Customizing your sketchbook into an Art Journal

This is an excerpt from the Express Yourself – Creative Well Being Online class , this class can be purchased by itself or as a bundle with the Art supplies box.

It is very easy to do and much more inspiring than the plain cover!

This is the sketchbook I am going to use.

I am a Blick Art Materials affiliate and I receive a small compensation for sales. That does not effect in any way the cost of the purchaser’s order but it helps me keeping the content of this blog free.

Canson XL Mix Media Pads Designed to appeal to students, Canson XL papers are developed in consultation with art professors who use Canson’s professional artist papers as a benchmark. As a result, Canson XL Mix Media Pads and Sheets incorporate many professional performance characteristics &mdash at a value price!

This is the sketchbook, once we painted it.

Here is how you can customize your sketchbook.

You can see the opening of the wire binding under the last page of your sketchbook.

Gently pull apart both sides just enough so the back cover can go through.

Take off the back cover

The take off the front cover

Work on a surface that is protected by paper or plastic. Here I am applying a first layer of regular bodied white acrylic. You might need a few layers if you want a totally white background, but as we are going to draw and paint on top, I thought one layer was enough in my case.

Spread the paint evenly , don’t forget the side with the holes.

I am a Blick Art Materials affiliate and I receive a small compensation for sales. That does not effect in any way the cost of the purchaser’s order but it helps me keeping the content of this blog free.

Amsterdam Standard Series Acrylics, 105 Titanium White, 500 ml Formerly Van Gogh Acrylics, these paints are value priced and easy to use. They’re an excellent choice for the beginning or intermediate artist. Clean up with soap and water. Quick drying and non-toxic, perfect for the classroom!

Once the paint has dried, you can if you want add a layer of fluid acrylic to make the brushstrokes less visible.

Just use the squeeze bottle to add a bit of paint on the cover.

Then spread it with a brush. You can add a bit of water to make the paint easier to spread. Let it dry completely.

Once dry, you might get some extra paint along the sides. Clean them with a cuter.

You can clean up the holes with the handle of a brush.

The first step is to draw designs with your Sakura Pigma micron marker.

I am a Blick Art Materials affiliate and I receive a small compensation for sales. That does not effect in any way the cost of the purchaser’s order but it helps me keeping the content of this blog free.

Sakura Pigma Micron Pen Pigma Micron pens are acid-free and archival, making them ideal for any application requiring precision and permanance. Pigma ink is derived from a single pigment to ensure color consistency, and is fadeproof against sunlight or UV light. – Set of 6, Black

This marker is water resistant once dried but can smudge if your hand goes over it before it had time to dry. This is what happened here, I don’t mind it too much as my style is not about being perfect, on the contrary 🙂

Depending on your design, you can extend it right up to the sides of the cover.

I mixed a blue-green-grey color with the Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Yellow medium and White fluid acrylics Opus fluid Acrylic paints.

Don’t forget to mix the paint with your brush every time you dip it in the paint as colors will tend to separate.

Then you can apply the paint, in this case I left the designs white.

I like it but want to make the background a bit more even so I am painting another layer of paint once this one had time to dry.

For the next layer I just added a bit more yellow in my mix.

Once your cover had time to dry, it can be a good idea to add a layer of medium on top to protect the paint.

I also went over some of the stems with the thicker marker so they would be more obvious. You could use a sharpie to do that.

The Sakura Pigma micron pen can smudge with medium, but it won’t smudge if you apply the medium very quickly in one layer.

I am a Blick Art Materials affiliate and I receive a small compensation for sales. That does not effect in any way the cost of the purchaser’s order but it helps me keeping the content of this blog free.

Liquitex Acrylic Mediums Gel mediums are ideal for extending a heavy body paint, to create impasto, relief, or sculptural effects. – Gel Medium, Gloss

The trick is to not go over the same area twice when the medium is still wet. Once you have painted one layer of medium, you can paint the subsequent layers freely, as the paint and markers won’t smudge any more.

Let the cover dry well.

Replace the cover on the sketchbook.

Then the back cover.

Gently replace the wires as they were initially, so the cover can’t go through anymore.

Et Voila! Your personal Art Journal is customized!