I've been working in the 100% recycled journal for a few days now. I've filled a few pages,but I've been working it in my usual manner of actually working on 4 or 5 pages at a time and working ahead and cleaning my brushed out on future pages. It's a style that works well for me in thicker journals and less well with journals that are jotter thick. The beauty of this journal is that I'm not overly concerned with using up the pages, they aren't precious to me in any way say like, fabriano or stonehenge even.
That being said I've found tha the gesso is a pain in my arse. Pure and simply it didn't adhere overly well to the super slick and glossy pages of the Nat Geo mag i used to make my pages. The culprit as I've found it- hte brush I for application. I used a watercolor brush (an old one, calm down) and it put on a very thin layer that dried fast, which was my goal. I should have gone for better coverage and covered fewer pages. the pages that I applied a thick coat have less of an issue with scraping and weird behavior. the thin pages the gesso scrapes off, which can lead to some very cool antiquing effects but wasn't what Iwas really looking for.
Don't get me wrong I love this journal, but I had to learn how to use it.
How about applying the gesso with a roller sponge brush. You could get fast, even coverage and as thin or thick as you want (depending on the number of coats you apply). Just a suggestion.
Posted by: DrRuss | July 11, 2009 at 05:54 PM
the real issue is that I don't want to put them through the paper shear after they have been gesso'd, it's make a mess of the blade. Sponge roller is a good idea for a good even thick coat though!
Posted by: leslie herger | July 12, 2009 at 01:34 AM