This week, we’re celebrating creativity and a little red, white, and blue spirit with a fun mixed media project that blends bold colors, florals, and a hint of sparkle. Whether you’re inspired by the Fourth of July or just love a bright, joyful page, this is a great way to loosen up and play with blending, layering, and detail.
Prep your page by taping off the edges with painter’s tape. Next, prime your mixed media journal page with matte medium. Matte medium dries clear, giving you a nice, smooth surface to work on, while still allowing for easy blending of acrylics.
Next, I jumped in with a classic patriotic palette – Stormy at the top, transitioning to white in the middle, and Primary Red at the bottom. I worked wet-on-wet in some areas to create a seamless ombre effect, adding a bit of extra white to transition between the bold colors and keep the look soft and balanced. Dry with a heat tool.
Using a liner brush and black acrylic paint, I freehanded whimsical petals, letting them overlap. The flower centers were dotted in with a foam detailer tool, which makes the perfect, bold dots with just the right amount of pressure. I also layered in loose, sketchy leaves to frame the flowers in a playful way.
Because I’m a “more is more” kind of gal, I couldn’t resist adding some subtle gold accents. I grabbed a dry brush and a bit of metallic gold paint, gently tapping and stenciling faint star shapes into the negative space around the flower. If you want, you can also use a fan brush with watered-down gold paint, red paint, and blue paint for a light splatter – it’s a great way to build texture and movement.
Finally, I finished the piece with a few more pops of color, adding delicate details with a white and metallic gold paint. Once I was happy with the final design, I sealed the whole page with a satin varnish to protect the layers.
If you want to give this a try, remember you can absolutely make it your own – change the colors to match your mood or your country, swap the flowers for another motif, and play with different levels of blending. Your art journal is your safe space to experiment, and no one says it has to be perfect!
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Supply List:
- 5.5 X 7.5 Mixed Media Journal
- Painter’s Tape
- Acrylic Paints: Carbon Black, Primary Red, White, and Stormy
- Extreme Sheen: 24K Gold
- Stencil: Stars Duo
- Brushes: Tracy Weinzapfel Studios Brush Sets 1
- Ink: Ranger Archival Black
- Sealer: DuraClear Satin
- Matte Medium: Decoart
Check out Tracy’s Art Journal Starter Kit!
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