Should I Paint in a Book?

[@lizzieb.4160]

Dear fellow art journal traveler, You have given me a wonderful gift in your video today. Thank you. I could relate to every stroke of your brush, the colors chosen, all the mark making, the placement of different textures, composition, and the old books. Your art pages encourage me so much! For a few moments, I felt like we were alter egos. I’ve been playing with design in abstract art for a very long time. And, I am 80 years old. Thank you very much.

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

You're welcome. I'm so glad you feel encouraged, Lizzieb 🌺

[@alexi.artlife]

I really enjoyed this video. I’m an avid reader and lover of books as well as a mixed media and art journal enthusiast. I have used old books as journals. Old and even new books that don’t sell eventually get destroyed and are no longer of use to anyone. An old book given a new life is a wonderful way for it to live on and I think it’s beautiful that you honor the author at the end.

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

Thank you! Wonderfully put, I should say 😊

[@catholictortillas777]

Great subject! I use an old book to roll off my access paint from my gelli prints. Then I go back in and use it for collage if I want. I also have one that I do sketching. This happened because I ran out of sketchbooks and needed something fast. Yikes! Haha

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

Good idea. I’d love to see how you use the gelli

[@HandmadeJournalsbyFran2022]

I have a few old books that I use for art journals. They are just for me to play in and have fun. I glue two pages together to make them a little sturdier and I add a little gesso before painting. So much fun 😊

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

That’s a great idea! Thanks for the tips🪄

[@HandmadeJournalsbyFran2022]

@@KitchenCounterAbstract you’re very welcome. I’m enjoying your videos and I’m looking into the Degas fixatif as I find the Sennelier a bit pricey and toxic. I’ve just enrolled to the Wanderlust 2024 class and I’ll be starting my art journal with one of your ideas. Thank you for the inspiring tutorials 😊 Tata from BC, Canada 🇨🇦

[@ConnyLehmann]

a wonderfully inspiring video. Exactly what I need at the moment. Small sketchbook works with various pens. I like how uncomplicated you create your work in the sketchbook. Thank you very much for this idea. Since I have been suffering from long Covid with great exhaustion for 2.5 years, I can no longer paint large painting as often. Therefore, I am grateful for any inspiration for small works of art. Thank you very much for this great video. It's so nice to watch you paint. I really enjoyed it. Sincerely, Conny

[@donnaolavarria3250]

What an adventure! I couldn’t wait to see where you would take the art pieces when switching back and forth. Your video is art as well.

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

We laughed, we cried! Haha. Thank you for watching 🎭

[@iHanna]

I really enjoyed your take on altered books, and all the different aspects of finding and working with them that you include in the video! Cheers from another youtuber and art journaler/artist! 💕🇸🇪🌈🎉🪅🎨

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

Thank you! I will Check out your work 🎨🖌️

[@paulahillick4246]

if the pages are thin - you can glue 2 or 3 together to make it thicker before you paint :)

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

Great tip thanks 😊

[@artiste335]

Very inspiring. Love both the books...I have purchased several old books recently for this purpose. Love your work and also love the music!

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

Thank you 🏵️🌺

[@sachet22]

Loving your channel, your ideas and variety of supplies I have not seen before. So glad that your format is easy to watch and understand. Thank you sincerely!

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

You’re welcome 😌

[@KT-kg4nj]

Love painting in books! Another artist suggests cook books because they tend to have great quality paper.

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

And some fun illustrations I’m sure 👩‍🍳

[@athenac5296]

Book 2 was my favorite & cool field trip 😍

[@TerriKash-NEO]

Your work and style speak to me. I am looking forward to more videos from your channel. Just subscribed. 😂❤

[@lisahaaseckle]

Wow, I really enjoyed watching this whole video. Beautifully done and you inspire me to get some old books and start marking/doodling. I've been thinking of doing this lately but you've inspired me even more to get off my butt and get started. What a great way to journal along the way, too. I've been wanting to get back into doing some abstract art again. I used to do black and white abstracts years ago and sold in a gallery in the bay area. Anyway, thank you and I'm glad I stumbled upon your video.

