Resize It! Prompt #3

Hey everyone! Glad to "see" all of you here today. ;)

If you've been with the blog for a while now, you'll know about my Resize It! challenge. Every now and again, I'll post a video of me working in this little journal of mine. It's a smaller size than I'm used to working in, thus the "Resize It!" part of the challenge. 

There's also another prompt every time I post one of these videos, that you can use to work it. Then, you post a link at the end of the post. I hope you'll join me!

Today's pages were done quite a while ago; I just got around to editing the video today. I've been super busy with school and everything, and it's been near impossible to get anything done. I'm hoping that things will be a bit easier here in February.

Anyways. Here's today's prompt:

Use some kind of paper you've found in your everyday life on your page/spread.

That's it. It's that simple. For me, it was a scrap of paper that had Chinese style dragons on it. I found it lying on the side of the road one day on my way to school, and it was just way too cool to pass up!

Here's a couple more details from the page; when I went to collage my words/journaling down onto the page, the word "memories" bled a bit more than I wanted it to. I was hoping to achieve a slightly grungy look, as you can see on the rest of the page.

However, you couldn't even read this one word.

So, I pulled out my typewriter real quick, and typed the word memories. Super simple. Super basic. Then I just glued it over the top of the messed up word. I personally enjoy the way it looks. I mentioned that yesterday. That's one of the things I love about art journaling. Fixing mistakes.

Resize It! Prompt #1

Hey everyone! Jordan here!

I know I said earlier that I was going to do this post tomorrow, but I'm just so excited that I just can't wait! 

I was thinking the other day, and trying to decide what I wanted to do, as a reentrance to the art world. Since it has been so long, and I've missed you all so much, I didn't want to just do something basic. I wanted to do something out of the ordinary. Extraordinary. 

So I decided to do a challenge. Yes, you heard that right. A challenge. I'm introducing it, as of today. There's not a whole lot to it, but the general essence of things is that you will be working in a size of art that you are not used to. Using myself as an example, those of you who follow my art know that I work in composition notebooks. Front and back, not gluing any pages together. That's how I feel most comfortable.

However, for Christmas, I received a small paperback moleskin, with a Doctor Who reference on the front. I freaked out about it, as is to be expected from a geek such as myself. However, I didn't know what to do with it. I didn't want to ruin it by drawing in it. But I've decided to suck it up for the purpose of this challenge. :D

Here's a general picture of some of the things I have pulled aside to use during this challenge. I talk a bit more about this in the video, but I decided to post a picture as well. Just for the heck of it. And because I think it looks cool. XD

First, I'm going to present you with the first prompt:

Set up the theme and style for your new journal with the first page or spread.

Without further ado, I present to you, the video:

I will admit that the editing style was very much inspired by Donna Downey's videos, with the mix of music and speaking. I love the way her videos are, and even though I know mine probably aren't comparable, I decided to do it this way as I get into the swing of doing my own videos.

Also, I apologize for the backwards text, I know that's an inconvenience. I need to figure out how to change that.

I'll see you guys tomorrow; I'm not really sure what I'll post then, but we'll see what happens. :)

Feel free to link your own post below! I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with!

Divide - 52 Sparks #1

Hey everyone! I know it's been a while long while since I've been on here, but I'm around now! 

I'm stopping in to share with you guys a page that I have just created. I've done this for several challenges, and it's been a great deal of fun. I've missed art journaling; I'm quite glad that I've gotten back into it. 

Let me start off by saying that I have started a new journal. For 2013. My goal for this year is that, at the very least, this journal will be fully completed. I will be a happy camper if that goal comes into completion. A grand total of 200 pages. 100 sheets, front and back. And this is number one.

The major challenge that I did this page for was Dale's 52 Sparks challenge. A weekly prompt to do. I'm a bit behind though, so I'm going to try and catch up. 

The first prompt was to create a page that showcased your word for the year.

My word for the year, though it took quite a bit of thought to determine, is "divide". I'm going to work to divide my time a bit more evenly throughout all areas of my life, so that I don't only have time for school, but also for art, reading, and also WRITING, which I've been doing quite a bit of lately.

There were a lot of layers involved in the creation of this page, and I hope you enjoyed looking. I'm currently working on several other things, including a challenge of my own that will be coming at you, including a video and link post TOMORROW. :)

I'm so glad to be back, and I've been having a whole lot of fun with it. I'll see you then!

ICAD Cards and Painted Fabric Swatch

Okay. So I have decided that, today, I really want to share with you guys my ICAD project. I have a total of four cards to present to you today; today's card is going to have to wait until another day. I can't believe that I am honestly almost at the end of this challenge. It's been crazy. But I've enjoyed it immensely. So let's get started, shall we?

