Before I left for California, my friend asked what I wanted to see and do while I was visiting. I told her I just wanted to hang out, talk, relax, and paint. And that’s what we did!
We sketched and chatted and laughed and inspired each other. We watched sunrises and sunsets and drank wine in the jacuzzi as the stars came out. We indulged our love of art (and food!) and had a great time catching up after years of “friendship deprivation” during the pandemic.
One afternoon we went to nearby La Costa Resort and Spa to sketch. I set a goal for myself, to do a more zoomed-in sketch, rather than including everything in a larger scene. That’s always a challenge for me, because I love it all!
Where I sat to sketch, there was a pretty cobalt blue tiled fountain splashing merrily away, flowerbeds filled with blooming cyclamen and birds of paradise, palm trees, mullioned windows, wrought iron work, and a sprawling white building with a red tile roof and bell tower. So much to sketch!
But I controlled myself and zoomed in on the banana trees (love those split edges!) and the upper portion of the entryway. There was still a lot to draw and paint, but it was definitely more fun than tackling the entire scene, and it made a better sketch.
The dry, hot day made it challenging to paint, but it also forced me to work more quickly, resulting in a looser sketch. I was able to finish most of the painting before we packed up to head home.
Later, I finalized the lettering using a font called Riesling. The letters were drawn with a Pigma Micron 01 pen and painted with watercolor.
The wrought iron design underlining the text was inspired by the metalwork on a sign outside the spa.
For the bordered text box on the facing page, I did a swirly design that reminded me of the splashing water in the fountain that I sat next to when I was sketching.
To make the design, I first edged the border area with Frog Tape. It was tricky doing the inside corners – I had to make overlapped miters with the tape, using a #11 X-Acto blade to cut the angles, so I would have nice, sharp 90 degree corners. (These aren’t the best photos, but they’ll work to demonstrate the process I used to create the border.)
I penciled in the swirly design then painted a variegated wash of blue and aqua over the entire border area.
Next, I used Incredible White Mask liquid frisket and a ruling pen to mask the pattern lines.
After the masking was dry, I painted over the border with a darker blue wash and let it dry completely.
Now I could finally get rid of that messy painter’s tape! I slowly and carefully peeled away the tape,heating the tape with a hairdryer to soften the adhesive and make sure it didn’t damage my sketchbook page.
The border had nice clean edges, except for a few small bleeds on the inside corners, which I touched up with a white pen.
At last it was time for the big reveal! I used a masking fluid pickup to clean off the dried masking fluid, and I could finally see how everything turned out.
I touched up a few rough edges on the design with watercolor to tidy things up, then did my journaling in the center of the box.
FYI: The Everyday Artist Sketchliner Stencil that I designed for Cheap Joe’s makes short work out of ruling lines for journaling. It’s such a simple tool, but it works really well.
I hope you enjoyed learning about this fun way to create a border design. Watch for more travel sketches from southern California coming soon!
9 Comments
Love this! The washy taupe detailing looks so cool against the rich blue border. Masking isn’t just for reserving whites anymore!
Thank you for the blog post, Leslie. What type of journal is that with the dark paper at the bottom?
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
I’m not sure. You could contact Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff to ask them. It’s a picture from their website.
So lovely! What journal do you use for your sketches? I’ve been using Strathmore Alpha but want something more durable for wet paints.
Thanks
I use lots of different kinds, including some that I make myself. The one I used for this journal is a Handbook Field Watercolor Journal. They’re available from Amazon and various art suppliers.
Thank you for all these fun ideas Leslie!! Thank you for sharing.. great border idea!!
It’s a great way to make all sorts of bold geometric designs. Sometimes I do simple Zentangle-type designs this way. Pinterest has tons of ideas.
Hi Leslie, love your posts, so inspirational! How difficult is it to use the ruling pen for applying the masking fluid? I’ve tried using one in the past but wasn’t pleased with the results-maybe it was the pen I used?
Maybe you could “demo” the process somehow in a future post.
Thanks, and Happy Holidays,
Denise
Funny you should say that. I actually recorded a short video of that, but it wasn’t very good quality, so I decided not to include it in the post. I’ll keep it in mind for future posts.
The quality of your ruling pen can make a big difference. Some of the ones made in China have stubby ends that flare, rather than coming to a sharp point. The best ones are the vintage German-made ones that you can sometimes find on Ebay. They give the finest line.