Textured gesso...again

Okay, I know I have shared this technique before but I do like it a lot! The challenge this week for DLP (Documented Life Project) was to use gesso so I went a little crazy with it.

 I started my page with some random book paper glued down with matte medium. Most of it will not be visible so I didn't care which direction the text was in. I use clips to hold my pages down when I am using glue or gesso in journals so it doesn't shrink and curl the page as it dries.

 Next I used my very worn old sea sponge to apply gesso over the book paper. I tried not to cover the whole page because any areas without gesso will stain darker later on. It is a look that appeals to me. I took my book outside and used a heat gun to make the gesso bubble. It adds even more texture than just the sponge.

 I spread gesso through a stencil in a few areas to make even more texture. I was careful when lifting the stencil off so it doesn't smudge.

 Next I used the distress inks to colour the background. I started with the brightest blue and edged the page with the browns.

 The page was a little too bright for me so I decided to spray it with my dye sprays. That was a big mistake. The dyes washed most of the distress ink off and changed the gesso to blue. I quickly wiped the whole lot off with a paper towel. Now I had a mess but I kept going.

I redid the distress inks but I left out the really bright blue this time. In the final image I also added a little green distress ink to tie the images in to the background more.

The final page, almost. I stamped the birds on separate paper, colored them with pencils and cut them out. The are glued to the page with matte medium. I wrote the quote out with a black permanent pen.

 

I thought the writing didn't stand out enough so I colored in the letters with a green pencil. Now it really is done.