Colour me Positive challenge - week 1

I have joined a new challenge this year because Documented Life Project have gone back to planners which is not my thing.

The new challenge is hosted by Lulu Art and is called Colour Me Positive. It will be an inspiring experience and they use quotes for prompts so that is exactly the sort of thing I respond to. The link is http://blog.luluart.com.au/challenge/
The prompts are published or emailed weekly on Fridays (Australia time) and it is free to join.

My art goal this year is to finish off a few journals I have started previously so for this first challenge I got out a journal I started during the mermaid circus online class. I didn't like the pages I did with Teesha Moore so I wanted to redo them because the heavy watercolor paper was too good to just throw away.

I removed all of the collaged images from magazines. Some of them came off easily but others ripped the page when removed. I didn't mind because it would give me a textured background to work on. I roughly applied gesso over the top of everything with a credit card. Some of the writing bled through the gesso.

Next I used a stencil and palette knife to spread Molding paste across the page. I tried to go over the areas where the writing was bleeding through so they would not be readable later on.

I used these acrylic paints to cover the gesso when it was dry. It was not an even coat because it would be covered with the sprays I was going to use. I used Lindystampgang Moon Shadow mists in brown and green to spray the page. I like using the sprays to highlight texture because they settle around the raised areas.

I used a few flower stamps along the bottom and some dragonflies. I stamped with StazOn permanent ink in a stone grey color so it wouldn't stand out as much as black would. This was a mistake as it blended into the background too much.

I drew the lady and used acrylic paints to color her in roughly. I added details and shading with colored pencils after the paint had dried for a couple of hours. 

To finish the page I went over the flower stamps with pencils, markers and paint pens. I put tracing paper on top of the page on the right and wrote out my quote. I wanted to make sure it would fit before I wrote onto the page. I used a gel pen for the quote after I worked out where it would fit. The first challenge is now complete and it feels good to do a journal page after not doing any for a couple of months. I am looking forward to the next prompt.

Relaxing with doodles

Adult coloring books are the latest craze at the moment. People find it relaxing to sit a color. I remember the coloring doodle books that were big when I was a teenager. They were the same thing and I loved filling them in. These days I would prefer to do my own form of doodling and that is what I am sharing today. It is  a technique that I started with CathyB during 21 secrets and I have adapted it to suit my own creative style.

 
I started by collecting a big bunch of papers from my collection. I had a lot of prints from my gelli plate and printing class. I used some computer printouts of my own work that didn't print properly and a few pieces of paper that had been under my work to catch excess paint. There is even a piece of scrapbook paper there. You could also use magazine pages that have a lot of color on or catalogue pages. I tore them into smaller pieces but you could cut them if you want to.

For my journal I am using a small magazine insert, about 6 by 8 inches but it could be any size you like. I had read it and didn't want to keep it so I am giving it a new life as my doodle journal. You could use any book or journal you want to. The collage adds thickness and strength to the pages so it doesn't have to be thick paper.

I used acrylics to paint each page. It doesn't matter what you use because most of it will be covered over anyway but the paint adds a bit of strength to the page before the papers are glued in and seals the paper. I painted every second page one day then let it dry a day before painting all the other pages. You need to let the pages dry like this or they may tear.

When the paint was dry I decided that I wanted to do backgrounds of either warm or cool colors. This page is mostly cool colors but there are some little spots of warm here and there. I just lay out the pieces and move them around until I get an arrangement I like. It usually only takes a couple of minutes to do this.

I glued all the pieces of paper down with Liquitex matte medium. I don't worry if the edges are straight or if all the background is covered. The paint on this page was the purple color you can still see in places. I let the papers hang over the edge of the pages and later trim them to size when dry.

I did all the pages like this doing cool and warm backgrounds. The glue was drying quick enough so I could go onto the next page but I did put a piece of wax paper between the pages just in case they wanted to stick together. Then I left the whole book to dry again, standing it up so the pages would not stick together and the air could get in there.

The final step before the doodling begins is to glue in images I have cut from magazines. I used flowers on these pages but I also chose birds and other images. I just choose images that I really like and want to save before I throw a magazine away.

