Graphic Art Journal Page

Today I've got another unfinished page for you guys. This happens all the time, I know, but I'm just hoping that you guys are liking it too. :) I just like sharing. This page is a very graphic type of page, which is very different than most other pages that I have done in the past. Normally, I do a bunch of layers, which will eventually end up looking pretty cool. But this was inspired by a class on 21 Secrets, which I enjoyed while it was still alive. Now that one is dead and I'm being forced to work from the PDFs. :) Actually, I don't care as much as I'm trying to make it sound. I think that it's fun, and forces me to use my imagination more than it would otherwise. Also, the colors of this page are a bit different than what I am used to working with. I enjoy using pinks and purples on occasion, but it seems like I'm using them more and more lately because that's what I have left. Yeah. That's the way I roll. Anyways, because it's getting kind of late, I think I'm gonna go. I know that I don't have that much for you today, but I'm hoping to come back tomorrow with a tutorial. We'll see. We will see.

21 Secrets and an All Paper Collage

Hey guys! I'm back with you guys, and am sharing with you a couple of things. Two pages in my art journal and an all paper on cardstock collage. But more on that collage thing later. Let's get things started here with a couple of art journal pages that I've worked on. These two pages here are from two entirely different courses on the 21 Secrets course (which I am still working on BTW, just without the videos), and aren't eve supposed to be a spread. I thought that I would show you in one picture and just talk about them as separate pieces though, and I thought that it would be quicker and take up less picture space if I did them separately. Okay. So let's start with the one on the left. This is from the daisyyellow course on the thing and she called this a Layer Cake. I really enjoyed making it, and it turned out very grungy and spontaneous, which just happens to be the way that I tend to work anyways in real life. I thought it very cool, and I loved that it seemed to just be a good technique/idea to add to my repertoire. It isn't quite finished yet; I still have to add the title and journaling and stuff, but I still like it a lot.

The second page there is actually another page that I did for the Fearless Art Journaling course. I love her techniques, and the way that it looks it just amazing any way that you end up looking at it. She talks about being very spontaneous with your work, and especially just going with your gut feeling instead of stopping every second or two to think over what you just put down on the page. This two is very much the way that I work, and I really enjoyed working on this page. By the way, I do know that the actual saying is "Less is More", NOT "More is Less." But I thought that it sort of worked vice versa as well, and went along with the same train of thought. I just thought that it might be an interesting thing to work with to see how it turned out.

And here I am showing you an ALL-PAPER collage that I did. As you've probably seen so far on my blog, I am very fond of paint in my collages, so the mere THOUGHT of doing a collage with nothing but paper was kind of stressful to me. But the thing is, you can sort of use the same guidelines as you do with paint. You can be spontaneous and quick, and try not to worry about what you are doing. I've done two so far; the one above is my second that I started yesterday, gluing down a couple of pieces, and finished up today. I did most of it today, so that's the date that is on the back. I found it very fun and a sort of interesting mix up from what I've done in the past. If you tend to use a lot of paint in your work, and find yourself stuck in a sort of rut, where you feel like you're doing the same thing on every page, I highly recommend this. But that's all I've got for you guys today, and I'll see you tomorrow!!

Fearless Art Journaling - 21 Secrets

Hey guys! What goes on? 

Sorry I was gone for a couple of days, but sometimes, especially on weekends, I just get lazy.

Generally I don't do much on the weekends when it comes to art, but today I just went crazy!! 

I was really bored, and didn't want to sit around all day like I normally do.

So, I grabbed a bunch of art stuff and just started to play.

I'd say that I was probably working on art for three to four HOURS today!! 

I was a happy camper.

I worked on a bunch of art journal spreads, as well as a bunch of collage papers. 

I worked on some index cards (didn't really finish any),

and glued some pages together in my new art journal that I'm doing.

I also worked on a bunch of things from 21 Secrets.

I realized that if I didn't get to work on that soon, I'll have wasted a bunch of money.

For example.

The art journal spread in the picture above was for a course in 21 Secrets.

It was titled Fearless Painting, and I really like the way this turned out. 

She suggests getting a really LARGE art journal.

But that's not really my thing.

