Journal Inspiration: Monthly Pages Part Two

I have another idea for a monthly or even weekly page that you can add to your journal.  It's fairly simple to do, but it can be a bit time consuming depending on how much detail you put into it.  Here's an example of how it can look:

This page took me a few hours to do, but most of that was waiting for the background to dry since I went a little bit overboard.  You can use this technique to add quotes or gratitude lists to your journal in a fun and colorful way.  I used these supplies for this page, but you can improvise with whatever you have on hand:

  • Derwent Inktense blocks,
  • Fan brush,
  • Graphite pencil,
  • A good eraser (My favorites are the Tombow mono and the Tombow mono zero erasers.  They erase the cleanest of all the erasers I've tried.),
  • 6 pens with different colored ink (I used Staedtler Triplus Fineliners), and
  • A black brush pen (I used a Prismacolor Premier Illustration pen).
I started by using a fan brush that had a lot of water on it and my Derwent Inktense blocks to splatter color all over the page.  When I do this technique, I work quickly.  I dip the paintbrush in water, swipe it across one of the Inktense blocks and tap it against my finger while holding it over the page.  I rinse the brush and repeat the process with the next color.  I keep repeating the process until the page looks the way I want it to.  It's very messy, so I would suggest having some paper towels on hand.  Watercolors and gouache would also work for this part.  You can also use acrylics, but I would suggest doing the lettering first if you're going to use acrylics, since not all pens work well over them.

Next, I lightly drew the letters of the quote I chose with a pencil.  I used my eraser to make the lines even fainter.  You don't want a whole lot of graphite on the page.  It can make the pen ink appear dirty, and it can mess up your pen nibs.

Then, I used yellow, orange and red pens on the left side and top of each letter.  I used green, blue and purple pens on the right side and bottom of each letter.  My main goal was to have a rainbow look to the letters while keeping the warm (yellow, orange and red) and cool (green, blue and purple) colors relatively separate.

Finally, I used a black brush pen to add dimension to the letters by drawing along the right side and bottom of the letters.  I also used the brush pen to write who the quote was by.

I had a lot of fun creating this page.  I hope you give it a try.  If you do, leave a link in the comments below.  I did the lettering purposely this way.  Do any of you spot the second message on the page?  Leave a comment below if you do.

Wendy

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