Art Journal: Altered Book Tutorial

I’ve been working on an altered book project for the past few weeks. The finished project will serve as an art and writing journal. If you’ve never altered a book before, I invite you to tag along. It's a super fun and easy project. The following tutorial is just my method- the key is to get as creative as you want with these.

Make sure the book you use is in fairly good condition. The material of the cover, size and weight should be something you can get a little rough with without it completely falling apart.

This is the hardbound book I'm using.

You want to remove at least half of the pages of the book to allow space for what you'll be adding to it. It's easier to re-purpose glue-bound hardcover books as opposed to books with sewn binding. And there's no need to discard the pages. You can use them to make page inserts, tags, pockets, and so much more!

Prepping the Pages of an Altered Book Journal

Gesso is a paint primer traditionally used on canvas. It's similar to acrylic paint, but dries to a matte and stiff texture.

Before painting, I place tissue paper between pages to protect those that are finished.
I use a palette knife to apply gesso to the pages for more texture. You can smooth out the primer with thin, bendable cardboard pieces and/or a plastic bench scraper.

Don't worry about it being too perfect though- the more texture the better. I did two coats for the desired look I was going for. Wait to apply the second coat once completely dried (I allow 1-2 days between coats.)
Place half a wooden paint mixer stick in between the wet and dry pages. This will help to give a bend to the page once it's dried.

Once dry you can start to get creative. This was after two coats of acrylic paint.

I wanted to try an antique, aged effect by using warm coffee grounds.


So far I've been really enjoying this project! I'll be updating as I complete more of the book.