art

How to Paint Mountains on a Journal

My older brother is a huge pocket journal fan, and he asked me to jazz some up. I created six different designs for him; this is how I painted the mountain design.

What you'll need:

A notebook

A sheet of clean paper

Black India ink

#00 round brush

#2 fan brush

pencil

Lay your journal flat on a sheet of white paper to protect the pages ( Don't use newspaper! The ink will rub off on your pages.)

I have a reference picture that I already designed, and I use that as a "guide". My guide is a tool of inspiration, not a dictator. Each journal is unique.

Here is what it looks like sketched on the journal.
I always draw lightly, that way if I don't like the way something is turning out I can erase it.

Since watercolor paint bleeds when it gets wet, I use India ink. Because it's permanent ink, it allows the journal to live up to its outdoorsy name . . .
"Field Notes
... durable ..."

Using my #00 round brush I outline the mountains first.

I'm always a little nervous when I start with the ink, but that turns out in my favor. Shaky hands make a more realistic mountain!

Then I fill in all the crevices with the same brush.

To paint the grass I use a DRY #2 fan brush (If you get the brush wet then all the bristles will stick together and there won't be separate blades of grass). I dab just the edges of the brush in some ink and then pat them on a dry portion of the plate. Then I gently brush the ink onto the journal using the pencil line as a guide. If you drag the brush you end up with long blades of grass; Dab the brush and you'll get short blades.