Faux Finish Technique

Here's a cool faux finish technique that gives the look of leather.

You'll need tissue paper, two colors of acrylic paint (I used raw sienna and raw umber), gesso, matte medium, a bristle brush and some rags.


Coat your surface with a layer of gesso. I'm using some bristol here. Crinkle up a few sheets of tissue paper.


Using the matte medium adhere randomly torn pieces of tissue paper all over your surface. Layer them on top of each other and make sure to coat them with matte medium.


Take the lighter color of acrylic paint and using a rag randomly dab splotches of paint all over.


Take your darker paint and using a rag rub the paint all over the surface making sure to get it in every crease. That's it!

Controlled Chaos - Art Journaling

My very favorite thing to do is take an afternoon break and head down to my tiny local library to browse around. I usually end up in either the science fiction, art or cooking section. This week I checked out "Artists' Journals & Sketchbooks" by Lynne Perrella. It's packed with inspiration and I got started on my first pages today! I'm intimidated by brand new sketchbooks and will usually opt to just shove them in a closet never to be used. Not anymore!