Must Have Mixed Media Supplies for the Art Journal

With Christmas just around the corner, I wanted to share with you the must have mixed media supplies for the art journal. Depending on what and how you like to create, your essential mixed media art supplies may be different. Here are my recommendations for mixed media supplies for the art journal.

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Mixed Media Art Journal

There are a variety of different journals that I use in my creative practice. When choosing a journal, I look for a journal with smooth paper that can take wet mediums without buckling.

The smoothness of the paper lets me write smoothly on the surface for sketching and drawing. It also allows me to use stamps on the surface and get clear images. As a mixed media artist, I want a book that can be used with water. This includes acrylic washes, watercolor paints, and other wet mediums. When a journal has both characteristics, it means that I will be able to use it for almost any project.   

When starting out, there are two are journals that I can recommend. My favorite is the Pentalic Nature Sketch Multimedia Sketchbook. This coil bound sketchbook works so well with all mediums and even allows great blending of watercolor even though it is not a watercolor sketchbook.

If you are looking for a book that is more readily available at your local craft or scrapbooking store, I would suggest one of the Dylusions journals. This journal works well but has a bit more buckling with mediums than the Pentalic sketchbook. But the smooth paper works well for paints and inks. Be aware with the Dylusions journals that watercolor absorbs straight into the surface. There is not the working time that you get with the Pentalic journal or a watercolor specific journal.

Art Pens

Art pens are a staple of my creative practice. Whether you are drawing, journaling, or adding highlights to your images, they are an essential part of an art journaling practice. There are a variety of pens including permanent pens, water soluble pens, gel pens, paint pens, fountain pens and brush pens.

Over the last few months, I have been sharing information about pens and which ones are my favorites. To see my review of paint pens, click here. For my overview of permanent fineliner pens, brush pens and fountain pens, click here.

If you are interested to find out which gel pens work the best on black paper, click here to see my article and samples.

Here is my list of favorite art pens:

• Permanent Fineliner: Sakura MicroPerm
• Permanent Brush Pen: Zebra P-WF1 Brush Pen Fine Point, Pentel Art Pocket Brush Pen
• Fountain Pens: Lamy Safari for water soluble ink, Platinum Plaisir with Carbon Ink Cartridges for permanent ink
• Water Soluble Pens: Tombow Dual Brush Pen
• Gel Pens: Pentel and Sakura Gelly Roll Pens

Acrylic Paint

There are so many varieties of acrylic paint, and it can feel overwhelming to choose a paint. For art journaling I prefer a pigment-based paint for vibrant color and lightfastness. Most craft paint is dye-based which will work in a journal, but it is not my preferred option.

If you are new to paint, I would suggest using a student grade pigment paint. My favorite is the Pebeo Studio Acrylics as I like the texture of the paint, the opacity and color. I have also been using both Amsterdam and Cheep! Acrylic paints which work well in my journals.

If you are interested in more professional artists paints, my favorite is the Golden Artist Colors. They work beautifully but are quite expensive as this paint has a high pigment load. Other highly pigmented professional paints that I use include Holbein, M. Graham & Co, Winsor and Newton Galleria, and Pebeo Artist Acrylics ExtraFine.

Watercolor Paints

I love using watercolor paints in my projects. Watercolor works so well for background washes and for adding color to pen and ink images.

When choosing watercolor paint, even as a beginner, do not buy super cheap watercolor paint. I made that mistake early on in my mixed media practice. I hated the look and feel of the cheap watercolor paint and did not enjoy using it. Several years later I had the opportunity to use quality watercolor paints in a class and was very impressed on how they added to my creative projects.

Quality watercolor paints do not have to be extremely expensive. When you are starting out, I would suggest purchasing a set of pan watercolors as this is an economical way to try out a range of colors. My favorite set is the Sakura Koi Watercolor Field Sketch Box. This set of watercolors comes with everything you need to start watercolor painting. I still bring this set with me on every vacation so that I can sketch and watercolor from anywhere.

If you have been using watercolor for a while and want to create your own set, purchase a blank watercolor box and individual tubes of watercolor. If you are starting out, I would suggest the Winsor and Newton Cotman watercolors. They have beautiful pigments and for a student grade paint they work extremely well. I have a variety of student grade and professional grade watercolors that I like to use together in my creative projects.

Brushes

When choosing brushes for acrylic and watercolor painting, there are several things to consider.

Watercolor Brushes

Choose a watercolor brush that is specific to watercolor painting. They are designed to hold a lot of water and work well with the watercolor pigments. When starting out you will most likely be using a brush with synthetic bristles. The natural hair watercolor brushes hold water better but can be 4 or 5 times the price of the synthetic brushes. A variety of sizes when using watercolor is ideal. I have a variety of brush sizes from 000 up to much larger wash brushes.

The majority of my brushes are daVinci Cosmotop Spin brushes but I also have brushes from Princeton, Simply Simmons, Winsor and Newton and Holbein.

Acrylic Brushes

When choosing an acrylic brush for art journaling, I would suggest purchasing a 1.5” brush, 1” brush and some other smaller brushes. I prefer a square brush for overall painting and use small round brushes for details. Acrylic brushes do see a lot of wear and tear, so I tend towards cheaper brushes (less that $30). My favorite budget acrylic brush is the Simply Simmons brushes. These brushes are easy to clean, wear very well and are enjoyable to paint with.

Gesso

I use white gesso in both my canvas projects and art journals. Gesso is used to prep the pages in my art journal that I will be adding acrylic paint to. Gesso provides tooth for the paint to have a surface to stick to. It also prevents the paint from being absorbed into the paper or canvas, so you will end up using less paint on your paintings.

I also use it to create washes and in place of white paint on my projects. Especially if I am looking for a strong, opaque white on my art journal pages.

I use both Golden and Liquitex Gesso but my favorite brand is the Golden gesso. The Liquitex gesso has a strong smell that lingers for a while after being applied to the page.

Gel and Matte Mediums

Gel mediums are used on my projects for decoupage and collage. The gel works well as an adhesive glue and can also be used as a topcoat or isolation layer in mixed media projects.

Matte medium is a thinner variation of gel medium. I use matte medium for adhering napkins, rice paper, tissue and thinner materials to my art journal pages. This medium is available in both gloss and matte. Please note that gel medium should not be thinned out with water to work like matte medium.

I use both Golden and Liquitex gels and matte mediums in my projects. There are other more economical versions available, but as these gels and mediums last quite a while, I like using artist quality mediums on my canvases and in my journals.

Stencils, Stamps and Ink

Stencils and stamps are an easy way of adding texture and creating focal images on your art journal pages. It is a great way of creating quickly on days where you might not be interested in spending the time to draw your own images.

When using stamps on mixed media projects, I find archival ink works well on a variety of surfaces. The archival ink is waterproof and will stick to slick and uneven surfaces.

Brayer

I love using a brayer in my mixed media practice. I use brayers when Gelli printing and it’s a great way of adding paint quickly to an art journal page. The brayer gives different texture than a brush, so it is a fun way of quickly adding color to your journal.

Questions?

Are any of these mixed media art supplies part of your mixed media practice? I would love to know what you are using for creating and would love to hear any questions you may have. Please leave a comment below or contact me directly.

I am working on creating a more comprehensive guide on mixed media art supplies, so if you would be interested in seeing that free e-book once completed, sign up for Hop off the Page and join my creative community. You will be the first to see my most recent posts and this is a place where I share more personally about the creative journey.