BETTER AT THE BEACH – AN ART JOURNAL PAGE

Hello folks, Nancy here, and welcome to a tutorial for an art journal page using clear gesso, heavy body acrylics and great new stencils…all from The Crafter’s Workshop.

The stencils used for this page truly speak to my heart…which resides, make no mistake…at the beach. We are finally getting some warm weather in our neck of New England and that can only mean one thing. That’s right…I am YEARNING for the beach. The sights, the smells, the sounds…ahhhhhh. Life truly IS better at the beach!

Finished journal page with TCW stencils LEFKO

The Crafter’s Workshop provided me with some product to create this project. The opinions I share are solely my own.

Supplies Used:

9″ x 12″ 140 lb watercolor journal

TCW674 12″ x 12″ Dolphins stencil

TCW709s 6″ x 6″ Under the Sea stencil

TCW708s 6″ x 6″ At the Beach stencil 

TCW Clear Gesso

masking tape

foam spouncer/brushes

heat tool

fluid acrylic paints: aqua, citron, ocean breeze, robin’s egg blue

hand carved stamps

TCW Blue Jellybean Heavy Body Acrylic Paint

TCW Kale Smoothie Heavy Body Acrylic Paint

fluid chalk ink: deep lagoon

copy of vintage image

glue stick

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Position the Dolphins stencil over the journal page; use masking tape to secure and to mask off elements not desired. Apply TCW clear gesso over the stencil design. Use heat tool to dry.

TCW674 stencil and TCW clear gesso LEFKO

 Apply fluid acrylic paints and blend with baby wipes; one color at a time. Using the baby wipe over the stenciled design, the gesso acts as a resist and the white of the page shows through.

Blend acrylic with baby wipes over gesso resist LEFKO

Stamp a hand carved seahorse stamp with acrylic paint.

Hand carved seahorse stamp with acrylic paint LEFKO

Using the Under the Sea stencil and heavy body acrylic paint, add the seahorse design twice. Only a very small amount of the TCW heavy body acrylic paint is needed, as a “close to dry” spouncer creates a cleaner image.

TCW709s and acrylic paint LEFKO

Trio of seahorses stamped and stenciled LEFKO

Stamp a hand carved sand dollar stamp with acrylic paint and then add sand dollars and starfish from the Under the Sea stencil in the same manner as above.

hand carved sand dollar stamp LEFKO

Stenciled sand dollar with TCW709s LEFKO

Stamped and stenciled sand dollars LEFKO

Stamped and stenciled sand dollar and starfish TCW709s LEFKO

Add seaweed to the bottom of the page with TCW Kale Smoothie Heavy Body Acrylic Paint and the Under the Sea stencil.

Kale Smoothie and Blue Jellybean TCW heavy body acrylic paint LEFKO

Completed background with TCW709s stencil LEFKO

Add phrase “Life is Better at the Beach” from At the Beach stencil to the top left of the page with deep lagoon fluid chalk ink. Contrary to its name, fluid chalk ink is a dry stamp pad and lends itself well to stenciling.

TCW708s stencil and fluid acrylic paint LEFKO

TCW708s stencil and fluid acrylic paint LEFKO

 Adhere vintage image with glue stick and your page is complete!

vintage image added to journal page LEFKO

The stencils, the paint colors and the mood of this journal page have me MORE than ready to dip my toes in the ocean.

Life IS better at the beach!

Finished journal page with TCW stencils LEFKO

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial for an art journal page using clear gesso as a resist and the wonderful new stencils and heavy body acrylic paints from The Crafter’s Workshop.

Thanks for visiting!

Nancy Lefko

The Crafter’s Workshop Design Team Member

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