When it comes to paint for my art journals, I keep it as reasonably priced as possible. My belief is that the less precious/costly the materials are, the more freedom I have to play without a care in the world. If something is expensive, I usually feel like I’m “wasting it” if I use it in my art journals..y’know, because it’s something I’m going to keep for myself, and not sell.  

I’ve been using these student grade Basic Liquitex paints for years now. I have a huge drawer full of the large tubes. The set I’m linking to are mostly primary colors, which are great for mixing your own colors. 

If you prefer to use artist quality paints, Soho makes a great acrylic paints that I use all the time in my art journals. These paints are buttery soft, and spread well whether I’m using a brush or knives. 

I also love me some watercolor paints. I often use both acrylics and watercolors in my art journal, and paintings. This is the Daniel Smith mixing palette, which is nice, but it’s pricey. 

 

A good alternative I also use this Grumbacher set, which is easier on the wallet. To me, and keep in mind, I’m no expert in watercolor paints, but both brands are good quality, and the paint lasts a long time. I recommend either..or both. 🙂 

I also use Golden acrylic fluids, which I know are a bit pricey. Cheap craft paint would work just as well for art journaling. You can pick up 16 piece set of craft paint for only $17.99, which I think is an awesome deal. These paints are a little less pigmented than Golden, but if you just starting out, learning to paint, or want to keep the cost low, these paints work fine. 

The palette I use to mix my paint on is a thick glass cutting board which I got from Amazon. Before I bought these, I had used glass that came out of a picture frame. It worked okay, but the glass is much thinner, and breaks easily. These came in a pack of 4 for less than $20, and it’s a great size for the table I work on. If I need paint for a large painting, I mix my darks on one, and lights on another. If you prefer to keep your paint on one palette, I think Amazon has other sizes to choose from. 

 

Glazing liquid is an absolute must for me, whether I’m art journaling or painting on canvas. I use this stuff daily. I like my paint to be thin when I’m painting portraits, so I can build up the layers slowly. It’s not good to thin acrylics with too much water because you’ll lose the pigment in the paints. So, Golden glazing liquid is perfect for my style of painting. I also like to increase the drying time of acrylics in the summer. This stuff works great, and you only need a tiny bit on your brush. It makes blending colors easier if you’re using heavy duty acrylics, also. 

I love using chalk in my art journals, so I was excited to try chalk markers.

These are reasonable priced, last a long time, and are great to have on hand for drawing in your art journal. If you’re trying to figure out a drawing, these are perfect because the lines erase easily. They’re not so great if you use liquid varnish to seal your work. Dorland’s wax or a spray varnish work best with these markers. 

For art journaling, I like these Canson spiral bound books, which are made for mixed media work. The pages (only 98 lbs) do buckle, and warp a bit under the weight of the paint, and water. However, I don’t mind. These are good enough for play. If your art journals are more precious to you, then you probably will want to buy a more expensive book with thicker paper to use. The higher the weight of the paper, the thicker it will be. 300 lb works best if you’re painting with a lot of water or painting with palette knives impasto style.  

 

Dorland’s wax is versatile, and has many uses. It’s great for spreading over the top of your art journal pages to prevent them from sticking together, especially during the hot months of the year.

FYI: If you don’t have any Dorland’s wax on hand, in a pinch, you can also use waxed paper between the pages. However, it’s a bit of a hassle..the waxed paper can slip or fall out, and then your book pages stick. I’ve ruined quite a few pages that way. 

Plus, I get tired of fiddling with the wax paper all the time, and having my art journals look so messy with waxed paper between each page. So, I bought the big huge jug 3 or 4 years ago, and waxed all my art journal pages with it. I wasn’t sure how much wax I would need..I have dozens of art journals, but it turns out, you don’t need much wax at all. The smaller jar would have been plenty. I’ve barely put a dent in the big jug, and I use it almost daily. 

Other ways I use Dorland’s wax..I do what is called tempering, and mix the wax into my oil paints on my palette. It makes the oils buttery soft, and easier to use. It does make oils dry faster, so I use it sparingly, unless I need to speed up drying time. It’s also great for using when painting impasto style with oils. 

Also, I use Dorland’s wax as a top coat to varnish paintings when I can’t use a liquid varnish because I don’t want to wash off or smear the less permanent mixed media materials, such as pencil, chalk, pastels, chalk markers or watercolor paints that I’ve used on my page or canvas.

Bob Burridge has a video on how to varnish paintings using Dorland’s wax. You can also apply the wax with a palette knife, which is what I do, and then I buff it with a soft cloth. I leave the wax sitting at least a day, maybe even 3 or 4 days, before buffing. I’ve tried his suggestion of 1/2 hr, but the wax didn’t dried or firmed up enough at the point to buff it, imo. It felt like I was smearing the wax around or rubbing it off, so waiting longer works better for me. It gives the wax time to harden slightly. 

If you use any of these products, have any questions or suggestions, let me know in the comments. I’m always willing to try new things, so let me know your favorites.