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?

Summer of Color 2012: Week 5

Hey guys! How's it going for all of you guys out in blogland today? I hope it's been going pretty good. I managed to sit down today, and do a TON of art. It felt good too, to churn out so many different projects. However, I only have a couple of things that I really want to share with you guys today. First and foremost, we are going to have my Summer of Color papers. For this challenge I have been doing a small batch of painted papers for each week. This week was purple, blue, and green. I love the way that these papers turned out, and am looking forward to doing the final week. It'll be pretty cool. After that's done though, I'll be ready to start my next project, using these papers. And I think that it's going to be pretty cool.

For the papers today, I used mostly watercolors on a plain copy paper background. It was easy to do, and quite enjoyable, in my personal opinion. I just got to experiment with shapes, and the way that the different colors blended together.

Here's the second part of the challenge. Again with the watercolors. In the past, I've mixed up a batch of acrylic paints and whipped together some papers, and then mixed the acrylics with watercolors and washes. But this time I really wanted to go simple. And back to the basics of simple watercolor.

The other thing that I wanted to share with you guys today is this art journal that I recently started working in. I was considering using this journal for my In The Sun Class (which an update is coming for tomorrow), but I decided, after working on it a little, that I was wanting something a little bit bigger. This journal was handmade and bound by me. What I did was take some envelopes in multiple sizes, folded them in half, and then simply sewed them into signatures. Then I sewed the signatures together, and that was that. I actually made this a while ago, and was trying to figure out if I had mentioned this on the blog before or not.

However, the photo above shows what I did on the front cover of the journal. I used several layers of acrylic paint, some of which were already there. Then I added some stamping, and then the black border with a Portfolio oil pastel crayon that I bought at Staples. That's what I have so far on this page, but I still need to add a title. A title for the journal. To really show what I want to to with it. So this is really more of an unfinished sneak peek than a finished thing. Though I still wanted to share. Anyways. That's really all that I have for you guys today. And I'll see you guys later! Bye!

31 Hearts: Day 2 + ATC Challenge

Hey everyone! Jordan here, and I'm back with you guys again today with yet another post. I have quite a few projects going, as most of you know, that I am continuously working on. I have quite a few things to show you guys today. The first thing that I want to show you guys today is my 30-30-30 page. 

This page is a bit more neon than I'm normally used to, and I really like the way that it turned out. The basis of this page really came from the photo of the girl. I got that photo out of a magazine, and then added a couple of other items to the page. Along with the watercolor background. And after that was done, the page was pretty much finished. With this journal, I'm really focusing a little more on the collage aspect of the page, rather than the painting aspect of the page. I'll find my own mix eventually. I'm just having fun with the experimenting aspect of it.

And here we have some ATCs that I made. I made four today, and I'm starting a challenge. For myself at least. If any of you guys want to join, feel free to post a link to your blog in the comments. Anyways, what I'm challenging myself to do, is, in the month of July, make 101 ATCs. I figured all of the math out. I make four a day for eleven days, and then the rest of the month, I make three. I don't think that it will be too difficult to do. Since they are so small. Plus, I can use up leftovers when making them. That's just a plus. 

If anyone wants to trade for these, let me know. As a group would be preferred, to save on postage.

And here is my 31 Hearts page. This challenge has been pretty inspiring to me thus far, and I'm really enjoying it. I love starting new challenges because I always get a fresh new flow of ideas, which I love. This page was based around the concept that I was talking about yesterday. The original thought was that I should create a colorful, patterned background, and then use black to mask off a heart shape. That's not quite the way that it turned out though. What ended up happening is that I used blue/turquoise paint instead of black, and, since I liked the way that the page looked without covering all of the background, I decided to leave it like that. Then I added the title, and that was that.

Something else that I worked on today was my Summer of Color: Week 4 Colors. The colors were a light pink and bright, summery yellow. I made a few more papers than this, but I didn't take a picture. I do love the way that they turned out though. The colors however, are a lot more vibrant in real life. I don't know why it didn't transmit very well to the screen.

And finally, last, but certainly not least, we have my ICAD for today. I did a bit of a collage today, without any paint at all. I decided to do it this way, because I wanted to sit in front of the television and lounge around, but I knew that I still had some stuff left to do. So I did this while sitting in front of the T.V. And I do like the way that it turned out.

ALSO, tomorrow, I'm going thrift store shopping with a friend of mine. We'll see if I find anything good! If I do, I'll be sure to post it on the blog. :) I'll be back tomorrow, and hope to see you then! Bye!

6.25.2012 Art/Challenge Updates

 

Hello everyone out there in the blogosphere. Whether your day has been going good or not so good, I send kind greetings your way. Sometimes just that can make or break a day. I hope to make yours. :)

So today, I have for you guys a bunch of new art. I was experimenting with quite a few different things today, and I'm glad that I'm going to be able to share it with you! I'm going to start us off with Day 16 of my 30-30-30 Challenge. I love this page, quite honestly, even though it's quite a bit different than what I'm used to. You guys know me and my style; I tend to go for the brighter, bolder colors, or anything that would make a statement. However, with this page I decided to go with muted tones.

