Dream Elixir – Journal Page

“You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.”

Irish Proverb

Again, for this page, like the last page, I put down some watercolor….let it dry and stared at it for a few days.  I started with the face first.  The lines are a combination of tinted charcoal, Sharpie Pen, and a black Stabilo pencil.  I love doing these pages as they just evolve as I go.  I’m going wild with the watercolors.     I found the above quote and added it to the page.    I very rarely write on my pages and if I do it’s usually a quote. 

 

Demure – Art Journal

The past few days have been gorgeous…a pleasant and welcome change from last week’s temperatures in the single digits.  Hubby had a doctor’s appointment yesterday and after that, we went out for a Valentine’s Day lunch.   While driving back, we noted that almost all the snow was gone except  for some spots in shady north slopes.  I think I’m getting spring fever!  I’m sure that will change and winter isn’t finished with us yet.

I started this page in my Strathmore journal yesterday evening after we got back home and finished it this morning.  I tried a different approach….I drew the face with a graphite pencil and then used some colored pencils to shade, etc.  I went over all that with clear gesso and let that dry.  I used acrylics paints…yellow, blue and red with lots of white.  I glued down the collage pieces.  The flowers and leaves were from some patterned tissue paper that I’ve had so long I don’t remember where I got it.  I never know what to do about hair.  I planned to glue down some more tissue paper but ended up using my black Stabilo pencil all around the page.  I used lots of water to give a watercolor effect. Have a great day wherever you are and whatever you are doing!

Mysterious Woman – Art Journal

Another page in my Strathmore Journal.  At first, I glued some of my painted phone book pages down but I didn’t like that so it was painted over with paints and inks.  Then more collage on top.  The face is two different magazine pictures that I fit together to compose a new face.  I altered the magazine pieces with more paints and inks.   The hair was a big red bow used in an  advertising campaign that was in most of the fashion magazines a few years ago.  I like the quirky look it gives to the composition.  The butterfly is an altered wallpaper decal .  The collaged Greek writing is from a text book about ancient civilizations.  I used a Stabilo marking pencil to give the collage pieces more depth.

Jouranal Page – A New Voice

I finished another page in my composition notebook. I also started another page in a new journal…a Strathmore Visual Journal that I ordered a few weeks ago.  On this page, I used the  black and white bars from business reply cards.  I started with Caran d’Ache crayons,  did a wash of white paint over that,  glued down the bars and went from there.  The quote is from  “The Journey,” a poem by Mary Oliver.  The sketching was done with my black and white Signo pens.

I got a new book from Amazon today…Creative Illustration Workshop for Mixed-Media Artists by Katherine Dunn.  It’s described as seeing, sketching, storytelling and using found materials.  All the artwork in the book is by her…I love the book!!!  If you are looking for a step by step “how to” book, then you might not want to purchase this book.  I am finding it very refreshing and different.

Moleskine #23

This spread started with pale blue over- painted with white acrylic paint.  I dripped some red acyrlic ink down the pages and  glued down some collage pieces.  Next, I used my Stabilo marking pencil and used water on the lines to give it a watercolor look.  I used  black and white Signo pens to add further embellishment.  I have  several  “no postage necessary” cards that I have been saving…I’m going to see how many different ways I can incorporate them in my journal pages.

Neutral Shades

I’ve been working on this off and on all weekend.  I tried Misty Mawn’s neutral way of painting…it’s difficult!  I used Titanium White and Payne’s Gray mostly with a touch of Alizarin Crimson to finish.  Misty uses other colors of paints but I wanted to try this first.  I think it’s a little dark and there’s something about the eyes that I don’t like.  I used watercolor paper that had some collage pieces glued around the edges. 

I also noticed this weekend that Judy Wise and Stephanie Lee are going to be teaching an online class:  Plaster Studio  This class isn’t until June 13th. Their new book about the same subject is scheduled to be out in May of this year.

 

Moleskine #22

I put down some white craft paint as a base. Then more white paint mixed with a tiny bit of blue ink.  I put a few thin stips of black masking tape and then some stamping and drips with the blue ink.  After that dried, I attempted to do a gel medium transfer of a magazine picture…didn’t work.  The collage elements came from painted phone book page and magazine pictures.  I altered the pictures with paint, Caran d’Ache crayons and more stamping.  I really forgot what all I did do before I finished.  This was so much fun. Oh, I also used a Stabilo Colored Marking Pencil in black for outlining.  I was thinking if I’d used pink tones this would have made a great Valentine’s sentiment.  Too late now   Click on the photo to enlarge it. .

 

Journal – #11

I have been busy the past few days making Post Cards…my latest obsession.  After the recipients of the cards get them, I’ll show you what I did.   

 This journal page started with some collage pieces, a  layer of gesso and some Carn d’Ache crayons followed by another light layer of gesso. I stamped with a piece of corrugated cardboard and some of my foam stamps. Then I used some ultramarine blue, red and white to add some accents.  I saw the critter and decided to go with it.  This journal is all about having fun and trying new techniques.