Compiling a Masonite Album Part 2 of 3

I have talked a lot about masonite albums for art journaling and scrapbooking in previous blogs. Yesterday I started the first of three blogs, showing you how to put together an album that is visually appealing. But let's first recap what has already been covered:

• The starting point would be the blog on Making a Masonite Album;
• There were three widely different blogs on how to decorate these albums, the first one showing you how to Decorate with Tea Bags;
• The second one was on Decorating a Girly Album;
• The third one showed you how to do a Mosaic Album Cover.

In yesterday's blog we worked on the back of the front cover and the first page, turning it into a double spread layout. In this second blog, we concentrate on the back cover and the last page.

Let me explain the reasoning behind wanting to do a last page. The album's pages are going to be added over a period of time as they are created. However, I might want to show it to people in the meantime. Even though it isn't finished, I still want it to form a visual unity. That is why I decide on a last page now already. What follows will simply be slipped between the first and last pages. I decided that I wanted to use a paper piecing page that I've done earlier as the last page. You can read the blog for that page here. This means that I need to decorate the flip side of the back cover in a manner that will compliment the existing page.

I use a large flat brush to paint the white board in acrylic Deep Rose.

For the two pages to come together neatly, I now paint Dadmium Red over the Deep Rose, leaving the edges unpainted and scraping paint off the middle in places. I also make sure to paint in all directions. This gives it a kind of fake distressed look.

I now need to add the journaling and I used a Staedtler Tricolour pen for this purpose.

Years ago, when still teaching, I was struck by how often teenagers used the term 'get a life'. I wrote this poem in response to that observation.

LIFE

 Before you can get a life, you have to get life. 

If you fail to understand the essence of what life is,

you are doomed to be a mere spectator,

and never a participant.

Many a person have admired a beautiful gown,

but a fewer number have realised their designs

and seen them paraded by even a high school model.

Many a person have lost themselves in the pages of a great novel,

but, in comparison, a few have written down their thoughts

and left them for another generation.

The young are quick to taunt the old to get a life,

yet they are not the creators of great poetry, or music,

they did not set the records, or fight the wars that gave us peace,

they did not balance incomes and expenditures,

they are merely users of our universe

and of those who left us theirs.

With the journaling in place, decided to add some vibrant sunflowers. These flowers are the perfect symbols of life to me. They are both beautiful, as well as useful. I used a no 8 Filbert and Paynes Grey.

Pressing the bristles down hard on the board, I twisted my wrist and painted circles randomly all over the board. Tip: use older brushes for this, since it is an action that is damaging to the bristles.

I used the same no 8 Filbert brush and Cadmium Yellow to paint the petals.

Turn the brush sideways as illustrated. Put it right on the edge of the black circle. Apply slight pressure and flick off away from the circle. Repeat this action all the way around the centre of the flowers. Because the Cadmium Yellow is a transparent colour, you will be able to see the background colours through the yellow. This creates natural highlights and shadows in the painting which satisfies the eye.

And just like that, in a few simple steps, you have created an eye-catching last page for your album.

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Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.
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