Summer of Color 2012: Week 6 + Challenge Announcement

Okay all. I have something pretty cool to share with you guys today. At least I think it's cool. Though I am biased. It is my work, after all. Anyways, I am presenting to you, today, Week 6 of the Summer of Color 2012, in which the colors were a pink and a black or dark brown. I used some of both. An extremely dark brown. Again, I made my painted papers, as I did in the past, this time creating a total of eight. I had it worked out in such a way that I would be able to come out, in the very end, with a total of 40 painted papers. And I achieved that goal effectively. I have decided, somewhere in the middle of this challenge that I was going to add onto this challenge on my own time, and I will actually be inviting you guys to participate in it as well. But I will discuss that later on in this post, after the reveal of all the papers I completed for this challenge in the past 6 weeks.

Let's get started now, shall we? Okay. I had quite a few ideas for these papers this week, which made them go so much faster. It was nice to not be struggling to figure out what I wanted to do with the blank pieces of paper I had staring at me. The two above each started with a watercolor wash background; the one on the left with black, and the one on the right with pink. I added acrylic and watercolor paints as another layer on top of the background to create the effects shown. Also, with the stars, I outlined the pink stars with an oil pastel (non water-soulable).

These papers were very simple to complete. Each only consisted of two layers each. The one on the left, I started with an acrylic paint wash over the entire background, to create a vibrant, but not TOO vibrant color. Then, I used some black acrylic to paint the lines and squares over the entire page. I've done things similar to this on art journal pages before, so I just thought it would be fun to play around with. With the page on the right, I used a dark brown watercolor paint (extremely watered down) for the background. Then I took some bubble wrap and stamped with pink acrylic paint over the entire page. And that was that.

These pages were fairly simple as well. The one on the left is simply composed of layers of watercolor paint on top of each other. The one on the right is a bit more complex, though not a whole lot. I started off the page with a white roseart crayon. Then I used it to draw circles all over the entire page. I didn't really pay too much attention to where I was putting the circles, as I couldn't see them that well anyways. Though, I did do my best to cover the entire page with these circles. Then I used black and pink watercolors over the entire page to resist the crayon.

Here, the page on the right also uses a crayon resist, though I used a black crayon that I could actually see. I drew a bunch of little black dots all over the page, then used an acrylic wash to resist the color. Out of all the papers that I made today, this has got to be the one that I am the least fond of. However, that's okay. It's not too bad. The paper on the right was extremely easy. Just alternating stripes of black and pink watercolors. And that was that. Technically only one layer. But I love this one layer. It's just cool.

Now, before I actually get to the challenge that I'm going to be announcing, I would like to share with you one picture that sort of reviews all of the papers that I made this past 6 weeks. I separated them into their specific weeks, but other than that, they are in no particular order. When they are all stacked, I came up with a stack that's a bit more than an inch in height. That makes me proud. I can see that I have actually accomplished something. And it's crazy, because this is actually my second challenge that I have completed this summer. Last summer I started a whole bunch of challenges, but didn't complete anything. Sadly. However, this is my SECOND completion (the first, of course, being my 30-30-30 challenge, though I'm still trying to decide what to do with those loose pages) and I am expecting to have two more at the end of the month. :) And perhaps some more next month. It just makes you feel so completed, you know what I mean?

Anyways, moving on, let's get to the challenge itself that I am presenting all of you faithful viewers of my blog. First off, I thank you for being here for my first challenge I am presenting to you guys. It means a lot to me. So here we go. The challenge that I am presenting you guys with is the "Limited Supply Challenge". I know that it doesn't have a big fancy challenge name or anything like that, but that's okay, in my opinion. It's realistic. It's real. And that's what I like. This challenge actually developed from my desire of wanting to do something with the increasing stacks of papers that I was creating in my studio, and also wanting to have a purpose for my Summer of Color papers; you know; the ones I just showed you. So that's what this challenge is going to be about. Using up all of the painted papers that we have created. And, if you don't have any papers yet in your collection, don't worry. You still have some time to prepare. And actually, they don't even have to be hand painted.

They can be anything that you want them to be. However, I am going to set a rule. I want these papers to 8 1/2" x 11". If you want to use scrapbooking papers (which is fine, by the way), I would prefer it if you would trim them down to that size. The reason for this being that I don't want anybody to have any more or less material than anybody else. So here's the deal. We are going to make as many art journal pages, ATCs, mini book pages, scrapbook pages, collages; WHATEVER. We are going to make as many projects as we can with these papers that we select until EVERY SINGLE SCRAP of paper is gone. I know that sounds like a lofty goal, but doesn't it sound fun?

Here's the deal. These are the supplies you are allowed:

1. 40 sheets of 8 1/2 x 11 printed/painted/collected paper. 

In 6 color schemes. 

5 of the first two.

 6 of the third. 

And 8 of each of the last 3.

2. 5 paint colors. These can be any kind that you like.

I recommend red, blue, yellow, white and black.

Because I am graciously allowing you to mix your colors. ;)

Also, if you would prefer anything else (colored pencils, oil pastels, crayons, etc) because that is the medium you work in, feel free to substitute paint with that supply.

But you can still only have 5.

3. A journal. Or canvas'. Or blank sheets of paper.

In other words, any surface that you want to work on. I am not limiting you at all in this aspect. Not a bit. You can do what you like here.

4. 15 Texture stamps.

This can be anything you want. They can all be collected stamps if you want.

