Tuesday Tips and Techniques

Formula Two

Here's another step-by-step on creating a journal page.  I hope you find it helpful as a way to break out of your usual methods.

First of all, concentrate on just one page (assuming you typically work across two pages as a spread).  This allows you to both work faster, and work in a vertical format instead of horizontally.

Write your thoughts.  Don't think about what you're writing.  Just let the words flow.  Don't worry about spelling or punctuation.  This is about spewing whatever's on your mind in the moment.  Write in multiple directions.  Overlap your words.  Just GET IT OUT!

Now take out your favorite watersoluble pastels and scribble to your heart's content.  Pretend it's kindergarten.  Use ALL the crayons in your box if you want.  Just enjoy the pleasure of applying color to paper.

Tone all that scribbling down with gesso or white acrylic and a little water.  I use my fingers for this.  Leave some areas more white than others.  

Add more texture with random scribbles and words or phrases that come to mind.  Here, I've used a charcoal pencil, but I typically use a black brush pen (which I couldn't find and didn't want to look for).

Add more color and brighten some of the areas.  You might see the beginnings of something unidentifiable taking shape.

Add some contrasting colors with acrylic paint.  Use your fingers.  Use a paintbrush.  Use an old credit card.  PLAY!  Hold your journal upright.  What images do you see taking shape?

Sketch around some of the basic shapes that you see.  Here, I could see a figure with a headdress.  I added the heart and wings - Voila!  I think I've found an angel.

Add gesso or white acrylic around the image and concentrate on that.  You can add more color to the background later.  Add details and shading to your figure, Then you can concentrate on the background.

Add little details to both your image and background.  Use symbols and doodles.  As a final touch, journal a few last thoughts that come to you as you're working.  Most of all - have FUN.  This isn't about quality, gallery art - it's about YOU, expressing yourself creatively.

CELEBRATE * LOVE * CREATE

Playing with Water Soluble Pastels

Here are pages from my journal that I did last week.  I hadn't played with my water soluble pastels for awhile so I took them out one evening.  I didn't want to turn on any lights, so I decided to sketch by the light of the television as Keith and I tortured ourselves with the Food Network.

I used an ochre yellow pastel and began sketching.  I began with a fluid line and before I knew it, I was sketching faces.  The next day, I softly blended the features and I liked the ghostly appearance that resulted.  I darkened some of the features and added hair with a black pastel and did more blending.  I added blue to the shadow areas and more faces with the same blue, softening each layer.  

I continued playing with my pastels and another face emerged.  I recently discovered that I can print right to left writing each letter backwards as easily as printing normally.  Who knew!  I had no idea I could do this and it was a fluke discovery.  I incorporated printing in this style on this journal spread and I think it adds to the overall feeling of mystique created by the chiaroscuro.

Speaking of faces, my colored pencil drawing is coming along nicely.  I'm really enjoying my very laid back class.  My classmates are awesome and we're rapidly becoming friends.  I've learned a lot about colored pencil - mostly that it's nothing to be hurried!

I'm not finished with her face, but the self proclaimed "queen of color" had to get away from the skin tones for awhile and add some color!  The leaves are a pain (it crossed my mind to put a head wrap on her!), but I decided to stay true to the original image.  I only work on her during class.  The lighting there is fabulous!

I've also been using colored pencil more in my journal.  This detailed spread is collage (The sun/moon mirror, the tree and the head, torn from an old Design Tuscano catalog), Pilot VBall pen, and Prismacolor pencils.  I worked on it mostly in the evenings.  It was inspired by my prompt for March 10th: "I don't want to", and the song by Gavin Degraw, "I don't want to be".  The writing is lyrics from that song.

I hope you're having fun in your journal.  I hope you're experimenting and breaking through "blocks" that you may have.  Most of all, I hope you're finding time each day to "Celebrate, LOVE, and Create!"

Weekend Art-O-Rama - Part 3

Here are the final three spreads that I completed during my Weekend Art-O-Rama.  It was a lot of fun to have no responsibilities calling me away from creating, but I have to say I was exhausted when Monday came!  This spread was done late Friday night using Elmer's Paintastics.  I bought them on a whim  (they were only $1.49 - how could I not?), and maybe it was the late hour but I was totally captivated with them!

After I watered the flowers, fed the birds and ate breakfast, Mug-O-Coffee and I pulled out the journal and paints and worked on this spread.  As is typical with me, I had no idea what I would be doing.  It's difficult to explain the process because there really isn't any.  I sit down at the desk, open the journal and pick the first 2 or 3 colors that are appealing to me at the moment.   At the moment I began this spread, the colors were red, orange and pink.  I rummaged through my folders of images and words to see what else I might want to use, and after I chose some items, the word abundance caught my eye and I wrote about the abundance in my life and gratitude for not having to suffer the atrocities that so many others must endure.  Then I applied the paint in random squiggles and spread it with an old credit card.  That's my favorite method of applying paint to a spread.  I adhered all of the paper elements with Mod Podge and applied another thin layer of paint on the woman and in random places across the paper appliques.  I added details with white paint and gel pens.

After dinner, I pulled out my journal once again.  This time I headed outside to the deck with yet more coffee, my water mug, water soluble pastels and purple, black and white craft acrylics in tow.  It had cooled off to a more reasonable temperature (it's been smoldering hot and humid here!) and the world was beginning to quiet down as the sun began it's descent behind the large maples down the street.  I sipped on my coffee and watched the Orioles come in for a last snack before bed and I began to apply my background colors using the credit card method.  As the paint was drying, I noticed what looked like cat ears on the right, so I drew in the cat and the rest of the elements with the water soluble pastels.  I blended the pastels with white craft acrylic.

 I love my "Night Kitty"! The facial expression makes me laugh because it's somewhere between whimsical and creepy.  So, that was it for my Weekend Art-O-Rama.  What did I do Sunday, you asked?  That deserves a post all to itself!  Meanwhile...."Happy Creating!