Loving this Collage in my XL Leda Sketchbook! #ledaartsupply #zebrapen_usa

 Wow! Where to start?

Photo heavy post ahead.

I am going to walk you through how I made

this two-page spread in my XL Leda Sketchbook.

If you don't care about that -

just admire the above photo of the finished

project and have a super day :)

but

if you want to see how this was put together,

just read on.

 I started with my XL Leda Sketchbook

from Leda Art Supply. 

Here is a link where you can see their other items.

The pages are 8.5" x 12" which makes this 

2-page spread 17" x 12".

That's big!

I began by covering both pages with 

Dina Wakley's Clear Gesso. I spread the gesso 

with an old credit card to get smoother coverage.

That teal color you see is some of Dina's

acrylic paints. I just smeared them on with a 

paintbrush to give some texture. 

 Whoa! Too dark! 

So I covered it with some white acrylic,

also from Dina Wakley.

I worked on both pages, adding layers of a couple

different colors from Dina's line,

then left it to dry overnight.

 I still didn't like how it was looking,

so I changed over to 

Pebeo High Viscosity Studio Acrylics,

Golden Fluid Acrylics and Golden High Flow Acrylics

and a brayer.

I rolled several colors up and down

and side to side.

 And kept working this way until I got something

I was happy with. Then stopped to let it dry.

 Figured to throw in a bonus here:

whether you are rolling paint on pages

or rolling paint onto a gelli plate -

don't waste your paint. 

That leftover on your brayer rolls very well across

some blank pages in your other journals.

This is what I did with the Baby Leda Sketchbook

you saw on the left in the photo above this one.

Leftover brayered paint makes a great base

for some zentangle art.

 If you follow my tutorials, you already know I have

trouble remembering to take photos.

I get "in the moment" then all of a sudden I think-

I should have taken a photo of that!

So what you see above is this -

I collected various items I wanted to use in the collage.

Items I thought would work well together.

The Indian figure photos came in the mail as

part of a promotion Ashton-Drake had going on.

Those blocks of color are bits and pieces of a napkin 

in Jane Davenport's line. 

The birds are from the collage pages sold at

Joggles.com.

The Hope block was part of an ad in a

North Face sales paper.

The song lyrics I printed on my computer

and the mushrooms and flowers are clip art

from Tim Holtz - I believe. 

I adhered all those pieces to my background with

Dina's clear gesso,

then covered each of them with the same gesso making sure the edges were sealed well. 

To give some color to those white

lyric blocks, I sprayed Dylusions Ink Sprays 

and used Jane Davenport's Mermaid Markers,

then allowed the color to run down the page. 

 Here you can see the green and pink runs of color

from the Dylusions Ink Sprays.

I colored the mushrooms with Jane's Mermaid Markers.

I used the mermaid markers here as well.

 You can see drips on the wings,

and color on the lyric block.

 A shot of the Hope box that was part of 

a magazine ad. 

I just tear out pages that I think I may

want to use one day and throw them

in a drawer until I need them.

 Possibly hard to see - I used a 

Tsukineko Shimmer Spritz to add some sparkle

and shine. And I added some color with 

Zig Pearlescent Watercolors on the mushrooms

and over the lyric blocks. 

 This big open area needed something,

so I pulled out my Joggles ATC stencils

and came across these fish.

Perfect!

I placed the stencil where I wanted the fish,

then scraped Liquitex Basics Gloss Gel Medium

through the openings of the stencil 

and left it to dry overnight.

 Here's a little more of that Shimmer Spritz.

 Actually I didn't put it away just yet,

I took a photo first.

Cause you know - I am just so good at

taking photos. 

>.<

 It's the next day and I really wish I had

taken a photo of these fish to show you.

They were white when they were wet.

Looked like Elmer's School Glue, didn't they?

They dry completely clear.

Clear didn't help a whole lot, so I

colored them with my trusty 

Tombow Dual Brush Pens

that Mark got me for Christmas a few years ago.

I used Pebeo Deco Markers and

Montana Acrylic Markers to add dots and outlining.

And still there were areas that needed more

color. How do you know when enough is

enough? You just will. And there wasn't

"enough" so I pulled out my Dylusions Paints

and rubbed color here and there with my

fingers. That adds texture and it really is

self-satisfying when you know you've done

something cool and your hands are such a mess!

 You could see it in the last photo, but also this one -

those blue rings. I made those with a little styrofoam

squishy circle that holds the DVDs in the container

you purchase them in. Makes a great little stamp.

Then I also used some of those Joggles ATC stencils

I mentioned earlier and a black StayzOn ink pad

to add another layer of shapes.

 This page needed some help, too.

 So I added some stencil work in black here. 

Here you can see scuffs that I made with

the black StayzOn ink pad.

I just scuffed it across the pages in several

places  - to add more texture. And it kind

of ages the page, so to speak.

 Getting closer but not quite yet.

There were still areas that needed something.

Back to the stencils and the ink to add

some pops of steampunk because . . . 

why not?

 And here, as well. 

So I really liked what I had at this point. 

And was ready to quit until I got an aha! moment

and realized I couldn't post this in my Facebook group

Zentangle All Around

because there wasn't any tangling in the spread.

It's a requirement for posting.

 So I pulled out my Zebra

Zensations Sarasa Fineliner and added some

tipple and flying geese . . .

 . . . and printemps.

I also added some auras around circles

and called it done!

I figure all in all there are a total of about 25 layers

of product. And the XL Leda worked great!

I love using this book for collage work.

It holds up so well and the larger size is really 

fun to work in!

This spread had a lot of wet product added and there

is really minimum curve to the edges of the pages.

And I know from experience those will flatten out

once I have left the book closed overnight.

You can see other collage

work I've done in Leda Sketchbooks here and here. 

I am currently an Artist Ambassador for 

Leda Art Supply and absolutely love their product!

I am also an Artist Ambassador for Zebra Pens. 

Their Sarasa Fineliner worked great on top of all 

these layers for the added touches of tangles. 

Interested in doing some collage work of your own?

I would encourage you to try both the Leda Sketchbooks

and

the Zensations Sarasa Fineliners from Zebra Pen.

Have a great rest of your week!