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

You’re welcome and I’m so happy you’re inspired again 🌷🌹

[@lourdeselena4771]

Just found your channel. Love this! I have some great old books and I love painting on them. I want to do more abstract like this. Thanks for the ideas.

[@alicecilepin9370]

Yea that’s a great idea to have a play book…. Where you know it’s gonna get messy lol like the more messy = more fun! How freeing as a meditative therapy….. I need to start something like that up…… Thanks for sharing this idea! 👏👌

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

Very meditative. It works the brain in healthy ways!

[@runningwarrior5468]

WOW I loved this and as a fellow cold basement dwelling artist, SO glad I found your channel.

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

I know right?! 🌺💕

[@jackelinslack4400]

Thanks for all the effort and time you put into this video. Inspired for sure.

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

My pleasure 🌺

[@BeckyPartridge1]

Oooh yay a great new channel to follow! Thank you!❤🎉

[@dorothyatchison1825]

Many thanks for sharing this video with us … love it!

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@stephanielawson_messyartist]

I used a old book and made it into my sketchbook for the whole year. Very fun and the paper was good. Each year when my library has a sale Ill check them out. I have a chocolate book that Im doing just abstracts inside.

[@Ann-ux2gx]

So happy this showed up in my feed. I was just about to get rid of some old books. Now I’m keeping them! Love your abstracts! I’m going to turn this into a regular practice. I’m subscribing to see your art, process and stay motivated. Thank you!

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

Thank you. So glad you enjoy it

[@michellelansdale1369]

It’s been a while since I painted on book pages. You make it look fun!

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

I’d love to see what you’ve done 🎉❤

[@Tullyontheterrace]

Really enjoying your videos! Could you explain to a newbie how you stop the pages from sticking together?

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

Sure, just be sure the pages dry before you shut the book! Or use a hairdryer to speed up the process. That’s why I like to work on several books at a time - so I don’t have to wait to paint

[@AliceDel]

really enjoying your vibe and your fantastic color sense. i tend to do mostly collage in altered books, with some watercolor and other stuff, but now i might try more paint and other media. thank you (i've subscribed) loved when you stamped the white lines from one book into another book...

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

Thank you, I’m glad you liked. 😊

[@rsurbanowicz]

I have abook like this too. Sometimes I glue 2 pages together to hold up better. It is a journal or diary for me,😊😊❤

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

I need to try that

[@pinkeeist]

I just started doing this so I must be on trend ha! I glue a few pages of the book together though and intend to us some of the paintings in my junk journals for tags etc. great video. Thank you. I subscribed 🌹

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

I’m going to try gluing two pages together in my thin books, thank you 😊

[@kcnolan3258]

These are great! Very interesting idea, too. Thank you!

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

You’re welcome. Im glad you enjoyed 🌸

[@Greatpacificnorthwesterner]

This is so fun!!! ❤❤❤

[@lindagunter7811]

Wow this was just what i needed!!! Thanks❤

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

You’re welcome ☺️

[@purenatures4755]

Great suggestion to recycle and not waste old books. Better to reuse and save money. Thanks for the advice 🙌🙌🙌

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

You’re welcome 📖🎨

[@gwynnedjackson3871]

Thanks for this video. Did you clear gesso your pages first?

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

Sometimes I do

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

Sometimes I do

[@enricakita1]

Love these❤️

[@tracyburcham7350]

Just found your channel. Glad I did!

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

Thanks! Me too 😌

[@hatthawattha]

Oil pastels do well with any kind of book if it is troubling that paint seeps through. Also I have discovered it needs to be hardcover because the soft ones are just glued and any liquid dissolves the glue and the papges come apart.

