Tiffany Zajas | Fixing a Bled Through Page Using Gesso

I don’t know about you, but I have several pages in my journaling bible that have bled through due to some of the different products I have used. When this happens, never fear! The page that has bled through can still be usable! :)

One of the ways that I like to fix a bled through page is by using gesso. It is pretty simple and does a great job at covering up the imperfections and creating a blank canvas to work from. You can also use this method as a primer for a page when you know in advance that you’re going to use products that will bleed through to the other side.

First of all, just squirt some white gesso onto a palette (or plate, or tupperware container cover, or whatever else you have on hand!), grab a paint brush and apply a thin layer to your page.

Depending on what you’re wanting to do with the page, you may want to apply a second or third layer to make it more opaque.

Next, leave your bible open and let it dry! This only took about 30 minutes to completely dry. Not bad at all! The instructions say to allow 24 hours before doing anything over it…but I usually don’t wait that long, and it’s been completely fine.

As your page is drying, it will most likely curl up around the edges. But don’t worry! It will flatten out later when your bible is closed and laying flat. You can also set an extra heavy book on top to help in the flattening and smoothing out process.

Once everything has dried, you now have a nice white page to work from! Now you are free to use paint or markers or whatever other medium you would like to create a design on your page. I’ve found markers and acrylic paint to be the best to use over gesso, but feel free to experiment!

For this design, I used my BIC Mark-It Markers and my Faber-Castell PITT Artist Big Brush Pen. It only took a couple of minutes to draw this out. Short and sweet! I love that not every page you create has to be super detailed or time consuming.

And now, you can’t really tell that there was ever any bleed through to begin with. Yay! I hope this simple method helps you when you’re looking for a way to rescue a “damaged” page!

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SUPPLIES: ESV Journaling Bible, Single Column | Liquitex White Gesso | Faber-Castell Black Pitt Artist Big Brush Marker | Bic Mark-It Markers