Become the Fire | Colour Blast

Hi everyone!

Popping in today with my latest design team project for Colour Blast. Today I am sharing a page in my altered book art journal. This had been one of those many projects I have been "intending" on doing for some time, and I finally decided it was time to jump in! I used an old hardcover book from the op shop for my book base. (I won't share my process for preparing the book as there are plenty of tutorials on YouTube you can look up - I used this one here.)

It should be no surprise that my go-to Colour Blast medium of choice for this page was Colour Artist Inks - they are my absolute fave to play with! (I was very keen to see how they would perform in my altered book.) I also used white and black Heavy Gesso and Colour Paste.

I will take you through my full process so you can see how it was done.

I started by choosing a random page in my book (no, I don't start at the front or work in order) and used some bulldog clips to hold my book open. I used white heavy gesso and an old brush to apply some to areas of the page. (I didn't cover the entire page as I wanted to gauge the difference in how the ink reacted with and without a primed surface.)

I started with the 'Citrus' Colour Artist Ink and used a small brush to apply it randomly to areas of my page - both over the gesso, and straight onto the paper. (You will note that the colours are not as vibrant when applied over the gesso, but it doesn't soak in as quickly and allows for "movement".)

After drying with a heat gun, I then repeated the process with 'Barley' Colour Artist Ink. I then added some splatters of 'Rust', before adding 'Sunburnt' ink into my palette. After I had dried it all off, I then went back and added some more of the 'Citrus' ink to give the colour more depth.

Next, I reached for some stencils and black Staz On ink. I used a script stencil and a sponge dauber to add some random text to my page, before adding my feature image using the fabulous 'Mystique' face stencil from StencilGirl. 

I then used white heavy gesso (applied with my finger) to add some highlights to the face, along with a Posca paint pen, which allowed the image to start to come to the front of the page, rather than just a part of the background. I also used black heavy gesso (also applied with my finger) to add some areas of contrast to my page; before going back with the white gesso to "bring back" the colour in some areas of my page.

Now it was time to give this lady some purpose! I added a quote from Flutterby Designs and used a Sharpie pen to draw around it to highlight it. To tie in with the quote I also used the Sharpie to draw a few "flames" on my page. I then added some pink Flutter Colour acrylic paint to each of the flames using my finger. (Fingers are the best brushes!)

With the colour down on my flames, I wanted to add some texture to give them some dimension; so I used my 'Fire Engine' Colour Paste and a thin palette knife to smear a little on top of each one before drying off thoroughly with a heat gun.

I then reached for my favourite art journal pens and pencil to add the finishing touches to my page. I used the white paint pens, along with a Flutterby Designs 'Bubble O'Fun' stencil to add some white circles. I also used the pens to further highlight the face, and add a few highlights to my flames.

I added three small Flutterby white Tiny Sticky Quote stickers which I outlined with my pencil, smudging it slightly as I went before finishing off with a few random pencil scribbles.

Here's a closer look at a couple of other details...

I am so happy with how this spread turned out and I am sure you will see more of them in future. 

Thanks for stopping by today. Until next time, happy scrapping! X