I used the same graphic circles that I've been using in a lot of my art lately, and that kind of ties it together, and marks it as my own. At least I believe that it does. However, I do know something else; my style is really, quite frankly, undefinable. At least I believe it to be so. There are so many different elements to my style; so many different things that make me, ME, that it's almost impossible to say.

Another thing that I worked on today was a page in my In The Sun journal. This little homemade book is slowly but surely working it's way up to becoming a full journal. I made this journal out of 5 separate signatures, and I'm about halfway through the first. I'm not exactly sure how much of this journal I'm going to fill up, but I may even continue into fall, adding a separate page for that season as well. Since it says 'Summer 2012' right on the front cover, I would probably have to do another divider page. Which honestly wouldn't be too hard to do.

This is the title of the page today; I cut out the letters from a photograph, after being prompted to do so by Natalie by the prompts. I love the way that she has been setting up this course, and, once more, I am highly appreciative to her for doing what it is that she is doing. I might have to find me some more challenges to do, once summer is up. Or maybe I'll just have to start one of my own. For fall. We'll see. I'd have to come up with some ideas before that could happen.

And HERE is my Week 3 entry for the Summer of Color Challenge 2012. The ice cream flavor this week was composed of the colors white, raspberry, and a light/medium tan. This little batch of papers is what I was able to take from that. These papers had a little bit of better flow, than did the Mint Chocolate Chip ones, and I think I might have enjoyed working on them a bit more. I'm not sure why, but sometimes I just feel that way. I think that I'm going to have to find something to do with all of these papers after this summer challenge is over; maybe that could be part of my personal challenge; finding something to use them all up. I'm starting to get a little bit of an idea here. ;)

And finally, I give you my ICAD. This was based around the weekly prompt: 'Use a Fortune From a Fortune Cookie on Your Card." This is what I came up with. Something extremely simple, that is composed of the minimum amount of pieces that I could use. I like simplifying for these cards. I find it makes it a bit easier to work with them, and I think it looks nice. Minimalism is cool. I was even considering leaving out the number strip, but I decided that it looked better with it. I think that it grounds it a bit.

Well. That would be all that I have for you guys today, even though I have been working on other stuff. Like my things for my one-on-one challenge with Barbara, and some stuff for my e-course that I'm trying to design. I might have some more information about that up sometime; start saving your money, it's going to be good. ;)

I'll see you guys tomorrow! Bye!

30-30-30, In The Sun, ICAD2, and Summer of Color

So here I am. Back with you again for yet another art-filled post. I hope you enjoy. Today I'd like to start you guys off with my 30-30-30 challenge page for today. This is today's piece, and I will show you the piece that I was telling you guys about yesterday. The one that I forgot to take pictures on. So anyways, let's talk about this one first. I used a quote today that I absolutely love. It's by Dr. Seuss, and it says:

"Today you are you, that is truer than true; there is no on alive that is youer than you."

                                               -Dr. Seuss

And I absolutely love that quote. It's amazing. Plus, I really love the way this page turned out. It's a little more pink than I'm used to, but that's okay. I like it anyways.

And here is the page from yesterday that I forgot to photograph. I like the way that this one turned out as well, even though it's a little bit dark for my taste. The journaling that I did on it was basically just words that I believed were, or could be 'Mystic', which was the title that I had chosen for this page. I love the way that this turned out as well.

I also made another batch of papers today; this time I used the Week 2 colors from the Summer of Color. I already talked about it here; go ahead and check it out if you want to. The colors for this week were based around Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, and so the colors were a mint green and a dark brown. These are what I came up with. I didn't spend as much time on these ones as I did on the other ones, because, quite frankly, I didn't know what to do with them. I was legitimately confused. They were weird colors to work with for me. I hope that everyone else had an easier time with it. :)

Next up we have my ICAD card. This is my 18th index card for this challenge, and I think that I'm doing very well with it. I used the prompt 'swirl' for today's car, and you can probably see it pretty well. At least I hope you can. For some reason I was having difficulty with this prompt, with getting it to turn out the way that I wanted it to. I think it turned out decent though, so I'm happy.

Last, but certainly not least, I have my In The Sun page for today. I took a bit of a break from this journal over the weekend, as the prompts weren't being given; just catch up days and photo prompts. Which is fine by me. But today's prompt was to do a black and white photo transfer and then color it in with oil pastels, or any other material that you could find that would work. But here was the problem. My image transfer didn't work.

You see that gray layer? In the back there? Yeah. That's my image transfer. My failed one. it ended up as a plain gray square. No image at all. It was kind of sad. But I decided to continue on anyways. I added some other magazine images to the page, along with a bunch of layers of doodling. Love the way this little bit looks, especially. So many yummy layers that I simply love!

