Water colour and gesso!

I started preparing some background pages in an old geography book I am altering.  A layer of gesso, but leaving some words, and the line drawing still visable.    I love adding watercolours over gesso - it is easy to make run, and create interesting textures.  I also used some neocolour water soluble crayons.  Over gesso these just melt when you add water with a wet paintbrush, and become  just like watercolours in that you can blend and bleed the colours together right on the page.  A lot of fun, and a very quick and easy to get some watery colour onto your background.  I like to leave the words and print showing through - being just obscured enough to not be too dominant, and also being selective as to how much shows through.  I also like adding lots of texture with the gessoed background by using an old scruffy brush, and going in lots of different directions to create that textured brush stroke in the gesso.    Great fun for art journals and altered book journals!

All ready now to add the next layer, doodle, drawing, collage or journalling :-)