[@yopestevens1505]

Hi! Please don't take this the wrong way. I'm looking at your hands, they're so much like mine! Same fingers, same back, same lines, same movements/gestures and same age. But by your face, I'm probably 15 years older than you! So, I figure, you are either older than you look, or I have incredibly young-looking hands for my age. I'd rather be in your shoes, if I had a choice ;). Anyway, good luck with your new channel! I was inspired enough to check out my next door neighbor's library and found a really thick-paged toddler's book that will be perfect for some collage and paint! Thanks.

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

Thank you! I’m glad you’re inspired ☺️

[@ruthhodgson3635]

Lend 1. grant to (someone) the use of (something) on the understanding that it shall be returned. In most places that have the neighborhood lending libraries the books are meant to be returned for others to enjoy reading and looking through.

[@dianecourtney2724]

I love what you’re doing 🌹

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

🌸

[@rusukebordones]

Yes! I paint in a book! ❤

[@Verna-tm9mk]

Do any of your small abstracts turn into larger pieces?

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

I’ve tried to do that but because the scale is so wildly different - I’ve found it almost impossible to recreate a smaller piece into a bigger one.

[@cindyfromsydney7693]

Very enjoyable video ❤

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

Thank you 🤗

[@christineprentice5935]

I do this as well, drawing in old books. My grandson told me, “ naughty Granny, you are being mean to the author!”

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

That’s hilarious! I suppose that could be a little cognitive overload for a child 😄

[@donnaleeclubb119]

I don't think I'd take a book from the Little Lending Library or a book that is in good shape to be bought to be read. I would tend to get books that were going to be thrown away or perhaps text books that are outdated.

[@maryellenrioux2494]

You are telling people to steal books from LittleFreeLibrary boxes? REALLY????

[@SJ-dl6uc]

after living under an oppressive regime for half my life, nothing brasses me off more than ppl policing others, especially online. I'm sorry if you ever get the annoying comments about destroying books. the war survivor in me who lived in direct opposition to the government will buy the exact book that's gna set you off and destroy it thoroughly just to prove the pt that one, in fact, cannot ctrl what others do and should never strive to do so. if i had your channel and ppl would've come at me, I'd do it to the Harry Potter books, straight up. if you tell ppl what to do be ready to hear the "f*ck off" too.

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

Well, I could delete those comments but I choose to leave them be. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest. A police regime, however, sounds rough. ❤️🌻

[@SJ-dl6uc]

@@KitchenCounterAbstract you're a kind person. i appreciate that. I'm out of there now. but the feeling never goes away. have a good weekend

[@63artemisia63]

Devaluing books, which are vehicles of expression and education, among other things, is a dangerous precedent. That may seem like an extreme statement but not if you think it through.

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

.

[@AliBaba-ke5jn]

It's a shame to paint in old books.

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

I agree. Some old books I wouldn’t paint in.

[@63artemisia63]

Let me stop you right here (about 10 seconds in): as a writer, who has written one of those “inconsequential” items you slather with paint. Books are full of IDEAS, information and often beautiful pictures. The authors were trying to communicate something they believed was important to likeminded people, something s/he hoped/believed would transform the reader’s life in some way. Probably just as many people, if not more, think the end result of altering books is inconsequential.

[@rsurbanowicz]

It is 2023... all the information in a published book can be got hold of. The paper book is only one way to get information. Then their are also old outdated books that are no longer relevant or debunked.

[@KitchenCounterAbstract]

.

[@dorothyatchison1825]

Painting in the pages of a book gives that book a new life … how lucky to hold not only the written word but the visual too ❤️

[@63artemisia63]

@@dorothyatchison1825 Not so “lucky” if the words were more enjoyable than the paint.

[@63artemisia63]

@@rsurbanowicz “can be got hold of”? In 2023, we say “is available”. Actually, no matter what year it is, everything in books isn’t available because books contain much more than information. About those “irrelevant and debunked” books: Who decides what’s irrelevant? And I’d love a couple of examples of “debunked” books, other than the Bible, I mean.