A Cool Way to Customize Your Sketchbook

Get ready to have some art journaling fun with my friend Sandrine Pelissier! Sandrine brings us the newest Cloth Paper Scissors Art Lesson with a detailed art demonstration on how to customize your art journal or sketchbook using a fun tool that you may remember from your childhood. Her tutorial kicks off a new year of lessons with the theme of Texture Adventures, where you can discover how to create physical and visual texture in your artwork. Scroll down to read more in this preview! ~Cherie

Mixed-media sketchbook ideas | Sandrine Pelissier, ClothPaperScissors.com
Art by Sandrine Pelissier

Custom Sketchbook with Spirograph Designs (Preview) by Sandrine Pelissier

If you like to draw like I do, you probably have a few sketchbooks in your home or studio. I love sketchbooks, but I like them even better when they have been personalized. In this Art Lesson, I’ll show how to transform a store-bought sketchbook into a uniquely designed art journal. We’ll use a variety of media and acrylics. We’ll also use The Original Spirograph®, a tool you may remember from your childhood. This is a fun, fast, and convenient technique to add geometric designs. The designs add a great deal of visual texture, especially when you add another layer of hand-doodled patterns.

1. Open your sketchbook from the back, exposing the last page and the back cover. Lightly pull apart the 2 sides of the O-rings, just enough to slide the cover through. Remove the back cover, and then flip to the front of the book and remove the front cover in the same manner. Leave the pages in place, and put the back cover aside for now.

Mixed-media sketchbook ideas | Sandrine Pelissier, ClothPaperScissors.com

2. Paint over the cover with white acrylic paint. You might need 2–3 coats for the paint to be opaque enough to hide the cover design. Allow time for the paint to dry between coats.

Tip:
Use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process, if desired, though it may move the paint and affect your design.

3. Pour a few colors of fluid acrylics into a palette. Add a bit of water to your wash, if desired, depending on the depth of color you want to obtain.

Mixed-media sketchbook ideas | Sandrine Pelissier, ClothPaperScissors.com

4. Paint a wash of the base color over the cover. I used Green Gold. While the paint is still wet, quickly add a few drops of other colors by flicking a wet paintbrush over the surface. I added Teal, Cadmium Orange, and Hansa Yellow Light. ~Sandrine

Click to continue when you download this Art Lesson…

 

Categories

Art Journaling and Lettering, Blog, Mixed-Media Techniques

Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.