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Butterfly Art Journal Process Video & Tutorial

Just a quick note, video, and tutorial for you today. In honor of the beginning of Spring, I created a butterfly art journal page in my bullet art journal. Here’s a quick process video and tutorial. Enjoy!

Video

Step-by-Step Tutorial

  1. Gesso the page. I painted this in my Dylusions Art Journal.
  2. Etch texture or words into the gesso. I wrote a note to my youngest daughter, “Fly free Little One. The world is yours to take by storm and transform.” She had a butterfly themed birthday party that inspired this page.
  3. Dry the page.
  4. Trace the outline of a label. You can create your own shape or feel free to download this template, cut out the size you want, and use it as a stencil.
  5. Paint the outside of the shape teal.
  6. Sketch your butterfly in the center.
  7. Use Hansa Yellow Medium to begin to paint the butterfly wings.
  8. Intuitively continue to paint the wings using blues, yellows, and greens. I used Golden Fluid Acrylic paints in teal, hansa yellow medium, pthalo blue (green shade), and white gesso.
  9. Leaving a small teal border, use a contrasting color to add a slightly larger outer shape.
  10. Choose a color from the opposite of the color wheel to add to the outer layer. I chose Quinacridone Magenta.
  11. Continue to use the colors on your palette. Mix and match to intuitively fill in the outer edges of your page. Make sure the colors you use also appear in the butterfly wings for continuity.
  12. Begin to add patterns and marks such as polka dots around the outer shape.
  13. Use a baby wipe to fix any errors. If the paint is still wet, a baby wipe will wipe it away.
  14. Touch up the teal border around the butterfly if necessary.
  15. Paint the body of the butterfly.
  16. Continue to add pops of color and pattern in symmetrical places of your design.
  17. Choose a color for the butterfly background. I used the Hansa Yellow Medium. Then wipe some away with a baby wipe.
  18. Using a palette knife, scrape some gesso over the butterfly background to add more texture and contrast.
  19. Decorate the corners. I used some botanical screen prints, but feel free to use a stencil, stamp, or freehand your own designs. Overlap several designs to maximize the interest of the border design. If you introduce new colors, also reflect those colors in the butterfly wings.
  20. Use a black fine line pen to add details. Trace any elements that need more contrast to stand out.
  21. Use Posca markers in white, green, yellow, and orange to further add details and marks.
  22. Use the white Posca marker to add in organic shapes in the butterfly wings in a radial, but incongruous pattern. If the marker starts to fade, pump the tip a few times to get the acrylic flowing brightly again.
  23. Continue to add pops of color, pattern, and details until your piece feels complete.

Materials

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