i think what i like best about painting on blank canvas books is the joy of experimenting. it's a great surface to try lots of different techniques and mediums. sometimes i gesso it first, but usually i paint on the raw canvas.for this cover above, i used spray washes in browns and golds, then traced a mask of the hinges and keyhole with a micron pen. after it was dry, i slathered on some gloss gel medium and pressed a texture into it with a large rubber stamp.
this one is colored with permapaque markers. i combined a circle template set with a square template set and was happy with how they overlapped.
I drew the apple and the letters with permapaque markers, and the banana with copic markers. then i painted pouring medium on top to give the fruit a nice hard gloss. canvas books are great for making soft children's books!
i used a copper spray wash for this background, with paper flowers masked out. my green chalk ink stamp pad was the perfect shape to easily press leaves, then i colored the flower centers with oil pastels.