Don't despair! Rescuing a "Disaster" in your art journal (with video!)

We've all been there. You excitedly open your art journal, grab your favourite paints, and... disaster strikes! Your initial vision ends up looking like a muddy mess. Don't panic! This post (and accompanying video) will show you some creative ways to transform your "mistake" into a masterpiece (or at least a more interesting page!).

This blog post shows how I went about rescuing my page, plus a YouTube video showing how.

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YouTube video showing all the steps is linked below ... 👇

The "disaster"

In "my head" I knew what I wanted to do but when I painted my stylised flower, it looked awful: no blending, clash of pearlescent with metallic with base colours ...! 

I thought I'd start adding a background and that looked naff too! I was just about to either tear the page out or hide it by sticking it to the opposite page. Black gesso wasn't even an option and really just wanted this page "gone"!

Needed some positives - any positives at this point and then found this quote in my quote book from way back when I started art journaling...

First things first, take a deep breath and release the pressure. 
Art journaling is about exploration and having fun, not perfection. 

Embrace the "happy accidents" that may occur – they often lead to the most unique and interesting outcomes!

Turning the Tide: Techniques I used to fix & improve

I remember heating myself saying "layering is my friend" and just went for it. Added a white gel pen outline and highlights, used a coloured micron pen for depth but that still wasn't enough - in my eyes.

What next? Let's see if I can blend out some of the paint layers with some more paint. So that's exactly what I did and slowly, my flower was looking a little better on my eyes. Being honest, I'm still not 100% happy but I'm happier.

I'm still thinking "layering is my friend" so I grabbed some stamps and stencils and started adding more layers using a mix of paint & ink. Slowly, I began feeling a bit happier with my page and now love the background but as for the flower ... nah, not feeling it! 

Was just about to "throw in the proverbial towel" but put on my big girl knickers and found some suitable quotes to add which I think explain the whole process perfectly. They read ...

original

take risks

The journey is the destination

Oh boy, I can definitely confirm that this page has been on a journey with me!

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YouTube video

As a creative, I thought it important that I share this page and what I did next. Normally, we share what we think are great projects but it is important to also show that not everything works for us too! Click on thumbnail image or in case that doesn't work, click HERE instead.

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I keep telling myself "no mistakes in art journaling" and  agree wholeheartedly, so I am filing this page as "challenge accepted", moving on and congratulating myself that I didn't give up or worse still, tear it out of my journal.

Would love you to leave your tips and techniques about what you do to fix a page or project that just doesn't travel along the same path as you.

Until next time, take care,

Lou
xxx

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