So I just did the same process in my normal art journal.

Because I wanted to see how that would look.

I like it I think.

Really random and free. 

I work like that a lot, but sometimes I feel like I need to just let EVERYTHING go.

You know what I mean?

I worked on a few other things today as well, including a couple of loose collage papers.

This is one that I did today. 

I started out by just putting down a layer of blue acrylic paint; just to put some color down on the page.

I had this idea for a technique, and I decided to try it out, since I was experimenting anyways.

I took a hand carved stamp that I had made out of an eraser.

And I colored in the sections with a Portfolio oil pastel.

I'm just gonna go out on a bunny trail here to talk about Portfolio oil pastels.

They are crazy awesome.

And crazy cheap.

My two favorite things when it comes to art supplies. 

They're so creamy, and rich, and smooth, and buttery.

And you can actually buy them at Staples.

Actually, as far as I know, that's the only place you can buy them.

Anyways.

So yeah. 

After I colored in the sections, I wet the oil pastel with water and stamped onto the background.

It gave a really cool watercolor effect.

And I simply love the way it turned out. 

Personally.

Of course though, I'm biased. 

:P

And then, of course; the last thing I have to share with you today.
I'm leaving all the other stuff for another day.
This right here is a type of monoprint that I've been working on perfecting.
I take a paper towel that I've dyed, and then place it in between two sheet of paper.
Then I just press down.
Depending on how much pressure you put, you get different effects.
For the above effect, press with a moderate pressure.
Lighter will pick up less paint, and heavier will pick up more.
Obviously.

Anyways, as that's all I've got for you today, then it's time for me to say goodbye.
So see you guys later. :)
See you.

Repurposing a Page

Hey guys! I'm back here with all of you showcasing more art journaling. This is another page that I did for the 3 Little Words class in 21 Secrets. With this one I sort of exited the grain of the project a little bit the first verse I did normally, the second one I did normally, but the third one I just wrote. The words just started coming to me, and I didn't feel like giving up my inner emotions just to stick to the way the project told me to. I have plenty more pages to mess around on when I'm trying to do that. I'm trying to use at least 10 pages for each class, maybe more; I might end up getting another journal. :) Wouldn't that be something? Anyways, yeah. I worked on this page today, but I also have been working on it for a few days. You have seen it too. What am I talking about you may ask? Here's what I'm talking about.

Remember this page? The horrible one that I had no idea what to do with? Yeah. That one. What I ended up doing was doing a TON of journaling on top of it as seen above. Just a note; I do all of my journaling that I don't want people to be able to read in a sloppy cursive, with lots of misspellings. Plus it just gets all of my emotions out. After that, I simply gessoed over top of it and started the creating all over again. And ended up with the above page.

I really love the way that everything seems to fade into the background. I love it. It turned out quite well, if I do say so myself. Now one last thing; the poem. I'm sure you want to see it. :) Here it is.

Sometimes I wonder late at night,

Thinking of things from moments past.

Like a thief in the dark;

Quietly slipping from place to place.

Sometimes I wonder; is there really

A deep sea rarely detected by others?

Full of all my floating fancies,

And all my wells of words?

Is there a place so quiet

That you can't hear yourself whisper;

So dark you can see a million miles?

I don't really know for sure.

But sometimes; I do wonder.

21 Secrets - 3 Little Words

So I don't know if I've mentioned it here on the blog before, but I ended up getting 21 Secrets! I've had it for a couple weeks now, and I've been working my way through the first lesson. I know, I'm a slow worker, but I've just been having fun with it and experimenting in any and all ways I can think of. :) I know that's a pretty broad range of things to do, but I think it's fun. I love to do it. Experimentation is the best way to learn, right? In this one, I wrote a kind of poem using segments of three words. It turned out pretty nice in my opinion.

Here's a better showing of the poem itself. I used rubber stamps to stamp onto tissue paper, and then applied it to the background with Mod Podge. This page may also not be finished yet, though I'm not sure. I love the way the colors work together too. Here's the whole poem:

Workouts will be

Off the mark.

Peace and Harmony;

It's a start.

I really like the way the poem itself turned out, though I'm not exactly sure what it means. :P See you guys next time!