Heart Investigation 1.3: Wild

Hey guys! Heart Investigation is back, for it's third installation. And it's Valentine's Day! I feel like that's kind of cool. I hope you guys had a good day today; I know I did. I didn't think it was going to be too different from a regular day of school, but it was actually pretty fun. I got a carnation and a chocolate bar from one of my very good guy friends, because he's awesome. And know's I like chocolate. Or food in general. :P

However, getting away from that, and the day in general, let's focus more on the art. I played around with a concept that I've been considering for a while now; two overlapping hearts of different sizes. I was playing around with some cutouts the other day, and I thought it would be interesting to try and build a page around it. 

I didn't have a whole lot of time to create today, unfortunately.  So I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do for today's page. Normally I would have done some in depth collaged background. However, I knew that would take quite a while to do. So, instead, I just did a subtle collage. I let some of the lines from the original paper show through in areas, and put down random pieces of paper I had lying around my desk. It was almost a clean up sort of project, even though I'm not even close to having a clean desk. I used some graph papers, a couple of different kinds of tissue paper, a couple pieces from a magazine page, and some newsprint. Also, I used an ATC sized piece of cardstock I had written a few notes on. 

I didn't need it anymore, and had layered a bit of paint and india ink doodles on top of it. I just pasted that down and used it as yet another layer in the page, which I quite enjoy the concept of. Something that I would have otherwise thrown away being used. That's always nice. 

In this photo, you can see the layers quite a bit better. The cardstock piece is the one with the doodles on it. I collaged stuff down until I was satisfied with it, then used my fingers to paint in the rest of the gaps with pink and white layers. Of course, there was more done than that, but, for the most part, that was the general gist of it. 

Also, just as a bit of a parting farewell, I thought I would share a picture of how bulky the tabs are starting to get. Personally, this is my favorite part of my 2013 journal so far. Of course I love the individual pages, as it really expresses how I've been advancing as an artist, even over the course of just this new year. However, the collectiveness of it all is what really makes me proud. When a journal starts to get full and bulky, it just makes me well up inside. It just looks so cool, and is so fun to flip through the pages, just to see what's going on. What was happening in your mind when you did the things you did. And now I can tell when I was thinking those things, which is a cool aspect.

Also, I'm thinking that sometime over the weekend I'm going to be working on the cover for this journal. We're already halfway into February, and I still haven't done that. I think it's going to be a necessity, and I'm looking forward to creating something I'll be able to look at with pride for years to come.

However, before I go, I would like to thank you guys. I've been really enjoying being back with you guys again this year; I've missed art journaling in general, more than is even possible for me tho humanly explain. It's something that keeps me grounded. And when I separate myself from that, I'm lost. I'd like to thank the followers of this blog. The people that visit me and read what I have to say. The people that look at my art and leave me comments about how inspired they became after seeing my work. That's amazing. It makes me feel good, and is literally the highlight of my day. However, even though I may inspire you, it's you guys that inspire me. So thank you! And I hope you all have a GREAT day. :)