The first card that I would like to show you is composed of many layers of paint, stamping and collage. This feels very much my style, and I love the way that it turned out. I thought that it looked okay before I added the flowers for the stamping, but after that, I loved it. And the collage just added the perfect touch, in my personal opinion.

The next card that I would like to share with you is kind of different than the work that I normally do when you think about the colors. But I do like it. I can't even remember how I made this card exactly, but I do know that there were a lot of layers involved. I didn't like how some of them were turning out, and so I added more to it. And, eventually, I got myself to a place where I was comfortable stopping.

This card was extremely simple. All I did was rub a couple of ink pads onto the background, then wet it down with water to give it an effect that was almost reminiscent of watercolor. I added the stamping with a foam stamp and acrylic paint (seems to be my signature) and then added the words. And that was that.

The final ICAD card that I want to share with you guys today is sort  of interesting in comparison to the rest of the cards. It looks okay in the picture, but I don't know if I'm all that fond of it. All of the colors got extremely mucky and they all mixed together to create one shade. But the stamping on top sort of saved it for me. 

And that's it for the ICADS.

However, I do have something else to share with you guys today. This is a swatch of painted fabric that I was working on. I saw something on pinterest today (actually it was many months ago, but I decided to do something about it today) that was actually a dress that was created from hand painted fabric. I got to thinking, and realized that it would make a really cool homecoming or prom dress. Even though I'm not big into dresses or getting all dressed up for that sort of thing, if I made the dress myself, it might be a little better, since I can make it in such a way that I would be comfortable, and not have to worry about the top being too low, or the skirt being too high, or both at the same time.

Here's a bit of a close up of the texture. I really like the way that this piece turned out. Honestly, the whole thing was a bit of a test. I was just experimenting with painting on fabric. And I think that there will probably be a lot more experimentation before I take on a dress. But a nice homecoming dress might be in the works. Might being the key word, of course. But it would be cool to kind of show the process here on the blog. Maybe I'll do some sketches tonight, before I go to bed. I've been designing some dresses lately anyways. 

Anyways. Thanks for following me and my bunny trails, and I'll catch you tomorrow! Bye!

31 Hearts and ICAD

Hey guys. I have a bit of a shorter post for all of you guys today, as I'm trying out a new setup for the blog, and this is part of the transition. I did a bunch of other art stuff today as well, but I'm going to be sharing that stuff later this week. Let's just say that, with the new set up, I hope to have some days specifically for some of the projects that I have started in the past; such as my work through of the book Collage Unleashed, and my Creative Experiments posts. As well as some tutorials, hopefully. Also, I have a bunch of In The Sun class pages that I'm hoping to share with you guys later this week. However, for the time being, I would like to share just a couple things, starting us out with my 31 Hearts page.

As I've said before, I've really enjoyed these pages. And today, I decided to use the hearts around the edges of the page as a sort of border instead of the main focus of the page, which I have tried in the past. You guys have seen plenty of those. And I have plenty more of those ideas to come. I just thought that it would be a good idea to add some variety in. Everybody needs some of that, right? I think so. I do like the way that this page looks though. It's really starting to grow on me. I love the texture that was achieved, even though I'm not really sure how I got it.

And today, I'm also going to share my ICAD with you guys. You can see the zebra striped heart? That was a stamp that I made out of fun foam and cardboard from a cereal box.I love the way that these stamps turned out (I made two of them, with one being the reverse of the other), and thought that this card turned out pretty good. It was nice doing a bunch of painting, after so much doodling. At least I thought it was.

That's all I have for you guys today though, so I'll talk to you guys later!

Challenge Updates - 7.5.2012 Edition

Hey guys. I'm back with you guys again today, even though I haven't really been doing so good with getting my art in lately. Some of this I just do while watching television. Since that's what I seem to be doing lately. Vegetating. In front of the television. Plus, my family makes me feel guilty because they want to watch Lost, while I'm making art. So they keep pestering me every two seconds. Ha. So eventually I just gave in. But here I have my 31 Hearts page for you guys today.

I'm not sure if this page really turned out the way that I wanted it to. I mean, it certainly fits the style of the rest of the pages that I've been doing for this challenge, but for some reason I felt like this was going to be much more graphic and bold. Instead it's subdued and subtle. And I don't know how I feel about it, to be completely honest. I had to stare at it for a couple of hours before I could bring myself to leave it as is, and not completely cover it up and start over from scratch. Of course, I realize that I am much too difficult on myself sometimes.

My 30-30-30 page for you guys. Again, very much the same collage based style that I have been using for the majority of this project. It's weird. It seems that I develop a style for any challenge that I start. This one is more collage based, while my 31 Hearts challenge is very much based around paint, stencils, masks, stamps, distressing and subtle colors.

Here's a few of the details of the page. I used a bunch of scrap paper from magazines to create this page.