And here was the title. Where it counts. The other part of today's prompt was to form your page about what it is that you wished for TODAY. I wished that I would be able to put my energy where it counts. In my opinion, at this time in my life, that's what matters.

ICAD 11: Alphabet Stamps + Extra Art

Hey everyone! Sorry about the lateness of today’s post, but I had a bit of a situation with the internet, and it really didn’t turn out the way that I had hoped. I was actually beginning today’s post at about 7 o’ clock, trying to get it on here early for you guys. But it got to be later and later, and the internet still wasn’t working. So I had to work with what I had. Which was no internet. But still.

I’ve got quite a few things to share with you today, as I managed to block out quite the spread of time to work on my art. Quite a bit of time it was too. I got to work on a bunch of different challenges, and simply let myself be inspired by all of the amazing artists that are to be found on the internet. That’s a good way to think of it, at least it is in my opinion.

So the first thing that I want to share with you guys today is my ICAD. I have really enjoyed working on these things, and the prompts have been super inspiring. Which I highly, highly appreciate. Sometimes I just get stuck. Even though I like to think that I’m just this never ending pot of ideas, never having to think about what comes next because I just KNOW; that just isn’t the truth. I run out of ideas constantly, and find myself brainstorming all of the time, and simply dreaming up things to do with my art. That way I won’t run dry. Other artists are also extremely inspiring to me. Although I think all artists work that way, sometimes I can get just the tiniest bit self – conscious. I shouldn’t though. The very thing that I “preach” is to be confident in your work and in yourself. Maybe I should take my own advice.

Anyways. Back to the ICAD. The prompt that I used for today’s card was simply “alphabet stamps”. Now. When I first saw this prompt, I thought that it was going to be the easiest thing ever. I love alphabet stamps, so I thought that it would be as simple as throwing some collage elements down on a card, then randomly stamping the letters all over the background. Well, let’s just say that one didn’t turn out good. At all. I hated it. With all of my soul. So I tossed it. It just wasn’t me. Which was the one guideline that I had for these cards when I started them.

I really like the way that my final card turned out though. I crossed out all, and then most, before finally settling on ‘some’. Art doesn’t give me all my joy. Just some of it. God gives me all of my joy. And he gives me art as a way to give me joy. So technically that’s through him as well. I’m just saying.

I really like the way that the card turned out. It just seems to scream everything that I am. I don’t know. That’s just my opinion.

The second thing that I have to share with you today is some painted paper. Now these papers are kind of special. These are the first papers that I have done in this manner since I got out my rut. I haven’t truly sat down and made a batch of crafting papers. Which is something that I truly love. A lot. And I just realized today, once again, how much I love it. These papers are one of the many things that really get my inspiration flowing. The first few will be difficult. In fact, they might be beyond difficult. I’ll struggle through a few of them, before the ideas really start flowing.

Then I might mess one up. Or two. I might mess two up. And then I get stuck again. But one of the things that I have learned from this type of project is that you really just have to push through. The two papers that I’m showing you above are my two favorites. And they are the two last ones that I did. Because the creative juices had really started flowing. Sometimes though, the hardest part is just starting. Where do you begin? How to you begin to create/paint a batch of papers?

Well. I’ll tell you how I started this little batch. I started with a prompt. Yeah. I know. Another prompt. Or challenge. Whatever it is you want to call it. But I really feel like they get my juices flowing, and have a really nice feel to them. They allow me to have a plan before starting, which I like. The prompt that I used for these was a color prompt. The prompt was “rainbow sherbet”. Yellows, oranges, bright pinks, and a touch of white. So from that, I created these papers.

I think that I might make batches of papers for all of these prompts. It’ll give me a nice thing to do with the prompts themselves, and I enjoyed the process. A lot.

After I had completed the above papers, I still had a bunch of paint leftover in my pallet. So, instead of letting all of that perfectly good paint go to waste, I decided to use it to make my 30–30–30 page of the day. I’ve been doing these in a 5x5 format, which I will then bind into a book when I’m done. Let me tell you something. The small size, in combination with the square shape, is kind of different.

Actually, it’s very different.

And a little bit difficult. But that’s okay. Difficult is good. It gives you a challenge to complete; a goal to reach.

On this page, I used a whole lot of stamping, with ink and paint. I love the way the textures really combine together and add interest and variation. I don’t know if you can see it in this picture, but it’s most definitely there. I can see it. The pink colored border around the edges is a Portfolio oil pastel smeared around. I really like the effect that has been giving me, you have probably noticed. So I keep using it. Again. And again. And again. And I’m okay with that.

The final thing that I would like to share with you guys today is the beginning of a new journal. This journal is going to go along with a new challenge. And that challenge is the 2012 In the Sun Challenge! I did some of this last year, before going off on a rampage in another direction. But this time I am devoted to the cause. And I’m not going anywhere. Trust me. I don’t have anywhere to go.