Passages Art Journal Spread with Jennifer Gallagher

Hello! 

It's Jennifer Gallagher here with you again. This time I was given the word prompt 'passages'. I sat with this word for a while and my mind kept going back to the passage of time. I love to use tribal patterns or themes in my work. So I pulled out some of my new favorite StencilGirl Products® stencils and set out to create an art journal spread. Let's get started.

I started by applying clear gesso to two pages in my Dina Wakley Media journal. Once the gesso was dry, I gathered up a tea towel I use for clean-up, a water dish, a paintbrush, and Marabu Art Spray in Cocoa. 

To create a vintage looking background, I dipped the paintbrush into water and edged around the outside edges and where the pages meet. Then I dipped my paintbrush into the bottle of Marabu Art Spray and painted the liquid around the edges working my way to the center of each page. After the paint dried about fifty percent I wiped around with a cloth to achieve variation in depth of color.

Using a cosmetic sponge, I applied Dina Wakley Media acrylic paint in Sedona through the Ladders stencil by Carolyn Dube. 

With black acrylic paint, I applied two faces using Tina Walker's Stone Statue (size small) and some symbols from the Maya Love StencilClub Set. 

Using both Sedona and Black, I applied some lines with the small stencil from the January 2019 Mash Up StencilClub set. 

To brighten up my ladder, I went back over it with a white Posca pen.

I added the curvy ladder with Sedona on the right page.

Using Dina Wakley Media in Night, along with a cosmetic sponge and baby wipe, I applied a little color and lightened it up a bit around the edges. Once dry, I used a mix of black and night and applied Tina Walker's stencil Stone Face. I topped it off with a touch of white acrylic in some spots to make the face pop. 

I did the same line hatching on the right side that I did on the left with Sedona and Black and the January 2019 Mash Up StencilClub set. I also rubbed a very small amount of Night acrylic onto the faces on the left-hand page.

Next, I took a white and black gelly roll pen from Sakura and added doodling and outlining to both pages.

To break up the pages a bit, I applied Quinacridone Magenta acrylic paint in a few places with a cosmetic sponge. Quinacridone magenta is pretty translucent so you can add it over your layers and it won't cover them totally, it will just add a magenta hue overtop. The last thing was some additional white doodling over the magenta.

I hope you have enjoyed this art journal spread tutorial. If you are playing along with us the prompt passages is a really fun one. Be sure to share your creations with us. If you would like to see more of my work visit me on my blog, FaceBook, or on Instagram.

Happy creating,

Jennifer Gallagher

Lost In Her Thoughts - A Typography Painting by Jennifer Gallagher

Hello! 

It's Jennifer Gallagher here with you again, this time with a canvas pad painting for our theme of Typography. I love alphabetic and numeric stencils. So, this month I'm using some of my favorites to put together a super easy but visually impactful painting. You could use this same technique in your art journal or other mixed-media projects. It's super easy, so let's get started.

I am starting with a sheet of canvas pad that measures 12 by 16 inches.

I have picked a few colors of acrylic paint to build my background. I am using Naples Yellow, Light Portrait Pink and Fluorescent Pink and blended them in a random way through my stencil. The stencil is StencilClub January 2019 release. Once the numbered section of the stencil is filled in with paint, I remove the stencil and blur the edges of the paint with a baby wipe to soften the look a bit.

I am starting in the right-hand bottom corner and working my way straight up to the top right corner following the same steps.

Once the right-hand side is covered, I placed a focal point stencil into the center of the canvas pad. I'm using Pam Carriker's create face stencil. I'm using Naples Yellow and Portrait Pink to fill in the face.

I placed the 9x12 stencil back down at the edge of where the face stencil meets the background and applied some of the fluorescent pink onto the background. Then I used the same color to add some depth to the face stencil.

Next, I continued to fill in the background around the rest of the canvas.

To extend the focal image, and to add a bit more of a focal typography element, I placed the 9x12 stencil from the December 2017 StencilClub Set "Borderlines" under the face and painted it with Bright Aqua Green. Then I sporadically added portions of the stencil around the canvas. Using the same stencil, I added the smaller numerals from the stencil in Light Blue Violet.

I wanted to give the canvas a bit more of a vintage vibe so I dropped a dime-size drop of India Ink in Sepia in the four corners of the canvas and rubbed it around. I let the ink set for just a few seconds and then wiped it around with a baby wipe. You can remove as much as you want until you get a finish you like.

