11 Creative Ways To Redo Bad Art Journal Pages And Fix Mistakes

Have you made a mistake on your art journal page and now you want to fix it because it looks ugly and you just don’t like it?

It’s perfectly ok to redo that page and make something you’ll actually love. 

There are many ways of doing this, and I’m sharing 11 ideas on how to redo a bad art journal page with the supplies you already have.

Disclaimer: Some links in this post may be affiliate links. This means that if you purchase something through that link, I get a small commission, at no extra cost to you.

You shouldn’t feel bad about your ugly pages

All of us make things we don’t like. And you shouldn’t punish yourself for that. When I don’t like my page, I accept that. It’s ok not to like what you make.

Then, it’s your decision whether you want to keep it or redo it completely. Whatever you decide, it’s ok for you.

The bottom line is that you’re not alone, everyone gets disappointed with their work. This just means that you’re growing and have a good sense of what you like and don’t like. This is also a great path for developing your own style.

So, embrace it as a cool way of making artistic decisions on your own, rather than relying on someone else’s opinion. That’s huge. Remember that.

Mistakes make great art

Trust me, every time I thought I’d made a mistake in my art journal, it turned out to be a great lesson. This way, you can grow as an artist.

When you make a so-called mistake, you then realize:

• What you don’t like
• What you can improve
• The lesson you’ve learned (maybe it’s about technique, color mixing, how supplies and tools behave, etc.). And now you have this knowledge for the future.

There is an ugly stage for every page

If you want to redo a page without even finishing it, take a step back and say to yourself that there’s always an ugly stage when you create.

This is most obvious when I draw faces. Until I refine all the facial features and finish the face, it looks unusual, ugly, silly, etc. 

In these cases, we need patience and the realization that it’s just a process, and during this process, there are stages that you don’t like. But try finishing it and see whether you like it or not then.

If you still don’t like it after you finish, then think about what to do with it. Just don’t give up at the very beginning (for example if your stamp didn’t work, or you glued something in the wrong place, or something just smeared in the corner).

How to redo a bad art journal page you don’t like

Here are some tips and ideas on how to redo a bad art journal page and actually make something that’ll put a smile on your face.

First, decide if you want to cover everything or just some parts. This will help you choose supplies, and tools and see how much time you’ll need.

If you like some elements on your page, leave them visible.

If you hate everything, let’s see how you can transform that ugly page and fix the mistakes.

Gesso is an amazing medium for many things. It’s great for priming the paper but also for covering things up.

Since it doesn’t let paper or anything beneath it soak new layers of paint or water, it’s a great thing to cover the whole page.

2. Cover with acrylic paint

One of my favorite ways to cover unsatisfying pages is to use acrylic paint. Unlike gesso, some acrylic paints will cover the page completely, if they’re opaque and thick.

And then the fun starts. You can use many different tools for this including:

• Paintbrushes
• Kitchen sponge
• Geli plate
• Brayer 
• Your fingers

If you want to cover large areas, a brayer or a big piece of kitchen sponge is the way to go. 

They also create different textures and produce cool results.

Also, when covering your bad page with acrylic paint, you don’t have to use only one color. Try mixing them up, creating a gradient, or even painting a whole galaxy (with a sponge).

Covering a page with your fingers will take longer but the paint will look soft and fluffy.

Also, you can do a combination of papers. Think about the color of the paper and try to combine the colors that look good together.

My best tip is to tear those paper pieces rather than cut them with scissors. They’ll be easier to glue down and won’t have those hard edges.

Finally, if you choose the same type and thickness of paper for one page, your cover-up design will be better and more consistent.

4. Cover with magazine images

This idea is similar to the above one.

Cut out magazine images, fussy cut or not, it doesn’t matter. If you’re covering the page and creating a new background, tear up any magazine page without specific images.

Choose the pages whose colors you like. And then randomly glue down those pieces to cover the whole page.

You can world with small or big pieces, depending on how much time you have. Bigger pieces take less time to glue down.

5. Redo a bad art journal page with doodles

You can doodle with almost anything:

• Pens
• Pencils
• Markers
• Paint
• Ink 

Just bear in mind that fine-tip pens can be ruined on textured backgrounds. So, what I suggest are markers, paint, or ink. The bigger the marker tip, the less time it’ll take you to cover your page with doodles.

To save time, draw bigger doodles with really fat lines. 

But if you have time and patience, go wild with a pen or a pencil.

A great idea for this is to cover the page with neurographic art.

So, tear out that page that’s been freaking you out. 

Cut it out into smaller pieces in different shapes and sizes and use it for collaging later. You’ll be surprised at what remarkable collage bits you can get when you do this.

7. Cover with stamps

If you have a great stash of stamps, use them to cover your bad art journal page. 

The best stamps would be bigger ones, but you can do this with any.

If your stamp ink isn’t covering the page well, why not make your own diy stamps that’ll do this perfectly? You can make these stamps out of foam and cardboard.

I use mine all the time with acrylic paint and they’re great for covering up things that stamp ink can’t. Check the video below where I show you how to create your own stamps.

You can even combine two or more stencils to make things interesting.

9. Stamp on tissue paper and glue it down

Tissue paper is so cool. Like, really, really cool.

You can glue it down with collage medium and it’ll perfectly blend with the paper. So, if you want to cover a page, stamp or draw something on tissue paper, and then glue it on your ugly page. 

The more you cover the tissue paper, the less your layer beneath will be visible. So, you can play with this and leave some empty space or cover it as much as possible so it then covers your whole ugly page.

Washi tape is a great option to cover those bad pages in your art journal.

They stick easily and you can use any design you have and play with it.

Create shapes, glue washi tape strips horizontally or vertically, and then you can again cover it with gesso or paint to create more texture.

11. Use a combination of ideas above

Well, why not combine some of these ideas I’ve mentioned and explore that?

Remember that I mentioned how your bad or ugly ages are just opportunities to learn? I truly believe that.

So, if you want to remember that and embrace the learning process, leave that page alone. Let it remind you of the lesson and your progress.

And it even happens that I actually like that ugly page after a while and I’m then glad I didn’t cover it.

So, think about this possibility as well.