I usually put the warm images on the cool backgrounds and vice versa. It makes the flowers stand out more. I did that to the whole journal so now when I feel like making some art  and don't have a big project to work on, I have a book of half done pages to get me started. 

This page is done on the cool purple background that I showed above. I add washi tape (because I have a lot of it) over the edge of the papers to make a grid for doodling. I also added a few deli paper hearts that were left over from some other project and a few small stickers (circles, hearts, stars and words). Finally I get out a bunch of acrylic paint pens and gel pens and doodle all over everything. I added leaves to the flowers with the paint pens. Some of the washi tape is colored in, some of it is left plain. I outline almost everything with black pen and add a lot of white highlights. Sometimes I use markers to change the color of something. You can have a lot of fun with this technique. You can do a formal grid or let items overlap each section like I have.

I hope you enjoy being creative over the holidays and have a great time with friends and families. I will return in the new year with some more art. Have fun.

Index Cards galore.

I have been a little slack updating my blog lately. I think I am trying to do too much and it is making me freeze and not do anything. I take on lots of new projects and then get lost not knowing what I should do. I am deciding what is important to me and letting other things go but it is hard for me because once I start a project or challenge I like to finish.

week 9

  I did the Index Card a day challenge again this year. It will probably be the last year for me. Why? I just didn't find it interesting this year and so it will be one of the challenges I will stop doing.  Well...maybe stop doing because I may change my mind next June, lol. I would normally follow peoples links to their pages from the facebook group but as links were banned this year I couldn't connect with other artists like I did previously. It took a lot of the inspiration and discovery away for me and made it seem less fun because I didn't feel the need to check the facebook group as often.

week 1 periodic table

 I did enjoy making my cards and have prepped a few extras so that when the mood takes me I have a quick little card to do to get me in the mood for larger art pieces. I was going to do my own thing this year but when the first week of prompts were listed I was inspired to give them a go. As the challenge went on the prompts did not always appeal so I did my own art then. 

I have only shown a few of the cards here. I have loaded all 61 cards onto my flickr page so if you want to see the other cards they can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/artygirl/

 Week 1 was drawing and this is a plan of our garden.

Week 2 was paint and all the prompts were colors so I did abstract doodles most of the week.

Week 3 was collage. This was route 66 in my town. 

 Week 4 was patterns. This prompt was exotic.

Another week 4 prompt - dramatic

 

Week 5 was mark making using stamps, tape and stickers. I didn't follow prompts this week. I used washi tape on all the backgrounds and stamped on them. I then colored and added details with acrylic paint markers. These cards were a lot of fun and something I will do again. 

Week 6 was to use a different color each day. I did a collage of similar colored pictures each day and doodled to fill in blank spots on each card. I really enjoyed this technique as well and got to use some of those random images I have been saving. 

 Week 7 was typography. I did follow the prompts again this week.

Week 8 - maps. I followed prompts this week so I could use the maps in various ways. 

 The last week was meant to be sketching but I found these picture cards in my stash and wanted to use them so I doodled backgrounds to match the photo colours. 

I enjoyed my time making cards this year but the fun of the facebook group seemed to be different this year...maybe because it has become so large. Or more likely because I didn't have time to keep up with the posts this year. I am thankful that Tammie hosts the challenge each year but it may be time for me to do something different next year. 

Rescuing a failed art journal page.

This week the challenge for DLP was to cover up something you like and continue on to a finished page. I had a page in my journal that was already like that.

Sorry I only have a picture of the finished page but I didn't think of taking photos as I went. Initially I liked what I had done but thought I could change the color and then add a bit more stuff. When I sprayed the page to change it the whole thing turned to a horrible color. None of what I had done looked good anymore.

I ripped off all the elements I had glued to the page because they had turned a horrid color and looked at the torn paper left behind. I added gesso to glue down those torn bits and fill in the holes I made. The gesso picked up the sprayed dye color I had used in a way that I liked so I just added a little bit of acrylic paint in the same color to cover the areas that were still gesso colored. I added a swirl stencil with texture paste and it too picked up that dye spray so now it is a light blue color. I used a sponge to stencil flowers with Golden's Nickel Azo Gold paint. It was now a page that I liked so I used markers to add a border and a quote. It is simple but I really like it now. I am glad I changed it.

