A Mermaid Day with Janine Koczwara

Hi everyone it's Janine Koczwara here and to say I was a little excited to receive some new Prima Bloom Girl stamps is an understatement!  It is amazing what new product can do for a girls creativity!  I set about stamping and colouring a couple of these beauties straight away!  My default method of colouring is Alcohol Markers and coloured pencils.  I like the feel of it and I find it the easiest way for me to colour images and get deeper shading results that I am pleased with.

With such a gorgeous stamp I felt the call of the mermaid art journal page!  I went straight for Teals and Blues to create this background for my pretty little Mermaid.  I started with an acrylic paint base and layered in some masking with one of the New Bloom Stencils and then some subtle stamping for additional background texture.

I wanted her to be hiding behind a rock with a tail sweeping from behind, most of it not visible.  I am a novice to drawing, so I pulled up a reference image of a rock and sketched it onto Prima Bloom Watercolour Paper, adding deeper shadows with Caran deAche Neocolours II, before applying it with matte gel to the page.  I created the tail in exactly the same way, but added Glass Bead Gel to it for a rougher shimmery surface.

Finally, I really am trying to explore using my own hand writing on my journal pages.  Learning to draw and create my own lettering is one of my goals to stretch myself creatively.  I practiced a couple of different styles on copy paper to see what style I wanted before ruling lines on my art journal page and penciling in my letting.  Once satisfied, I went over it all with Pitt Artist Pen in Black and a final touch of glitter to give it something a bit extra.

I love using Jamie's new Bloom Stamps for my art journaling.  I can work on my shading skills while also challenging myself to try drawing other elements, and practice lettering to compliment the pages, knowing it is just in my journal, a place that is safe to practice and try.  If I like it I can photograph it and share.  I really do recommend starting an art journal and having a wonderful play in it's pages.

You are all going to LOVE the new release Bloom Girl products Jamie has designed!  There are so many awesome stencils and stamps for you that will totally inspire creativity!

Products Used:

980344  Prima Bloom Stamp Sirena

980399  Prima Bloom Stencil Spark

980269  Prima Bloom Watercolor Paper Pad

961992  Prima Cling Stamp Dream On

961978  Prima Cling Stamp Net and Wire

Prima Random Circles Stencil

Alcohol Markers

Prismacolor Pencils

Derwent Inktense Pencils

Caran deAche Neocolors II

Prima Heavy Gesso

Prima Soft Matte Gel

Luminarte Polished Pigment Powders

Liquitex Glass  Bead Gel

Sharpie Black Pen

Sharpie White Paint Pen

Faber Castell Big Brush Markers

Faber Castell Pitt Pens

Ranger Stickles

Ranger Archival Ink Black

Memento Black Ink