I have an art journal I bought over six months ago that I have been staring at, afraid to use, fearful of creating something I would not like, resisting the opportunity to start a new journey in the blank pages staring back at me.  Shawn’s Dictionary Page Stencil is one of my favorites.  I recently stumbled upon a quote by John Wayne that contained two of the words found on the Dictionary Page stencil.  I let that quote inspire me to be courageous and take a journey into my pristine art journal. “Courage is being afraid and going on the journey anyway.” – John Wayne

I started with a muted background using acrylic paints topped with tempera paint.  I used the Bicycle 55 stencil and high-flow acrylic paint to add a bicycle to the page.  I followed up with the Bricks & Bubbles stencil to ground the bicycle by adding the brick pattern underneath.  In order to add the quote to the page, I printed the words in different fonts onto tracing paper and cut each word out. 

Additionally, I used the Dictionary Page stencil with pigment ink for the words courage and journey, also done on the tracing paper.  I sprayed the words on the tracing paper with a workable fixative before applying them to the journal page with matte gel medium.  To give depth to the bricklayer, I used a water-soluble black pencil in between some of the bricks and activated it with water on a small brush.  Interest was added to the background, and flowers to the bicycle basket with the Little Flowers Statice stencil.  I finished up by adding splatters with black and white high-flow acrylics.

Enjoy the Video! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ilxtXup7xQ

Products used:

Shawn Petite Stencils: Bricks & Bubbles, Dictionary Page, Little Flowers Statice, Bicycle 55

Masters Touch: Acrylic Gesso – White, (Masters Acrylic Paint Set) Acrylic Paint – Antique Gold, Acrylic Paint – Ocean Green, Tracing Paper, Liquitex: Acrylic Paint – Cobalt Blue, Gel Matte Medium, Golden: High Flow Acrylic – Titanium White, High Flow Acrylic – Carbon Black, Acrylic Paint – Cadmium Yellow Light, Acrylic Paint – Titanium White, Winsor & Newton:  Acrylic Paint – Cadmium Orange, Tsukineko: Versa Fine Clair Pigment Ink – Nocturne, Stabilo: Water Soluble Pencil – Black, Ranger:  Square Dylusions Creative Journal, RAS: Tempera Paint – White, Krylon: Workable Fixatif.

This post contains affiliate links from Amazon and Blick at no cost to you.

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/rrbarber62/
https://www.instagram.com/chestnutgrovestudios/                          @ChestnutGroveStudios

Facebook:           https://www.facebook.com/robyn.barber.35/                                                https://www.facebook.com/chestnutgrovestudios

 Blog: https://www.chestnutgrovestudios.com/blog

Website: Visual Art + Bluegrass & Folk Instruments | Chestnut Grove Studios

Be inspired, create, and know that you are loved!

Shawn Petite is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com