Peace, Be Still!

Today's Bible Journaling piece is about the disciples facing a frightening storm at sea - and how Jesus calmed the waves - read more about that here.  As always, on this blog, my focus is on techniques - and today's techniques were a lot of fun!  I adapted them from something I saw Rebekah Jones do in this video.   In the video, she uses Inktense Pencils & Pitt Artist Pens.  I didn't have those, so used what I had - watercolor pencils & Scroll and Brush markers.  In person, I REALLY like how it turned out - especially the waves.  Here's how I made the page:

Page Prep: For this technique, I used the Dianna Wakely clear gesso from Ranger because it is a very smooth gesso which works well with most art media and I felt it would be quite important for this page.  Using one of Ranger's mini sponge applicators, I applied 3 thin coats of gesso, drying between each layer with my heat tool, and stroking in different directions on each layer to ensure better coverage.  With the techniques I knew I'd be using, I wanted a GOOD layer of gesso!  Then I left it awhile to make sure it was really dry before continuing.  While it was drying, I tried out the various techniques a bit on scrap paper to get a better feel for what I'd be doing.

Water/Waves: I drew out the outline of the waves on some paper - starting with Rebekah's free download, but adjusting them and adding more of my own. I also drew the boat & person in it and cut it out of a post-it note to use as a mask to protect that part of the page while I drew in the waves.  Once I had the waves as I wanted them, I outlined them with a very black marker so I could somewhat see them when I placed the paper behind my Bible page.  Then I took a dark blue watercolor pencil and sketched in the outline of the waves using the paper behind the page as a guide. (remember the post-it note protected the area of the boat & person during the whole process of creating the waves).

From there, I did pretty much what Rebekah showed in her video.  I first used a wet brush to activate the watercolor pencil lines and draw some of the color out (though I didn't have the patience to do as many layers of this as she did - in part because any new layers activated the others - which I could have avoided if I had the inktense pencils).  I made sure this was thoroughly dry before moving on.

Next I used my Scroll & Brush markers the same way she used the Pitt pens - and they worked pretty much the same way.  I laid down a bit of color, and then rubbed it out with my finger to create the look of fading from dark to lighter.  As with her Pitt pens, I only had a few seconds to do this before the ink dried.  But once it dried, it was more permanent than the watercolor pencil, and thus easier to layer.  I used several different colors of blues and aquas, as well as orchid to create a variety of blended colors in the waves.  This technique is so much fun!  AND I found if I got a little color outside of where I wanted it, if I IMMEDIATELY took an eraser to the area, I could remove it!!!  Nice to know. :)

Clouds: I decided storm clouds would add to the feel of the page, but before adding them, I placed a post-it note mask over the verses I wanted to highlight (the mask for the boat was still in place).  I did the clouds very similarly to the way I did the waves (though naturally using different colors!) - using first my watercolor pencils, then water, then Scroll & Brush markers blended with my finger.  I left the upper right corner free as well as an area near the boat, as I knew I wanted to add yellow for light (representing God's peace) to highlight the text, and to reach the boat. (more on that later)

Boat: After the clouds were done, I removed all the masks, then outlined the boat & person with watercolor pencils.  As usual I added water (lifting off some of the color with extra water and a paper towel so the skin wouldn't be too dark).  I added color with the markers & my finger as before. I added a little detail with some very fine (.3mm) Staedtler markers I have ("Triplus Fineliner").

Light: For the light I just used 3 different colors of yellow Scroll & Brush markers - blending some with my finger as I'd been doing for the rest of the page.  The words were hand-drawn with the fine-line Staedtler markers.  I guess I didn't have the background quite as dry as I thought, because it bled a little wider in some places.