It is your journal so if you don't like something you have done then change it. If it doesn't work out keep adding gesso and starting over until it makes you happy. That is why we journal, isn't it? To make ourselves happy!

Final cards of the challenge.

I have finished the 52 card challenge ahead of time because my hubby is having a major operation on Dec 1 so I don't think I will be able to get much art done for a while after that. I will share my final cards today. 

 

 Week 41 - miniature. I wasn't sure what to do for this prompt so I looked through my  image collection for inspiration. When I saw the farm animals I decided to use them. I wanted to make them look tiny so I put them onto the hand. The miniature farm idea came when I was working out what to write on the card. It is mostly acrylics and collage.

 Week 42 - enchant. I used an old piece of painted paper for the background and added the image. You can't read it but the writing is the dictionary definition of enchant. I added gold embossing around the edge of each piece.

 Week 43 - stem.  I used another prepared background for this card and a cut out image. the stitching was done with a pen.

 Week 44 - mask.  I covered the card with gesso and used a pen to draw the pattern. I cut the mask out of previously painted paper and glued it on. I used a pen to do the stitching on the mask.

 Week 45 - night. I know I have used this image before but it is a favourite. This is another painted paper glued to the card. I used a credit card to spread the paint over the paper. I added stars and dots around the edge with a white gel pen.

 Week 46 - honey.  The quote on the back says "If you want to gather honey don't kick over the beehive."  Acrylic background, pen sketching and coloured with pencils. Simple but fun to do.

 Week 47 - feather. A simple background from painted paper and a collage of birds.

 Week 48 - vanilla.  My favourite type of vanilla is ice cream. Painted paper background and I glued on a separately sketched (with coloured pencils) ice cream cone.

 Week 49 - jingle. Painted paper background and a sticker. The stitching is white pen that I have outlined with pencil to make it look like real stitching.

 Week 50 - love. Painted background, collaged image and fine-liner quote.

Week 51 - stencil. I used texture paste through a stencil for the background. I painted it with acrylics, highlighting one key.

 

 Week 52 - loop. I chose to interpret loop as the infinity symbol, endlessly looping around itself. The card was stamped and embossed then coloured with sprays. The infinity symbol was cut out of cardstock then embossed in a machine. I painted it gold to stand out against the background. 

I am glad that challenge is complete, and really happy that I have a stack cards to look through when I need some inspiration. I haven't done a lot of art journaling this year but I have completed the ICAD challenge and this one so I feel like I have done some art. In total it is 113 cards. I like to think of them as mini journal pages.  

I am currently working on some textile art that I will probably share in the new year. I have also signed up for the documented life project for next year so I will be sharing a lot more art journaling then, along with techniques (I hope). I should still be posting over the next couple of months but it won't be as often.

 

ICAD week 8

The overall theme for this week was doodles in markers or pen. I am not a keen doodler because it always takes so long to do. I did challenge myself to give it a go this week.

 Prompt - elephant. A simple elephant sketch surrounded by doodles. I used water based markers for most of the cards this week because the alcohol markers spread on the index cards.

Prompt - octopus or monster. I drew an octopus then filled it in with zentangle patterns.  I added shading with a lead pencil.

Prompt - rainbow.  I used fine liner markers for this card and filled them in with Tombows.

Prompt - mushroom. I have a set of three glass mushrooms that are this shape. I love it so much that I used that outline for my mushrooms that are filled with more zentangle patterns.  I love the look of zentangles but they take so long to do.

Prompt - fern leaf/tree/feather.  I picked a fern leaf out of the garden and drew a simplified version of it. I decided to experiment with different borders this week as well. I think most of these cards could be expanded to make great journal pages.

Prompt - jewel.  I had trouble thinking of something to do for this prompt so I just did some jewelry.

Prompt - turquoise.  I used a letter stencil to write the word and filled it with my last zentangles for the week or probably year, lol. Not sure why the card looks dirty here because the photo shows it with it's white background. I used to doodle this border when I was at school on a lot of my homework pages. Final week is looming. I will miss this challenge but I need to do other things too.