Bubble wrap.

Mesh from an old window screen.

A sponge.

Or stamps you bought. But 15.

Of course, if you don't want to use stamps, you don't have to.

5. Any other BASIC supplies.

i.e. scissors, glue, pencils, pens, white copy paper, etc.

But that is all.

And that's the challenge!! Limited supplies. To use up a total of 40 papers. Who's going to join me? I believe that I will start the challenge on the first of next month. Are you guys ready for this? Do you want to join me?

Color Challenge #2 Reveal: Barbara

Hey everybody! I'm here with my first post of the day. I may have another one for you guys coming up later tonight, with the rest of my art (My ICAD, 30-30-30 Challenge, and In The Sun post). But for right now, what I have for you guys is my color challenge REVEAL!! I've been working on this challenge pretty much every day since I announced it here, and have really enjoyed it. The colors were lime, light purple, red, pale yellow, and white. Barbara and I decided to do this in a bit of a larger scale than I did last time with Dede. With that challenge, we gave ourselves a week to create one art journal page. And that was cool. But for this challenge, we gave ourselves two weeks to complete five projects. It was a little more time consuming, but I love the results! So let's get on with it!

The first project is a page in my art journal. This is my big, fat art journal with the black cover and green spine. I don't know if I've ever put a picture on here of just the journal, not the pages inside of it. Maybe I should think about doing that. And perhaps a flip would be in order. That way you guys can see about how much I have left to do before the journal itself is done.

Anyways, focusing more in on the journal page itself, let's look at a close up of the page. You can probably see that in the very back of the page is a background that was composed solely up of dictionary paper that I tore up and then collaged down to the background in all different directions using Elmer's School Glue. It actually works just as well as Mod Podge from what I've done so far. Which I think is impressive. Though it could just be me. Anyways, with this page, I actually decided to blend the concept of this page with another challenge. A Year In the Life of An Art Journal. I really wanted to do all of the prompts for this part of the challenge, but I simply ran out of time in the month. That's okay though. There's always next month. :)

And here you can probably see the stamping a bit better. I used my circle stencil, along with 3 found stamps to create these circles. Something that I find popping up again and again in my work is circles. Whether it be deep inside of the layers of a page, the main focus of a page or accents ON a page, it seems that everything that I make these days has at least one circle on it. And if I don't want to use circles, it takes quite a bit to pull myself away from them. It's crazy. However, I have learned to accept it for what it is. Part of my art. And I'm not going to try and change that.

Here is the second project that I did for this challenge. I decided upon a spread for this portion of the challenge, and tried to do a portrait. I don't like it as much as some of the other portraits that I have done in the past, but I believe that to have something to do with my limited color pallet. I couldn't deviate too much from the colors Barbara and I had picked together, so I just went with what I knew would most likely work. However, this did inspire me to work more on my portraits, as this is certainly not my favorite. So I guess it was kind of a win-win situation anyways.

Also, just a question. Does this background look familiar to you guys at all? :) I slipped you guys a sneak peek a few days ago, I just didn't tell you. If you are still wondering where it is, you can click here to see. :)

One of the other projects that I decided upon was a series of ATC's. I decided to count this as a single project, instead of three. I suppose I could have done it either way, but I had some other ideas that I had floating around in my head, so I decided to go with those as well. So I created these three ATCs, simultaneously, as part of a series. They are not identical, but they go together. I would LOVE to trade these! One of my goals for my DayZero Project is to trade 101 ATCS. I am currently at 0. Even though this is only three, it'd be cool to have a few at least.

Here's a bit of a close up of the first ATC. It is titled "TAKE ME TO THE LAND OF JAZZ." As you can see.

Here is the second ATC.

And here is the third. They are composed of many layers of media on top of one another.

Here is the fourth project I came up with for this challenge. I decided to do a mini collage; it measures 6" on each side. I made most of the papers that this collage was composed of as well. The only one that I didn't make was the red grid with the lime circles showing through it. I painted the papers specifically for this challenge, and I still have a whole bunch left over. I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do with them, but it could be one of many things. Something that I love about this collage though, is all of the little details.

For example, this layered circle that was composed up of multiple layers of paper and paint on top of one another. I love the way it turned out, and is was so much fun to work on. Plus, I love the way the stamped title looks when it was layered with the circle.

Here's another part that I love. I laid down a stripe of lime green paint down onto the page, then punched circles out of the red graph paper. Then I glued it on top of the green. Then, of course, I added the red to the green, and the layer of red stamping along the side. And the lettering. Can't forget that.

Finally, we have the red circles that I added to very bottom to accent the pale yellow and purple background. I tried to go without putting something in every spot, but I just didn't like the way that it looked. So I filled it up. And I quite like the way that it turned out.

And then, for my fifth and final project for this challenge, I have a little mini "canvas". If you follow me on twitter, you might have seen this picture. I was giving you TWO sneak peeks. ;) I wanted to see if anyone would notice, and then put two and two together. Anyways. I was greatly inspired to create this "canvas" by this post. And, the reason that canvas is in quotes, is because it's not actually a canvas. It's a box. A little cardboard box.

You can see that a little bit better here. It has a bit more depth to it than normal canvas. But I really like the way that this one turned out for me. I used pink words on this, instead of one of the colors, but only because I couldn't find any that matched. And this just looked good.

And THAT my friends; that was my color challenge reveal! I hope that you guys enjoyed it! Make sure to check back later for another post. :)