Tuesday Tips and Techniques: 10 Ways to Gain New Perspective

No matter how creative we are, we tend to get into a comfortable zone with specific materials.  There's nothing wrong with being comfortable, but trying new things enables one to gain new perspective as a creative being.  Here are 10 things you can do to escape the monotony of your art journaling creativity.

1.  Begin with random splotches of color.  Don't always plan out what you're going to journal!

2.  Try a new technique.  I just started working with the crayon/acrylic resist technique.  I'm addicted!

3. Emulate the style of your favorite artists.  I learned a lot about Klimt's work but using his techniques.

4.  Choose a different color palette.  We become comfortable with a certain range of color.  Mix it up and select some colors that you wouldn't normally choose.

5.  Do you always use color in your artwork?  Try going black and white instead

6.  Choose a larger or smaller journal.  When I go to my smaller moleskin journal, I am much more inclined to experimentation.

7.  Paint with anything besides a brush!  Use your fingers, old credit cards, stir sticks, plastic utensils - the list is endless.

8. Use charcoal.  Using charcoal has a freeing quality when sketching, and looks great - especially on top of lightly colored paper.

9. Take a class or workshop!  Even if the mediums and techniques are familiar to you, you will still walk away with a new perspective.

10.  Last, but most importantly, GET OUTSIDE!  Go for a walk and take in all the beauty that surrounds you.  "Fill your well" with all the beautiful things that CREATOR has given us to enjoy!

As always, dear friends, remember that this life is but a moment.  "Celebrate, LOVE, and Create!" - with your every breath...

A Beautiful Life

Creating art is a beautiful life but contrary to popular belief, the creating begins long before the paints and canvases are pulled out.  Creating begins with the appreciation for all that surrounds us, and the warehouse of appreciation I have gathered over the years is where I get my inspiration for the art I create. 

I'm a maniac about not wasting paint, so when I finished my last journal spread I spread the left over paint on the next blank pages in my journal.  "Waste not, want not", Mom always said.

What I notice immediately is the makings of a face.  Do you see it?

The second thing I notice is all the white of the left side of the spread.  I must take care of that immediately!  I put small blobs of paint directly on to the page using the same colors I used yesterday and a lot of white.

I spread the paint in a random pattern with my wet brush, and decide that I'm in the mood to do some collage.  I haven't done any collage in a while!

 As the paint dries,  I go through my file of magazine pages and images and pull out a dozen or so images that "speak" to me as possibilities for this journal spread. Once again, I have no idea where I'm going with this.

Then I go to my baggies filled with words and smaller images and see if anything feels appropriate for this spread.

I settle on a dozen or so images and words that have a possibility of making the final cut to my journaling spread. 

I begin to play with the placement of some of the images on my spread.  I'm immediately drawn to an image of an angel. 

I like the angel image a lot, but she just feels too heavy on the page. 

I attempt to lighten the image with a 50/50 mixture of white acrylic and water, but I don't like the way it looks.  So instead, I coat the image with Mod Podge and place it upside down on the page and let it dry.

Of course, an impatient Angelia doesn't let it dry completely.  I begin rubbing the image with water until the back magazine layer begins to rub off.  I've rubbed down to the paper in some spots, but I like the way it looks - very grungy and aged.

As the angel transfer continues to dry, I begin to work on the face using thick strokes of the same paints that I've applied to the background, and of course, black acrylic was bound to show up for the party! 

 I glued they eye to the palm of the hand and all the words on the page with Mod Podge.  The left side seemed a little bland, so I added the stars and swirls. 

I'm always amazed at how these intuitive spreads just seem to come together on their own, and I'm always grateful for the messages and reminders that I get from them.  "Creating art is a beautiful life" speaks volumes to me, and is a true representation of how I feel when I create and share my creations with others.

I hope you'll practice  "Happy Creating!" from intuition and let your journal spreads emerge on their own.  Choose colors and images that speak to you and let the art flow from your beautiful life!