Artful TACTICS with Tamie

TECHNIQUE  -  Using Masking Tape and Washi Tape for deep fun texture.

I am always asked how to get more texture on the page when doing mixed media. There are so many different techniques, and this is certainly just one of them!

I did this page in an altered book I just started, so I applied a thin layer of gesso down on my pages and added some masking tape while making it crinkle on the paper. (think texture).

Next, I used some Apple Barrel craft acrylic and applied with my fingers and a baby wipe to the page.  Leaving some areas with no paint for the next layer.  This Bimini Blue is one of my favorite colors! You can pick up these craft paints at the big blue box store for .50 cents a bottle!  Great price if you are going through tons of paint!  Craft paint is a lot thinner than artists quality acrylic, but it certainly gets the job done!

At the next stage, I applied Golden High Flow acrylic in Quinacridone Magenta followed by Hansa Yellow Medium with my fingers and again a baby wipe.  These paints have a wonderful, loose feel to them, but with body, if that makes any sense.  The color saturation is great and they are really intense.  A little bit goes a long way. I applied with my fingers and with a baby wipe, thinning and blending as I went along.

I want to give a shout out to Scott over at Golden Paints.  I emailed the company asking if they had any free samples and Scott kindly wrote me back saying they did. (WOOOHOO!) He asked me what I was into and I told him I was a mixed media artist. Felt strange saying that cause I don't feel like an artist at all. I think more as myself as a recycler who slaps lots of paint and markers on a gesso page. Just crazy madness from my head.

This turning out to be lots of wonderful yumminess!

Using black craft paint, I added the hexagon stencils that I was generously sent in a happy mail package. It was the "excess" from die cutting. Always good to not throw anything away. In mixed media, we can use anything at least once, right?

I could not resist adding some washi tape, so I crinkled it up as well. (more texture)

I used my new Christmas World bulb stamp but I used some tape to cover the top portion so I didn't ink up the top hook, more of just a circle.

Creating "my" pages is all about the layering. One on top of the other.  It isn't difficult. "Just add more".  You can always paint on it, cover it with gesso, and create another dimension to your work, plus the added benefit of more interest for the eye.

Took the white Signo Uniball pen and outlined a few of the hexies.

 Love love love chipboard alphas!  These Chalkboard ones are awesome.

At then, I spritzed a few areas with this Heidi Swapp color shine spray in in Citron and dryed with a heat gun.

I printed out the words from Days of Sarcasm and Roses Art Journal Word Strips Pack  by 2CurlyHeadedMonsters Designs, fussy cut them out and enhanced with a black pen to make them pop on the page and applied with double stick tape.

The dolly is from Spirited Journey Art Dolls Vol.3 , by Crafty Button Design.  Printed and fussy cut out and applied with adhesive dots.  Glue was not working on this page due to the heavy texture.

I  so hope you like my finished journal page and how I translate the madness in my head to the page, and I can't wait to see YOU use some heavy texture in your journals!  Show me what you're doing over at our journaling group, Artful Journeys, and if you'd care to leave me some blog love in comments below, it would be much appreciated!

Happy arting!

~Tamie