Playing in My Zeus XL Leda Sketchbook #ledaartsupply #collageart

 Many of you already know that I am an Ambassador for

Leda Art Supply. 

As such I am using and reviewing their product line.

Yesterday, I pulled out their big gun -

the X Large Leda Sketchbook -

and had a wonderful time!
They call it the Zeus.

The pages are 8.5" x 12".

That's plenty of room (and then some) to 
create marvelous art and collage work!

 The paper is a dense 81 pounds - perfect for

"pencil, ink, pen, pastel, charcoal and even light water-color wash." 

Well, you know how I am with a challenge. 

Push it to the max and see what happens.

And all-in-all, the XL Leda worked beautifully!

I should have prepped my pages with gesso,

but I was so excited to get started that I

absolutely forgot to do that.

I started with two colors of
Golden High Flow Acrylics 
and just rolled some color here and there. 

Vertically. Horizontally.

This paper took the color really well. 

The pages are a cream color that I was able

to work with easily.

 Those Golden didn't really roll as well as I wanted,

so I pulled out some 
Pébéo High Viscosity Acrylics

and added some more color.

More and more of that cream color was getting covered up 
and I was good with that. 

I am all about bright, bold, wonderful color!

 And I really, really liked the color at this point.

 Balance-wise, I kept some of the cream for

negative space. Of course, it probably got

covered with something else along the way.

Hahahaha!

 So.

How did the pages hold up to all this

wet media I poured and rolled on them?

Not too bad, actually.

What you see showing through is the Golden

acrylics, and if I had prepped the pages first -

you wouldn't see a thing.

And for the way I plan on working in this book,

this won't be a problem.

This back side of the page will soon be turned into

a collage, bold, bright and beautiful page all on its own.

What's next?

Design elements.

Before getting started, I opened my collage drawer and

pulled out a collection of magazine pages,

napkins, tissue paper, sheet music, book pages, 

and pre-printed collage art details (butterflies).

Hand tearing is my way to go whenever possible.

The edges are easier to seal.

I played with placement, then when I was 

happy I adhered the pieces with

Dina Wakley's Clear Gesso.

Then I sealed the edges with the same gesso.

Off to a good start but there still needed to be 

lots of color!

Cause that's how I do it!

These little bottles of FolkArt acrylic paint come from

WalMart or Michaels or Hobby Lobby and are cheap

and affordable, which is good since I use a lot of them.

I used my finger and smeared sections of watered

down blue acrylic in various places on the

two-page spread. 

And added some fingerprints of color here and there.

But it still needed more.

Out came my Jane Davenport Mermaid Markers.

If you are familiar with Jane's work you will

understand the name. 

Little water brushes filled with lovely color

that I just painted and brushed in various places.

Most noticeably on the face and butterflies.

A wadded up Kleenex helped to blot and lift

color where I didn't want it.

So far I had various paints and inks mixed with paper products. 

And I was really liking the mix so far.

But it didn't feel done. 

Joggles has all these wonderful little stencils

that are perfect for adding some zing to your

work.

StayzOn ink pads work great when you 

want permanent color that you can add

wet media over without smearing.

I typically use StayzOn whenever I ink

through stencils. Just in case.

I have StayzOn in various colors.

I used at least 5 of the Itty Bitty Stencils to add some pop.

Previous to this I had used a white UniBall Signo gel pen to add some scribble writing around that circular piece on the left hand page. It didn't stand out enough, 

so I added even more scribble writing with a black Sharpie and that made me happy with that element.

So much so that I added more black sharpie detail in random places.

I am totally liking this face!

Mark said it was strange.

Yep! 

And I like strange!

I used the Mermaid markers and the white

gel pen to bring out the lovely in those

eyes a bit more.

Oh yeah!

I also used Posca Paint Pens to add some dotted

details and marks to draw the eye to certain points

of the page. 

A little more sharpie detail with tangles

and I was really happy with the collage spread!

Been reading my blog for awhile?

You already know that I love dragons!

So much that I have two 8 foot tall metal dragons

in the front yard, plus seven other dragons located

in various places around the front yard and porch.

Dragons are my thing.

This dragon rider is probably my favorite part

of the spread.

She was actually in a sale flyer from

Ashton Drake.

I guess this strange face is my next favorite part.

Closely followed by this scribble written around

circle tear out of a woman that looks very much

like my grandmother as a young woman.

(But isn't.)

And I'm calling it done!

I love the way the X Large Leda Sketchbook

held and accepted my work. 

All told there are around 12 layers of wet media

plus all the design elements and the 3-4 layers of

wet media they needed.

The pages had little warp

and I am sure the little they have will straighten

out as I use the elastic band that comes attached

to the sketchbook. 

A little page prep - 

which I should have done regardless what book I use - 

would have prevented that

bit of ghosting. 

And a page of collage work on the back will totally take care of that anyway.

This book is the perfect size for working larger.

The perfect book for working in collage art.

Thank you Leda for placing your trust in me.

I did purchase this book for myself on Amazon.

And I already have ideas for the next collage pages.

I would love to see what you make in your

Leda!