't care about.  I like to repurpose them.  Sometimes, peel the vinyl off, it's still sticky and put a picture on it.  Insta-grandparent gift.  Well, I have several of these sheet magnet things, so I slapped some homemade gesso on it.  Five coats of it!  And you can still see the print.  Perhaps the mix needs more white added to it.  Or better to use the plaster than the baking soda.  Everything else I gesso'd, even the plastic tub I was mixing it in, only needed 3 coats for the best texture and smoothness.

I wrote and painted on the samples to see how they held up.  The results were mostly the same.  On the white cardstock, I could see how not white this stuff was.  I added more white paint to the mix.  I think I'll need to get a big thing of white from the hardware store before I make much more of this.  It is more off a yellowish off white color in comparison to the white paper.  The pencil writes rough, but blends out really nicely.  The sharpie fine point wrote best on the 3 coats than 1 or 2.  The craft paint goes on smoothly, as does the acrylic from the tube.  And the sharpie marker was just fine, though I spritzed it with my DIY Glimmer Mist and it bled the marker a bit.  But that went on nicely as well.

I turned the paper over and no bleed through.  You can just see the pen on 1st coat and on 2nd.  But on the 3rd coat, nothing bleeds.  The paper does wrinkle a tad.  Ironing might help.  I wouldn't want to scratch up my iron, so make sure to protect yours from the rough texture if you do.  The papers were still flexible, so I think this will work well in an art journal.  Which is my next project.  I've already started on the book.  I'll go into more detail in the next post.

So, in conclusion.  This seems like a good, cheap and quick way to make a textured paintable and writable surface with supplies you probably have already.  It is more affordable than gesso, but for professional paintings, I'd probably go with the store bought kind.  As I do not know the archival quality and if it will hold up years from now.  I have a painting on a wood panel that I varnished with the same varnish we use for everything else and it has no yellowed.  Big disappointment.  So, I'm actually glad I never sold that piece.  There is a reason you buy art supplies from an art store and hardware supplies from a hardware store.  They are different formulas for different applications.  I know this will suit my needs, but otherwise, I'd buy the real stuff (by the gallon, it will last forever).

Update!  A few days (or so) later, I had kept my baking soda based gesso in an airtight jar, but it has fizzed up to the consistency of puff paint.  

I added in a bit more glue.  And now glue, acrylic paint, water and baby powder to bring back a thin pancake batter mix.  New conclusion...  This is a quick fix.  Mix what you need.  Buy the real stuff as soon as you can.  ;P