Art Journal Page – Colorful grunge!

Hello there creative souls! Tammy here (aka Tambarambaa) to share a fun bold and yet grungy Art Journal Page.

I just love the combination of bright color and black grunge, and the best thing is, it doesn’t need to be perfect. Any imperfections are hidden and actually add to the grunge. So you can really relax and just enjoy the process. I hope you can have a play too.

art  journal page in blue, teal and hot pink with black mandalas and black drippy paint

TCW provided me with amazing products to play with, but the art and the ideas are solely my own.

close up of stencils work using geometric shapes and blue, pink and aqua

Let’s take a look at how this Art Journal Page came to be…..

First of all I applied a layer of TCW9001 White Gesso to my page. This step is so important as it allows you to use the stencils in a couple of ways. The gesso acts as a primer for the paint to sit upon making it so much easier to get clean shapes with your stencils.

I then added some paint…. I used Art by Marlene paints in Smurf, Peony and Azure. This part is where you need to work quickly as you don’t want the paint to dry before the next step, so don’t overthink it, just whack down some color! I did leave some white space top and bottom.

Now I grabbed a finer stencil called TCW5016 Quattrefoil and lay this over some areas and using a wet baby wipe removed paint through the stencil. Some of the paint is removed to reveal the white gesso and this ties in beautifully with the white space.

creating the background of an art journal page using soft  pink, blue and teal and removing the paint through a geometric stencil

Once this is fully dry, I then added a NEW stencil by Rebekah Meier called TCW944 Monarch Journal, and using the largest mandala shape, I added this to one corner and using a makeup sponge and TCW9002 Black Gesso, sponged through the stencil. I then repeated this in two more areas, making sure that the mandalas were going off the page. This creates a sense of movement and gives a more natural feel.

adding black mandala shapes to the edges of the page using black gesso and a stencil and sponge. Adding water to edges to make black drips

I then added some TCW9002 Black Gesso around the edges of the mandalas and added some water, allowing drips to run down the page.

I also added a couple of the smaller mandalas to the page in the same way.

Next I came in with a couple of ‘wordy’ stencils to add extra depth and interest to the background. I used TCW936 Messy Writing and TCW737 Love Sonnet both by Julie Balzer. I used Art by Marlene ‘Mermaid’ paint for this.

When I looked back at the page, I felt it was missing some oomph, so I grabbed Dylusions Funky Fuchsia and again using TCW5016 Quattrefoil, I added some through the stencil using a makeup sponge……this is when it came alive!!

adding depth by sponging some work stencils into the background with aqua paint. Also adding a touch of hot pink for a lift

The final step was to add some stamping around the edges and lots of splats! To add to these splats I incorporated stencil TCW384 Well Rounded by Ronda Palazzari. I really love this stencil and how those painty rings pull everything together.

adding painty circles through a stencil with black gesso and a sponge

Finally, a quote and that is it!

adding stamps to the edges of the art journal to add to the grungy feel
adding a quote that reads 'stop thinking too much, it's alright not to know all the answers'

I do hope it has inspired you to create, and don’t forget if you feel it is missing something, sometimes a pop of just one more color is all it needs to elevate it.

Don’t forget we absolutely love seeing your creations and knowing if we inspired you to get a bit creative. So use #tcwstencillove on social media when sharing your work so we can check it out.

If you’d like to see more of my colorful creations head to my blog or my Instagram. I’d love to see you there.

Much love and color to you all.

xxx

Tammy Klingner aka Tambarambaa – TCW Design Team Member

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