Michelle’s challenge for the Crusade’s this month was to journal on black. Excellent! I painted a couple of pages in my visual diary and then things got busy…weeks later, I finally got back into it this morning. I did two pages; one is about dragonflies, thinking about their wings and playing with iridescent colors. The other is a “proper” journal page, recording some thoughts on my life with Tony, my husband of 17 plus years.
I enjoyed working on a black background, which I suppose should not surprise me, as I often use plain black cardstock as the background in my scrapbooks. I used acrylic paint this time but the surface is a bit too slick – I think next time I’ll use black gesso. 
Cath Sheard 
cath – thanks for coming over to the dark side 😉
love the brushing on the black with the dragonflies.
and the white writing looks cool on the black…makes it seem more special than black on white. it’s always a challenge to get a white pen that works…looks like you found a good one! and a good man too 🙂
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Very cool pages! It’s amazing how the brush strokes show up so well on the black, a totally different effect.
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Definitely try out the black gesso. I tried some (as you saw on my Joy Diet book) for the first time and it was love at first brush stroke. Acrylic can also be tough to write on. Great pages, I especially love the dragonflies.
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You did some beautiful Dark Side play, Cath ! I love the page about you and your Tony – the white writing has a crisp graphic look I love along with those little splashes of red with the hearts. And the dragonflies lie beautifully on their background.
Good to be back and see all the great things going on here !
Cheers !
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Beautiful these dragonflies. How nice you work in a public library too. I work at the information desk.
Helen
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LOVE the pinks on the black! Is this the acrylic that is too slick? Often I use cheap acrylics (the $1.00 ones from Micheals!) to paint journal pages for this reason. I find the *good acrylics* (Goldens, etc) have too much polymer in them which causes the slick surface and makes it hard to write on them. 🙂
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ooh i love the cooool background and the contrast is great! wanda
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Great looking journal pages! I have gone through oodles of white pens trying to find one that really shows up well on black, esp. over black paint. Yours looks so good! What kind is it, may I ask?
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Carrie it’s a Uniball Signo. One of the few white pens that is fairly reliable. The secret is; if it starts to falter – write softer, not harder!
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I LOVEEEEEE how you did those brushes-touches in your dragonflies so careless looking BUT so apprpiate and it gives me like a great feeling and message, i am sure you are proud of these pages.
cyber hugs crusader!
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First of all, congrats on 17 years! Going on 15 for me and mine. Love the dragonfly…love the writing!
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Yes, congrats on 17 years!! I love the white text on black, it’s very ‘crisp’. Your dragonfly page is awesome too.
I’m sorry to take so long in answering your question about the Elmers’ glue/PVA. I have never used PVA so I’m not sure. The main thing about Elmers’ is the way it squirts out of the bottle it is easy to ‘write’ with.
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great pages, isn’t it cool to work on black? i love black gesso a lot since you can beautifully write on top.
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17 years?! Really awesome. Thanks for sharing these works and pages. Black is quite a way to start, isn’t it? I hope to do more of it.
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Oh, this page is BEAUTIFUL. I over-use this word, but it is true 🙂 Thanks for commenting on my blog as well.
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Lovely sentiments about your Life and Tony. A real Message Of Hope!! and black gesso is addictive, aren’t all art supplies????teehee. xoSusan
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