How to Use Halloween Clipart in a Mixed-Media Art Journal Page

Autumn is here! This is the season of pumpkin-flavored everything, crisp nights, and color-changing leaves, all leading up to the ultimate night: Halloween, which is just around the corner. To celebrate one of my favorite holidays I created a mixed-media art journal page using a couple of images from GraphicStock.com, my stash of mixed-media supplies, and one of my favorite Halloween sayings.

I’ve included step-by-step instructions below showing how to use Halloween clipart to make a spooky art journal page. To find inspiration for your own page, I suggest going to GraphicStock.com first, where you can take advantage of a free 7-day trial. Download images to your heart's content, and if you don’t want to continue the subscription, cancel before your 7-day trial is over. To thank you for giving their service a try, GraphicStock is giving away a free annual subscription to a lucky person who registers for the free trial.

How to use Halloween background images for a mixed-media art journal page, by Cherie Haas | ClothPaperScissors.com
Visit GraphicStock.com today to start a free 7-day trial, during which you can access and download more Halloween pictures to print, and find thousands of images on any subject. Artwork by Cherie Haas (Pin this!)

How to Use Halloween Clipart in a Mixed-Media Art Journal Page

Materials:

  • Clip art images (I used the two below from GraphicStock)
  • Art journal page
  • Black watercolor
  • Cup of water
  • A variety of small paintbrushes
  • Mod Podge Matte, or a similar water-based paper glue
  • Black Sharpie fine tip permanent marker
  • Pencil
  • Eraser
  • Sakura Pigma Micron pen, black, .08
  • Blending stump or tortillion
  • Watercolor pencil(s) 
  • Twine
  • Scissors
  • Standard size hole punch
Original Halloween background images from GraphicStock.com

Step 1. Gather your the images you want to use. Visit GraphicStock.com, where you can sign up for a 7-day free trial and access printable Halloween-themed background images and pictures. After downloading your chosen images, open them in Photoshop (or a similar photo editing program) and change the size, convert them to black and white (as I did with the cat image), crop, and alter them as you please. Print the images and trim them if desired.

Start with a watercolor wash for an art journal page | ClothPaperScissors.com

Step 2. Prepare your art journal page. Create a gray watercolor wash all over the page by dipping a paintbrush in water, then picking up some gray paint. Start with a light wash–you can always go back and make it darker. Make the edges darker if you want a border.

How to use clip art for a mixed-media collage | ClothPaperScissors.com

Step 3. Adhere your images to the page. Use Mod Podge (with an old paintbrush or foam brush) or something similar to adhere the printed images to the art journal paper. I adhered the graveyard scene first, then glued the cat image on top. Next, I outlined the cat’s eye with a black Sharpie marker to make it “pop.”

lettering ideas for art journaling | ClothPaperScissors.com

Step 4. Draw your text with a pencil. I started at the bottom of the page because I wanted the word “scary” to be large and go across the cemetery image. If you don’t like the way a letter looks, erase it! I tweaked some of my letters as I went along; the “b” in the word “be” was smaller than the “e” next to it when I first drew it. Thank goodness for erasers!

Halloween art ideas | ClothPaperScissors.com

Step 5. Make the letters permanent. When you’re ready to commit to the lettering, go over the lines with a pen. Normally I would erase the visible pencil marks, but I liked how they gave the text a subtly aged look. To make your letters pop off the page, draw a fine line around the letter shapes with a pencil, then rub with a blending stump or tortillion to add shading.

Mixed-media Halloween ideas | ClothPaperScissors.com

Step 6. Incorporate color and detail. Dip a purple watercolor pencil into the water and fill in the letters, making them as dark or light as you please. Then use a pen to add some doodles here and there. I added a cobweb and spider in a corner to lend an unmistakable Halloween flavor.

Halloween mixed-media art ideas | ClothPaperScissors.com

Step 7. Add twine. Punch a hole in each corner of your art journal page, then punch two holes halfway down the longer sides of the page. Cut two pieces of twine two inches greater than the width of the page, and two pieces greater than the height. Thread the twine through the holes and tie them at the corners. (I added the extra holes on the side so that the twine stayed close to the paper.) Trim any excess twine.

Inspired to make your own Halloween mixed-media art journal page? Get started at GraphicStock.com with their FREE 7-day trial–you could be the lucky winner of a one-year subscription. Remember, this project gives you a few ideas on how you can use Halloween clip art to come up with something that expresses your unique voice. Just for fun, here are a couple of other GraphicStock images that I was tempted to use:

Halloween pictures to print | ClothPaperScissors.com
Use the search term "Halloween" at GraphicStock.com to find these free stock images, and more!
Find Halloween background images at GraphicStock.com

You can see how the variety of images can spark an idea! Use part of an image, paint over the top of it, doodle on it–anything you want! I hope you found inspiration and learned something new. In the comments section below, share how you might use clip art!

Eat, drink, and be scary,
Cherie 

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Categories

Art Journaling and Lettering, Blog, Mixed-Media Techniques

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