FREEBIES JOURNAL SERIES FINAL PAGES & RECAP!!! by Mercy Sauer

Welcome back Ai Fans, I am excited to announce this is the last installment of my Freebies Journal Series pages 12 through 15!  It was a hoot to create, and I can’t wait to share.   Be sure to scroll down all the way to the end to see a video of the completed Journal!

Let’s review pages 12 and 13.   It’s mostly Copic techniques and some masking.   I wanted a home for the critters and was excited that the house set from the Dog House Cubbies was perfect!   A great addition to the scene.  I incorporated a new Copic technique (for me) which includes lots of texture on the ground using only markers and not stamps.  In addition, I wanted to create a picture like scene that could be found in a kid’s book.    Overall, I was very pleased with it, it did take a hot minute since it’s all about layering and layering again. 

Basically, I started by stamping and masking the entire scene.

As I started coloring, I wanted the balloon to appear “clear”.  As shown below, I added light lines from the background onto the balloon surface creating a see-through effect.

The effect is faint, simply a suggestion of shadows.   Will only be noticed by those who pay extra attention, but totally worth the effort!

Pages 14 and 15 include a group picture!   These two pages are my favorite!

This layout was a bit more challenging for a couple of reasons…I wanted to include a heavily masked area without making the scene look cluttered or confusing.   Secondly, the hedgehog flying within the scene needed to make sense visually, and finally, I wanted to create a slope or hill like setting for the ground.

I addressed the first challenge by creating a clean mask when stamping, followed by choosing the right colors and tonality.   I added spots to the dog so it would be more prominent than the frog.   I used one color (green) in different shades for the frog and painted the goose in a bright yellow.   It’s also important to “ground” each critter in their own space or plane.   For the second challenge, I simply added a hedge (no pun intended, lol) in the background so the hedgehog looks to be up in the air.   Finally to create a slope, simply angle your color strokes.  Also color in details at an angle to suggest an incline.

I can’t say it enough; how fun this project is, I highly recommended.  It’s so relaxing and fun.    There are so many different themes and topics, the sky's the limit!

Hope you check out the video!

And here’s a photo journal of all the pages.

THANK YOU!