Combining Acrylics with Watercolors in Art Journaling
This summer has been sunny and warm in Finland. It has been great to spend time outdoors, gardening! Our garden is still work in progress. I think about it constantly. And it shows here in this art journal page, as well as the hot summer days!
I love the combination of acrylics and watercolors. They make a great background. Start with the acrylics, leave some unpainted areas and the add watercolor to them.
I continued by adding some handdrawn papers and wrote: “For someone this would be only a house and a garden but for us it’s the whole world.”
Coming up in Espoo, Finland: art journaling courses by Peony and Parakeet (in Finnish). The first evening (19th September) is about creating pages about landscapes and places!
Inspired by Mark Rothko
I have some close friends and relatives who have their birthday in May. I came with this idea of Mark Rothko inspired greeting cards when I thought: What would I give them if I had all the money in the world. And I immediately knew the answer: Mark Rothko paintings! Not as genious as the originals of course but still I think this is a fun idea.
Make your own Mark Rothko inspired card!
1) Paint the borders of the cardstock with acrylic paint.
2) Fill the center with watercolors. Paint rectangular areas using multiple shades.
3) Strengthen the watercolors and create layers with color pencils.
4) Attach your artwork to the card base. If you like you can sew zigzag around the edges to add detailing.
You can also use acrylic paints only. In the first row you can see my all-acrylic creations and in the second row are the cards that combine acrylics, watercolors and color pencils.
Mark Rothko & abstracts with colored pencils: Buy the e-book Coloring Freely!
Enigma
Original painting on canvas, see more photos at Etsy
Here’s my my newest artwork “Enigma”. The making of it started with the thoughts about the atmosphere in old, high public buildings. Like old libraries and churches. The decorated ceilings and the feel of space create almost spiritual experience. It is a mystery how the beauty can uplift the mind so powerfully.
I used acrylic paints here and added the details with pens and markers.