My Creative Space: Purposeful

On Friday, I showed you a few pages from my latest sketchbook. I've been using it a lot these last few days to draw faces, inspired by the HerStory workshop I'm participating in. Before I show you those sketches though, I wanted to show you what I did with the cover of the book.

Like I said, I use these relatively cheap Studio Pro sketchbooks - the ring binding makes it easy to doodle on both sides of the pages and the black plasticky covers are quite sturdy. They also come with a paper "title" half-page, with all the selling info on it. I usually rip these pages out... but this time I decided to make my own title page with it instead.

I didn't take any progress photos, but it was a relatively simple project. The layers went as follows:

1. I started by covering both sides with masking tape since the paper was a bit shiny and I wanted to give the paint something to hold onto. 
2. I covered the tape with gesso, always a good starting point.
3. Then I decided to glue a "tag" to the front - I can't remember where exactly it came from, junk mail I think - but I held onto it because I liked the shape. 
4. Another coat of gesso and I was ready for some colour.
5. I used my gelatoes in a rainbow of colour, blending them in with a bit of water.
6. I wrote the title and starting date on the tag with my trusty Pilot V5 pen.
7. Something was missing... black India ink splatter always makes things better!

I love how it turned out! Makes me smile every time I reach for my sketchbook.