How Many Layers is Enough???

In my case, it's never enough!  Or more accurately when is an art journal page ever completely finished?  Hi folks, Micki here to share another art journal page that has been reworked numerous times.  I think this last layer is layer number 11.
A little history about the evolution of this page.  It started months ago with scraps of paper pieces and washi tape glued to the page, then covered with black gesso because I thought about using Dylusions Walk in the Park stamp set.  Well, as you can see below that idea didn't quite turn out as I had expected.

Using a brayer, I added a layer of gesso, then several more layers of paint. At one point I pulled out all of my stencils and just added a bunch of layers of different stencils.  Now keep in mind that my craft room is right off the kitchen so I would wander in there while waiting for water to boil or for the coffee to brew....so these layers were created over a period of weeks.

After each layer, I added paint with my brayer.   The page just wasn't "speaking" to me, either the color of paint or the combination of stencils just didn't look right. I gave the whole page a light layer of Olive Vine Silks Acrylics Glaze, still wasn't happy with it. I finally added a thin layer of white gesso (again using my brayer and decided enough was enough and added the Three Quarter Face stencil from The Crafter's Workshop using Claudine Hellmuth's Charcoal Black Studio paint.

Several days later I came back to fill in her hair using watered down paint, then I colored in her face using a mixture of Claudine Hellmuth's Studio Paints. (I love mixing paints but I'll be honest that it's a hit or miss as far as color shades goes.)  In the picture below you can see the outline of the stamp from my first layer (which was stamped on card stock, cut and glued to the page):

I also noticed that the green acrylic glaze kept showing through the paint so I added a bit of white gesso to my paint mix and applied several more coats.  At first I was careful about avoiding the facial stencil lines (mouth, nose, etc).  But I gave up on that rather quickly because I figured I'd just re-stencil those details once I had the skin completely painted and no green peeking through.

My next step was to add some shading (because of the white gesso she had turned out really pale) and add some color to her eyes and lips.

I used the black Big Brush Pen to "connect" the lines and also added another couple of layers of paint on her hair.  And then I did it..... I thought I'd really done it and ruined it all......because I wasn't thinking and outlined the face (stencil lines) with a black Faber-Castell Gelato and using my fingers to blend it.  Sigh, yup I gave her a mustache too:

BUT, after stepping away and looking at her, I realized that the smudges actually gave her more of a painterly look.  Now remember how I had said that in my previous attempts at completing this page, it just didn't "speak" to me?  Now it did..... I added a bit more shading with Faber-Castell markers and gelatos in the pinks,oranges and light browns, using a wet finger to blend.  For her cheek color, I used Distress Stain, again using my favorite tool - my fingers.

Having watched "Inspiration Wednesday" this week, I decided to use up some of my very old word stickers along with some current stickers which were covered with Matte Multi Medium to ensure they would stay put. Once dry, I went over the stickers with the black gelato and after blending it, added a couple of dabs of Black Soot Distress Paint, moving the paint with a wet wipe.

As a final touch I added circles from the Well Rounded stencil in red paint and using a mixture of old alphabet stickers as well as letters from Idea-ology's Label Letters as my title - sort of.  I honestly have no idea if "Jumbled" is even a word but like I tell my family at times.... "it's my world", right? 

Now, is this page finished?  For right now, it is. And as far as I'm concerned, one can never have too many layers!

I hope you enjoyed a peak into my "jumbled" art journaling process and hope that it has inspired you to have fun while getting inky.  Stop and listen and you will know when enough is enough :-).

Supplies Used:

InLinkz.com