I have a lot of numbers here and now it's time to add some letters. So I'm going with the "Are We There Yet" stencil by Carolyn Dube. I'm not filling in the whole words just bits of words trying to take advantage of the various font types in this stencil. I"m using grey acrylic paint. 

Then using the leftover grey paint, I used a paintbrush to add some shadowing around the face stencil.

The final step is to add a little white Posca paint pen inside the numeral focal point and then outline it and the face with a black gelly roll pen.

I hope you have enjoyed this typography tutorial. Remember, if you aren't interested in creating a painted canvas you could transition this idea straight into your art journal. If you would like to see more of my work visit me on my blog, FaceBook, or on Instagram.

Happy creating,

Jennifer Gallagher

Stenciled Poetry Art Journal - The Raven - by Jennifer Gallagher

Hello! 

It's Jennifer Gallagher here with you again, this time with a thematic art journal page for this month's theme 'Stenciled Poetry'. I found this theme quite intriguing and rather difficult. I don't usually create pages in my journal that are based upon anything other than my imagination. Even though it was out of my comfort zone, I was up for the challenge. 

One of my favorite poets is Edgar Allen Poe. After glancing through my ever-growing stencil collection, I knew I had just the right ones to create an homage to 'The Raven'. I did work a little differently than usual, as I found myself going back and forth adding layers in a rather haphazard fashion. I think this was because I was working with a theme, visually speaking. So I'll break it down for you in a way you can follow. Let's get started.

First, I prepared two pages in my journal with a thick coat of clear gesso to prepare it for many layers. After the gesso completely dried, I sprayed both pages with Marabu Art Spray in Reseda and Mint. I smeared it around a little with a wet paintbrush.

Moving quickly before the sprays could dry, I laid down the Dangled Pod Stencil and removed color with a wet baby wipe. I repeated this on both sides. Be advised! You need to move quickly.

I cut out some curved shapes to mimic hillside out of cheap kraft cardstock. I laid it down and with some green paint I mixed from olive and black, I painted some hills onto the left side page.

With Liquitex Basics Acrylics in Bright Aqua Green and Light Blue Violet, I darkened the dangled pods stenciled area to bring it to the foreground. I chose this stencil because it is an organic shape that will create movement across the page.

Next, I laid down the Windswept Tree Mask and the four-inch stencil from the November 2018 club set, I applied vintage photo distress ink all across the left page. 

I had leftover paint from the olive and black mixture that I used earlier. I added more black to it and then placed the tree mask back down and applied the darker paint around the borders of the page.

This six-inch stencil from StencilClub February 2019 set had the perfect section for a winding walkway. I applied Liquitex Basics Quinacridone Magenta through the stencil. I used this color because so far the page is very dark and green. I wanted to add some color that would allow it to pop off the page and be slightly translucent to allow background design to shine through.

On the right-hand page, at the bottom, I added a stone wall with the olive green mixed paint and the September 2018 StencilClub release Caves and Ladders. Next, I added a Window (Window Ledger Stencil) and another stone path in magenta. You'll also notice that at this point I went back over the two pages with the dangled pods stencil and additional layers of Liquitex Basics Light Blue Violet.

I added a raven at the bottom right-hand page with the Three Crows Stencil and black acrylic paint. I then added a touch of black to darken the window design too. I added a layer of vintage photo distress ink to the right page, being sure not to get any on the window as I'll be adding yellow highlights there later.

To add another little background detail, I spritzed a fine mist over the pages. I let it sit for a few seconds and dabbed it carefully with a paper towel. It leaves behind this speckled appearance.

On both pages, I added half a medallion from the StencilClub July 2018 set: Ceramic Tiles in white acrylic paint. I went over the medallions and window with Marabu Art Crayons in sunshine yellow and chili. Next, using white and black gelli roll pens, I added outlines and doodles around most of the images and shapes.

Then on the computer, I printed out a stanza from the poem and fixed it to my pages with matte medium. Then to age it a bit, I rubbed some vintage photo distress ink over them.

That is it for this month. I hope that you find this walk-through inspirational. I know a lot of us tend to stick to what feels safe and comfortable. I do it, too! I would like to encourage you, however, to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. Maybe play along with us on this theme and use stencils to create something inspired by poetry. Until next time!

If you would like to see more of my work you can visit my blog or Instagram feed.

Happy Creating,

Jennifer Gallagher