Hello creative friends!
Today I’m sharing one of my latest mixed media art journal pages with you. This one is all about layers, bold colour, expressive marks and allowing the page to develop organically as I create.
For this piece, I worked with a beautiful palette of turquoise, teal, aqua, deep blue, black and white. I love how these cooler colours work together, particularly when you introduce strong areas of black and leave glimpses of white showing through.
Building the Background
I began by building up the background with lots of loose, imperfect layers.
Rather than trying to create a smooth or perfectly blended surface, I wanted to keep the brushstrokes visible. I layered different shades of blue and turquoise, adding areas of white and darker tones to create contrast and depth.
You’ll notice plenty of scraped paint, blocks, stripes and irregular shapes throughout the background. I love allowing previous layers to peek through rather than completely covering them.
For me, that is part of the magic of mixed media. Every layer leaves a little piece of itself behind.
Making My Marks
Once I had the colour established, I started adding my mark-making.
The loose black scribbles and lines were deliberately kept very free. I didn’t want them to look perfect or planned. I also added the black and white striped details and scattered white dots around the page.
These little repeated elements help connect one area of the page to another.
I especially love the white dots against the dark blues and black. They add another level of contrast and give the background a little extra energy without taking attention away from my focal image.
Creating the Focal Point
Of course, the girl is the main focus of this page.
Her beautiful golden eyes immediately draw you in, while the cracked details across her face give her such an interesting and slightly haunting quality.
I worked my background right around her so that she became part of the page rather than looking like an image that had simply been placed on top.
I also love the typography across her clothing. I’ve allowed the words to become another textural element within the artwork. Sometimes text doesn’t need to be perfectly readable. It can simply become part of the pattern and visual story.
Letting the Page Evolve
I think one of my favourite things about creating mixed media is not having to know exactly where a page is going when I begin.
I can add some paint, make a mark, stand back and look at it, then decide what it needs next.
Sometimes it needs another layer.
Sometimes it needs more black.
Sometimes it needs a splash of white.
And sometimes it needs absolutely nothing!
For this page, I kept returning to the same colours and marks until everything began to feel connected. The rough edges, scribbles, paint strokes, dots and imperfect areas are all part of what gives the finished piece its personality.
The final words “SEIZE TRUTH.” felt like the perfect way to finish it.
There is something about those two simple words that really connects with the expression of the girl and the rawness of the page.
I hope this piece inspires you to pull out your art journal, choose a few colours you love and just start creating.
Don’t worry about making every mark perfect.
Layer it, paint over it, scribble on it, add something unexpected and see where the page takes you.
Happy creating!
Lisa Oxley
Scrapping Clearly Curated Collective Team Designer
