Faces, Faces, Everywhere!

Oh my it’s been a while (once again) but I must say that yesterday was a really productive and playful day. I had loads of fun working on these faces. I don’t know if I’ll use them as backgrounds in my journal but I’m thinking some will end up on a large scale canvas, sometime in the future. Once again these started with a magazine study, but after the original very quick contour drawings they always end up developing characters of their own. Hope you enjoy!

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

ART Journaling Step by Step

Every once in a while I get around to finishing a page or two that I had previously started. So today I decided I take one page through the steps of completion, especially since I haven’t posted in a while.

A month or so ago I was on a crazed mission doing many, many faces & now I can share my process through completion with you. I hope you’ll find it easy enough to try just for fun. In this case I’m thinking they can easily be used to print some postcards/note cards for myself or as gifts! All you’ll need are simple supplies: Waterproof pen, watercolor or colored pencils, and or markers.

Step one:

Complete a contour drawing of a face (or flower)  in waterproof ink using an old photo (magazine or newspaper). For sure mine never come out looking even close to the reference material no matter what, so don’t even go there.

 

Step 2:

Add Watercolor washes (or colored pencils, markers – whatever you wish)!

 

Step 3:

Using hand lettering or a stencil with pencil, add your message and design. Here I decided to add the word ‘Think” with dots, and I’ve now painted the background with brushed on ink.

 

 

Step 4:

Now finish up with whatever you’d like to use pencils, pens, colors. Whatever suits your fancy.

 

 

 

Here I’ve used Faber-Castell Pitt Pens (one of my fav’s). And, I’m thinking this can be used for special notes to my friends who have survived breast cancer, or a gift of note cards to them so they can share with others.

Have a wonderful day, and keep sketching my friends!

 

 

Read Full Post »

Illustration Friday Challenges

Once again it’s been a couple of weeks since I managed to catch up long enough to actually complete & be ready to post a submission to IF. This week..finally! Plus I had a lot of fun doing it. A few minutes in my studio to sketch the bottom two rows (about 1/3 of the length) of my prize purchase of a bookshelf (going out of business at Borders) for my studio. I am truly in love with this bookshelf and of course all the reference books, magazines & such that it holds. I hope you enjoy my submission, as much as I enjoyed doing it and writing about it.

In my studio you will find…….

Read Full Post »

Falling into ART Journaling, what’s next?

Yes I am a journal junkie, and sometimes I wonder just where I’m going in my art. I’ve been actively involved in Travel Journaling (it seems like forever), making art, doing the Travel Journaling thing, and teaching workshops. All along the way I’ve been buying all kinds of reference books that lead me more into the Art Journaling – Mixed Media style. I devour these books yet I can’t seem to just let go, and fall into the mixed media habit, and what I mean by this is the use of all kinds of materials, tearing up, and pasting down. Yet my inner child is telling me this is what I need to do,  just let go, and let the kid out. As I continue to contemplate just letting go, here’s a couple of pages where I have only swished on some ink to get the bright colors and ‘journaled a few thoughts’. I’m sure sometime soon I’ll get to the point where I can do the backgrounds without thinking I have to draw it in first. See, it’s like I’m beginning to fall into it.

What’s Holding me back?

Over the past week I’ve been thinking about how some of the EDM Challenges seem to me to be  harder than they should be to complete, and in doing the thinking thing a lot of thoughts tumbled out. This is what I think I learned, hope it makes sense to you as well.

Just not into the whole thing?

The learning is in the doing! The challenges if completed in sequence will at some time make you uncomfortable. This has happened to me, more than once. Now, I think this is a good thing. What if you are ‘just not in the mood?’ I suggest you just try ‘to work through it’, even if it takes all day (or more than one day). Inside this process  “the experience of learning” I have stopped to do some research, and to think about the given activity – starting with why am I feeling this way, why am I not connecting or why is there no immediate interest?  From that point forward I’m truly ‘looking’  for some inspiration, YUP ‘inspiration’. Without ‘inspiration’ or some kind of connection the emotional part of the process of drawing needed  to complete a challenge seems ‘life less’ and if so the completed piece just doesn’t feel right, it doesn’t feel lively it is without the “spark of life”.

Lovin my new socks!

Skipping around may keep you from being un-inspired but not allow for the other learning to occur. For example: how our feelings impact what we are attempting to complete. Or, how our ‘lack of patience with ourselves’ and always being in a great hurry impacts our work and produces unwanted results. If we take time to enjoy the ‘journey’ even if it is for only a few minutes we learn it contributes to a successful piece. Our soul is enjoying the amazing FUN as we learn to use new (or old stuff) media like a child ‘with that new pen’, paint, or paper.

When we take time for ourselves to discover a new perspective ‘visual or mental’ it helps us see and feel differently about what we are doing, or attempting to do. Aaaaaah, what a challenge.

EDM.50 ‘my front door’

So, maybe our short-term gains by staying actively engaged & skipping around can offset the ‘uncomfortable feelings’ you (we) run into now and the. This can be a good way of continuing forward – but,  it often skirts the issues lying just  under the surface and those may be what are holding you back from a real genuine emotional breakthrough it your work, or life issues.

Read Full Post »

ART Journaling or Travel Journaling ‘what’s the difference’?

Over the past week I’ve been busy working on my background ‘faces’ project and began thinking about how the differences in process are directly connected to ‘my personal journey’. As I observed  the changes in my habits (ha) first I realized that ANY change can be just the boost you need to rekindle the fire in your journaling. In this case fire is good, and I believe these changes have helped me become more creative. Although now, instead of 1 journal with everything in it, I have again slipped back into separate journals. It seems to be something I do periodically, really don’t have a clue as to why.

A background page ‘face’ painted & ready to go!

I Am Thankful for Life! EDM#42

A journal page complete!

One journal now is more or less just for writing, and it’s not really up to date.  It’s just there in case I decide to write more extensively, and at the moment I have 3 different ART  journals going with mixes of the Everyday Matters Challenges, Illustration Friday works, and many, many faces all in various degrees of completion to use  for backgrounds.  I’m thinking, ah, this craziness must be because we haven’t taken a road trip in a while, I’ll know soon because we’re getting ready for one.  So, I now recognize that for me the difference truly is in the process I use and preparing backgrounds to journal INTO for me is ART JOURNALING, and doing illustrative journaling ‘on the go’, as it happens or where I am at the time seems to enable me to document my life and thoughts more along the TRAVEL JOURNALING path. Well at least I think I have it isolated in my mine anyway.

I hope you enjoy, and maybe try making some for yourself.  It’s the little sparks that start the fire.  I’m looking forward to this upcoming road trip because I think it will validate my current thoughts, and of course my TRAVEL JOURNAL will become fodder for an upcoming entry.

Keep playing, it’s good for your soul.

Read Full Post »