Time For Tea - mini sketchbook journal

My last blog post (here) I showed the books I have been created while teaching myself to book bind. These books were filled with magazine pages and watercolor papers. I wanted these books to be used as sketchbook journals not just book binding samples. The books filled with magazine papers will be used to collage. The books with watercolor papers will be use to create mixed media artwork. 

I decided to start working in the mini (4.5" x 5.5") Tea For Two because it has marked watercolor paper that will be used as a prompt or starting off point for sketches.
 

The first sketch I kept most of the ground of yellow and orange watercolor that was marked before the pages were sewn into the book. I dried brush red, purple and violet acrylic paint on top. Blue vertical stripes on the right was added using a stencil I made then accented with blue and white pen. The purple and purple/lavender/yellow/blue/green magazine paper were left over from a previous collage in one of my larger sketchbook journals. I'm not one to let scraps go to waste.

As with the sketch above, this one started by using the existing watercolor ground of peach and pink. I had some leftover red acrylic paint from another project so I dried brush it in the upper right area. The triangles were created by using a stencil I cut. The final step was to add blue lines with a Sharpie and gold dots with metallic pen.

I'm really happy with how the watercolor grounds are being used as a starting point for these quick sketches. Materials used: acrylic paint (orange and yellow), thin blue Sharpie and navy gelli printed deli paper scrap along the bottom.

Another sketch with the watercolor ground incorporated into the final design. I glued navy and orange gelli printed deli paper scraps. Detailed the yellow acrylic painted circles with black and orange Sharpies. The sketch needed more marks so I used a think blue Sharpie to add lines/hash marks along the middle and bottom of the page. Finished off the sketch with a square shaped section of white gel pen marks.

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