My ICAD was purely doodled today. I drew my inspiration from some pieces that Tammy was doing earlier on in the challenge, although I did mine in simple black and white. And I do like the way that it turned out. It's certainly not horrible.

I also made some ATCs today. I haven't quite been keeping up with my schedule this month, but we'll see what happens. Today I made three cards, and I love each and every one of them. These, as always, are available for trade. I made two of them from a very basic watercolor background, and the other from specific collage materials that I culled from anywhere that I could. And I like them all. Anyways. That's all that I have for you guys today. And I hope to see you tomorrow. I'll be here.

31 Hearts, 30-30-30 + ICAD

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!

*fanfare plays*

Yep. And that's that. All of the fourth festivities that you're going to get. Because, to be completely honest, I didn't use those particular colors in the majority of my art today, like I know some people did. I guess that it's just not my style. But I'll tell you what is my style. Today's art.

We're going to start off, once more, with my 31 Hearts page. This is starting to become a habit, now that I think about it, but I don't really think that should be a problem. I just like showing my most favorite pieces first. That's the way I blog; I almost always have. And I think something about getting back to journaling in a full size format, and just having a new challenge to work with is really inspiring me. Also, I think I'm creating, in me, a new love of hearts that wasn't there before. I don't know why. I've always shied away from them. But this challenge is pushing me beyond my boundaries. And I've enjoyed every minute of it. And I haven't made a single page that I didn't like.

The real focus of this page though, is obviously the hearts. Even though I did an extremely textured background to work on, the hearts are what I am most proud of. I went on a hunt, through all of my papers that I have lying around my desk; that were formed from painting them, or lifting paint from a previous page; I found my favorites. Then I made a collage of them on another piece of printer paper. I also included some paper towels (dyed, of course) into the layers. Added some stamping and some doodling, and I was done. Then I cut hearts out of the piece. And I really like the way that they turned out. I still have a few left over; not sure what's going to become of them yet.

And here is my ICAD of the day. This is ICAD #35. If you guys remember, yesterday I was having problems with my ICAD. I didn't really like it. At all. I didn't feel that the girl really represented my style. So I tried again today. And I really feel as if I achieved what I was looking for. This is the second time that I have repeated a prompt, but the result was good, so I'm okay with it.

And here you can see the details of her face a bit better. I used watercolors for the majority of this face, and mixed some white acrylics into some of the layers to create a more solid texture. I really like the way that this turned out. I was taken aback by her hair at first, but I soon got over that. I like it now.

And, finally, here is my 30-30-30 page. After doing a quick count today, I realized that this is not page 24 as I thought, but, rather, page 25. So I really only have five days left. I did this page in very much the same style as I have done most of the pages in this journal, and really enjoyed the way that it turned out. 

And that would be that. I hope you guys enjoyed this post, and I'll see you tomorrow! Bye!

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. :)

30-30-30 Challenge: Day 20

 

Hello my friends. How are you guys doing today? I was working on a whole bunch of stuff today; finishing up my pieces for my art journal color challenge. For those of you who were wondering, or just wanted a bit of a refresh... the reveal is TOMORROW! I'll let you know the colors then! :)

However, let's get on to today's art. This is my In The Sun page for today. I haven't really been enjoying the way that these pages have been turning out for me, so I thought that it would probably turn out a bit better if I tried to lighten it up. I looked at the pages that I didn't really enjoy, and they were all extremely dark. So I tried to do the opposite. And this is what I came up with. I really like it; it seemed to turn out perfectly, especially for what I was looking for. I was trying for something a bit more simple, so I didn't use a photo. I love it.

And this is today's ICAD. I decided to use one of the prompts today, even though I haven't really been using them lately. I used the prompt 'butterfly'. This is what I came up with. I wasn't really sure exactly what I was going to be doing, so I did the background first, with all of the circles and the colors. Then I added the butterfly, and decided to layer the words on top of it. And that is that. 

And here is my 30-30-30 challenge page for today. I don't every really know how I did this page; I used a bunch of layers; watercolors, acrylics, and lots of other layers of paper and doodling. There are a lot of little details in this page that I love as well.

Here I layered a stenciled butterfly with the title and photo. The journaling overlaps with it as well. I loved the coloring of this page as well. It turned out pretty cool. Also, today marks my 2/3 point of this challenge. I've really enjoyed this. And I'm looking forward to seeing it finished through to the end.

Then, of course, I have the tab. I was searching through a whole bunch of my stuff today, and found a bunch of different kinds of tabs. I was freaking out. Seriously. I think I almost passed out. :) And I was just thinking about how cool a book would look with different colored and shaped tabs sticking out all over the place. Ha. I'm such an art nerd. :) But there's no problem with that. Anyways, make sure that you check back tomorrow to see the reveal of my color challenge! Actually, there might even be two posts tomorrow. One with my regular art, and one for the challenge. So make sure you check back! See you then! Bye!