ROAM Journal Cover Revamp with Acrylic Markers, Distress Inks, and Grafix Rub-Ons

I work out of four or five sketchbooks at any one time. The moment a collection of loosely bound papers is elevated from workaday sketchbook to visual diary, story board, and journal, the plain Jane cover is doomed.

The original cover. 

Though happy with the stencil of the United Kingdom (personal design), the cover was incomplete. I let it sit for a couple of days before hitting on a possible solution: DIY rub-ons.

After a group of images from Rectrovectors.com were cobbled together and printed on a sheet of Graphix Rub-onz paper (Graphix Rub-onz tutorial), I sat down at the table and got to work.

The video.

A few dots. 

A ship guided by a few inconvenient letters reworked into lighthouses.

A well-dress lady walking through the rain.

And a few words to live by....

The finished cover.

Audiobook: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde as read by Rupert Graves

SUPPLY LIST& LINKS 

1. Altered Canson XL Mixed-Media Journal (7”x10” or 17.7cm x 25.4cm)
2. Stencil: Map of United Kingdom (If interested in owning a UK stencil, please contact me at chandaelaine1@gmail.com for pricing for either .studio3 download, 12" x 12" stencil film, or vinyl stencil (sticky back with mask). 
3. Liquitex Basics Gloss Gel Medium 
4. Princeton Mini 02 Spatula 
5. Helix Plastic Letter Stencil
6. Grafix Rub-onz  (GRAPHIX RUB-ON TUTORIAL) 
7. Vectors from Retrovectors.com 
8. Prismacolor Marker in Emerald Green
9. Derwent Graphik Line Painter set (20 pack – all)
10. White Sharpie paint marker (Water based) 
11. Tim Holtz Expedition Ephemera Pack - Vellum
12. Distress Ink Mini’s 
1. Spiced Marmalade
2. Picked Raspberry
3. Salty Ocean
4. Mowed Lawn
13. Tsukineko Sponge Daubers
14. Montana Paint Pen (Fine) in Gleaming Pink
15. Liquitex Paint Pens (Fine) 
1. Brilliant Purple
2. Dioxazine Purple
16. Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker 
1. Middle Purple Pink
2. Cobalt Green
3. Pink Carmine
17. Stabilo Woody 3-in-1 in Yellow 
18. Liquitex Ink in Vivid Green in Ranger Mini-Mister spray bottle
19. Higgins Waterproof Ink in Violet in Ranger Mini-Mister spray bottle
20. Faber-Castell Brush Markers (Fine) 
21. Martha Stewart Bone Folder
22. Daler-Rowney Acrylic Gesso 
23. Crayola Brushes 
24. Liquitex Freestyle Brushes 
25. Cloth 

Additional Resources: 

Printing on Tracing Paper:

Filling Empty Paint Markers: