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. :)

Heart Investigation 1.2: {Torn}

Hey everyone! I'm here with you guys again today; sorry that I wasn't able to share anything with you guys yesterday. I wanted to, but my brothers had some friends over, and we were playing Call of Duty. I was distracted. And I didn't do any are at all.

So today I wanted to make up for that, and do yet another Heart Investigation page. I've really been enjoying this, and my 2013 journal in and of itself actually looks really cool. It's a bit more cohesive than my journals have been in the past, which I really enjoy. 

Today I was working with a daisyyellow prompt; the very first Prompt6ix prompt. There are quite a few more that I have to catch up with, but I was inspired to attempt this one. And I personally quite enjoy the result.

Quite a few of these pages still need journaling added to them, and I will eventually get to that. One day, when I'm really in the mood to get some of my emotions out, I'll get my typewriter out, and just type a bunch of journaling segments based on page titles. 

In this photo, you can see some of the heart pencil doodles I did in the background of this page. I only had a couple of layers down when I decided to add them in. I thought it would look cool, and would just add that much more depth to the idea for the page. And I think that it accomplished what I wanted it to. I personally quite enjoy it.

That's something that I've noticed myself saying quite a bit more as of late. And I wouldn't say that's necessarily a bad thing. It's good that I'm confident in myself. That I enjoy my own work. Of course I love looking at other artist's work. Much more than I enjoy looking at my own. But when I can look at my own personal piece of art and smile, I feel a sense of accomplishment. That's always a good thing.

Finally, I'll talk about the heart itself that I was working on. After all, this is HEART Investigation. The idea for the page came from the prompt on daisyyellow, one of which was "decision". I can never make tough decisions. And it's a horrible feeling for me personally. So I'm always extremely torn internally. So I took a heart, and I tore it in half. Meaning on multiple levels. That's also something that I enjoy in artwork, or in any type of media, including books or movies. And that is a meaning. A good concept. It draws you in, and interests you. That's what I'm trying to accomplish with my art. An intrigue. A pull. Something that makes people want to look.

Anyways. I thank you guys for checking me out, and I'll talk to you guys later!

Linking to Creative Every Day, Prompt6ix, Sneak Peek Friday, and Show and Tell Saturday.

Heart Investigation 1.1: Cherish

Hello people. I'm back with you guys again today, with some more hearts on yet another art journal page. I have officially decided that I am going to continue working with this shape until I've thoroughly exhausted all of my options. I'm not going to freak out if I don't do hearts one day, but I do think it would be interesting to try to explore it in as many ways possible.

I had actually started this page a few days ago, when I was trying to work with the idea of an entirely blue page, for my 52 Sparks page. However, I got frustrated with it, and completely abandoned the idea. Today, I came back to it with a fresh mind and began where I left off. And I'm glad that I did.

I had to add a bunch of layers in order to be able to get myself to a point where I was happy with the result. Layer after layer after layer. Stamping, collage, and paint. I also used chalk pastels, oil pastels, and sharpies to doodle into the background. Something that I really enjoy doing is taking markers and just doodling a layer. 

It's not what the majority of my pages are made up of; not like some people. However, I do like the way it looks underneath layers of paint and collage. Just a bit unique and different. Something that I quite enjoy.

Here you can see some of the book text that I used on this page. Actually, I use book paper on most of my work. I have an old dictionary that I got from a thrift store, which I simply pull pages out of whenever I need them. They are awesome for collage, and also for monoprinting, when I do that. 

Something that I've really liked seeing in my work however, is the development of my own personal style. It's something that takes a lot of time to come up with, and I'm quite proud of what I've been able to accomplish on my own. I love it. I like to think, personally, that if someone was to see my work, they would be able to tell that it was mine.

Though I'm not quite sure that I'm exactly to that point yet, I look forward to the day when I am. That's one of the things that every artist dreams of, and being even remotely close to that is amazing. Anyways. Thanks for visiting guys! It's greatly appreciated, and I hope to see you guys tomorrow! Bye everyone.