How to “Artify” Your Planner with Briana

It’s almost a new year, and I don’t know about you, but I had a really difficult time choosing a planner. There are so many options these days. Sometimes too many options feels stifling, do you know what I mean?

Today, I’d like to share an idea on how to “artify” your planner of choice. Of course, you’ll have to consider the type of paper the planner contains, but most of the following techniques work for a variety of papers, even composition notebooks.

Suggested Supplies:

• Koi Water Color Field Sketch Travel Kit
• Koi WaterBrush
• Faber-Castell Watercolor Pencils
• Acrylic Paint
• Paint Scraper (old plastic card)
• Water-soluble Markers (i.e. Tombow, Koi Brush Pens, Crayola)
• Paper towel
• Baby wipe (to help spread color and keep things tidy)

Technique No. 1: Watercolor Paint and Water-soluble Markers

Use watercolor and water-soluble markers to highlight words or sections of the planner pages.

Technique No. 2: Water-soluble Markers and a Waterbrush

When you make marks with a water-soluble marker, and then use a waterbrush to move the color around, you end up with a nice variation of light and bright areas.

After you use the waterbrush with the marker, you can make a few subtle sweeps on another page to add a little color (see right side of above image).

Technique No. 3: Acrylic Paint

Scraping acrylic paint is one of my favorite techniques. I love the vibrancy of the color and the layered look. I also love to write on top of scraped acrylic paint. There is just something wonderful about the texture.

TIP: Matte acrylic or paint that is meant for layering, like the Dylusions Blendable Acrylic, would be best to work with. Golden paint can be too sticky, thick, and glossy when dry.

TIP: Use more than one color to get some variation on the page. (Above I used a pink and a red.)

I have the January pages prepped, and I love how the color peeks through the edges of the planner. Just imagine how colorful it will look by December! I am excited to see it.

Additional ideas to “artify” your planner:

Use rubber stamps and colorful ink pads (or try water-soluble markers on your stamp)

Use colored pencils

Use water-soluble colored pencils and a waterbrush

Use stencils and acrylic paint

Apply color with Tim Holtz Distress Stains

Doodle with micron pens or Sharpie pens (the kind that does not bleed through)

TIP: Prep your pages one week or month at a time, so they are ready when you need them! This could be a simple creative practice that helps you use your art supplies and your planner!

Many Blessings to you as we enter the New Year!

-Briana of OrangeSpiralArts.com

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