Fine Art Album

While I am waiting for my new clay extruder to arrive, I am unable to progress any further with my Choc-a-Bloc mixed media project, so I have decided to start another project: to make an album (my first album!) containing my favourite paintings from the history of Western European art, from the Mediaeval age of egg tempera and gold leaf up to the modern era. My tastes are eclectic, and this will not be an exclusive work but a sample of those pictures which have affected or moved me in some way, and which have become part of what makes me tick. When the album is complete, I have no doubt that I will be filled with regrets when I discover all those other pictures that I should have included!

My plan is to make each page a mixed media montage consisting of one or more printed images of paintings by a particular artist, with a background and journaling to correspond with the painting(s).

Recently my hubby took me to our local art shop and I bought this pad of heavy watercolour paper with a slight texture, which should stand up well to mixed media treatment.

The first step was to decide on the size of my album, and it is to be 8 x 8 inches, with 1 inch added for the binding.

Deciding which artists, and which of their paintings, to include, is taking a long time. I have selected various images which I have printed out on 100 gsm paper ready to be cut out and applied to the pages. These printed images will be sprayed with fixative to protect them from any further treatment on my pages as they are assembled.

On the left of the photo you can see the first page cut from the watercolour pad.

The journaling will probably consist of key words, and maybe some information about the artist/painting, and why it is important to me. The words will form an integral part of the design of each page.

This is the first album I have ever attempted, and I have been inspired by the many amazing examples of people’s work online – each album is a work of art in itself, and this is my aim too. I want to bring the art that I love into a single work, incorporating my own creativity and artistry which I hope will complement the images I have chosen.