I made this page just over a week ago, one of those times when I'm recording life around me rather than wrestling with stuff I find difficult. I do both. Historically I've always dreaded the approach of Autumn - it comes from decades of living in old, cold houses with not enough money to heat them properly. Every year I have to remind myself that I now live in a modestly sized house which has cavity wall insulation and double glazing, and that I won't have to huddle in 3 sweaters and fingerless gloves if I want to make art!
Anyway, this was one of those pre-prepared backgrounds I regularly make - in this case blue paint with Neocolour II crayons in fuschia pink around the edge, plus some ink blot/rings stamped in purple and burgundy. I've got lots of ink pad colours because I like to use them as you might watercolours.
Then when I decided I'd make a page about the early Autumn, this didn't seem quite the right sort of colour palette, I mean shouldn't it be golds and browns? Then I thought, it can be any colour I like, so why not blue and burgundy? I had some new leaf stencils I wanted to play with so tried these out with gesso, added a wormhole or two and some bits of collage. As you can see the white didn't really work too well for the leaves.
So I went back and outlined the leaves with a fine point pen, added a Modigliani lady who looks a bit cold if you think about it, and doodled some dots. I still wasn't that thrilled with the leaves, but didn't hate them enough to trash the page.
My solution in the end was to introduce some some colour into the leaves, and that seemed to work out OK, although now I wish I'd left them black and white. Never mind. Anyway, I do rather like the finished page, particularly the colour scheme. The burgundy dots were done with my Posca paint pens, as were the light pink doodles on the collage - this is where their opacity really comes into its own.
But best of all, where I am right now we're having a bit of an Indian summer, so long may it continue! It won't of course, but I don't need to dread winters any more - maybe I'll do a journal page about looking forward to snuggling up by the fire in my favourite blanket and warm PJs, watching feel-good films on the TV as I wait for it to be Christmas ....
PS: Still loving this new square journal!
3 comments:
That's exactly what I thought! Why is there no gold and brown?!
Then again why should there be! So thanks for branching out!
The white leaves are a bit ghostly and might be OK on a future page . . .
one about mist and fog . . .
I also have bad memories of chilblains and crouching almost on top of the fire to get warm. Thank God for central heating!
Love this page - think the leaves look fab x
So it's not just up here that autumn came early - on the 14 August, I sniffed the air and said "Autumn? Surely not ...". Never known it so early. And your lovely lady does look a little chilled, with those blues and whites around her, even though there's a richness in the crimson. I am always fascintated to read about your thinking as you work through a page, Rosie!
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