WHY IS IT .....

 

Something of a cry from the heart here ... I'm sure most of you will have experience of this phenomenon too.  Sigh.  We've been back 10 days and it feels as if I haven't had a moment to myself since!  Well obviously I must have or this page wouldn't exist, but that's only because I determinedly carved out a little time to play here and there, so that I wouldn't go completely crazy!

Anyway this background was very quickly and simply done, just using Promarkers. It began with outlining some shapes in dark pink and then filling them in.  Stripes like this seem to encourage me to write across them ....  but sorry about this picture which was taken in electric light, making the colours look a little strange.

Once I began to write in black the pink started to look a bit washed out (these are the true shades) so I ended up edging the panels with black to make them stand out.

And of course it was irresistable to do zentangle type doodling in some of the spaces once the writing was done!  This kind of work is just SO restful somehow.  The other colouring (ie burgundy) is also Promarkers - I seem to have periods when I use these constantly, and then I neglect them for a bit.  So many pages have been paint related lately that maybe its just a reaction to that?  Maybe we just have fads on particular media and then need a break from them.

Back from our USA trip with lots of lovely craft stuff bought from the likes of Michael's, Jo-Anns and A C Moore.  Happy days .....!!

SACRED SPACE

 

Yet more paint splish sploshing about - you'd never guess I used to really hate using the stuff would you?  Below you can see what passes for an "arty" background with me - I was just splodging around on top of a gesso coat, rubbing paint in with a babywipe and then smearing some or all of it off again: nothing very clever but it looked OK.  Its easy to forget that you're going to write/draw all over it, which means it doesn't have to be anything more than a bit interesting.

I also used a mask and some dark blue paint to give me the honeycomb effect, and then for some reason drew a white line across the page with a Posca paint pen.  It must have made sense at the time, but I can't for the life of me remember why!

The writing I then added was done with Promarker - although I am a fan of these I do think the range of blue shades is a bit disappointing, and I've actually added a few blue Copics to my collection to get the colours I want. 

The idea of the unsuspected self really appeals - don't think its original, I probably read it somewhere, but the concept speaks to me.  It works particularly well in terms of journalling for me because, so often, I am amazed by what comes out when I just go with the process and let it happen.  Sometimes  things come out I didn't know I was feeling, or hadn't understood were forming a barrier I needed to get past.  Stuff like that. 

I also have this thing where I get stuck in monochrome mode and work pretty much in one colour the whole way through - shades of blue in this case.  I do admire the work of Teesha Moore and wish that (more often anyway) I could work in the variety of vivid colours she uses.  Its somethng I'm working on but clearly wasn't expressed here. 

There's something almost biological about the structures I've drawn - arterial branches and cells perhaps - an organic element anyway.  It may have been deliberate .... not sure now.

But it makes sense doesn't it - if the body is a temple of the holy spirit then it is also sacred ground, a space which contains all our deepest meaning .... and indeed the unsuspected self, the true self that sometimes we don't even show to ourselves let alone others?

Gosh, I am in reflective mode today!  Its probably because tomorrow we fly up and away - visiting Virginia in the USA.  Fear not, I have packed a small travel journal with prepared background pages, plus some new drawing materials and a notebook ... just in case the spirit moves me to work in one of them.  What's the betting I'll be so busy eating ice-cream and gazing at the views that I forget to do any of it?

See you in a couple of weeks or so. 
Rosie X

WHY WOULD I?

 

As those of you who are regular visitors here know, I often use my journal to get something off my chest.  Today is no exception.  It all began with a half started page I really wasn't liking at all, so I found a leftover piece of interesting scrapbook paper and covered it up.  I love it when you can do that!

Actually I wish I could make a background this good, but sadly I didn't.  Anyway, I had some fun just adding collage elements to it, all with no theme or subject in mind - which is why the items chosen make no particular sense!  It doesn't have to, I just like the way it came together.

But then, later the same day, I had a deeply frustrating telephone conversation with somebody, and that's what found its way onto the page.  The spiky orange bits and the lettering itself are done with  Posca paint pens - the smallest ones have the finest nib for this kind of work.  I was trying to do slimmer lettering this time, and it was fun to use a pale colour like white, although it needed outlining with a black fineliner to make it pop off the page.

So there I was, steam no longer coming out of my ears, and quite pleased with what I'd done.  As I said, a journal page doesn't necessarily have to make any particular sense, as long as it does so to you the author.  I know what lay behind the creation of this page, and I'm the only person who needs to know!  Isn't journalling wonderful - I satisfied my creative urges and got rid of my pent-up annoyance all at the same time!

TEESHA STYLE ...

 

Teesha Moore was one of my earliest influences in my art journalling, and I still LOVE her work even though her style is very different to my own.  I'm a member of her Artstronauts Club, and have been watching videos of her putting pages together.  I'm always trying to challenge myself to work in different ways and try out new techniques, and this is the page that resulted from spending so much online time with Teesha!

The background is pretty much my usual - Caran D'Ache Neocolour II crayons, still my most favourite thing to use.  What was different for me was going to my stash of magazine cut outs and rather than looking for images or words, just looking at colour and patterns, and pulling out things I liked.  That was how I ended up with this corner piece, and the "tombstone" or possibly "teeth" fragments along the bottom!

I did like working in that way and will probably do it again, because it fitted with my sense of intuition, just going with the flow and see what turns up.  So then I pulled out more scraps I just happened to like and this was the result - not typical of my style but I liked it.  My only regret is that these shiny magazine pages are difficult to photograph because they catch the light.  I'm wondering if I should make a collage sheet out of fragments I really like, then I can print them myself on matte paper and lose the shine?

Another thing I like about Teesha's work is that she makes the art first, and then fits the lettering into whatever space happens to be left over.  I like that - and it challenges my besetting sin of always trying to write in straight lines!  It can be a pain in the neck being instinctively neat and tidy ... a good quality in many areas of life, but NOT when it comes to art journalling.  However, in my defence I would say that I have genuinely worked at learning to let go and splodge paint about with something approaching abandon .... sometimes.

So here is the finished article and I love it!  I love how bright it is, how random and yet connected (I couldn't totally let go of colours that matched/toned) and it felt good to work in this way.  I often say to people just starting out on this journey - don't be afraid to use other people's ideas and techniques, or even to outright copy!  Its all part of exploring and finding your style.  Some things are fun to try out but won't find their way into "your" way of doing things, and others will become part of you.  Feel free to copy anything I do outrageously, but don't forget whenever you do this to credit the original artist and their influence (as I have done here) and to only do so as a way to finding out what works for you.  And above all, HAVE FUN!

WORK IN PROGRESS ....

 

This is a recent page that I'm rather pleased with.  As you can see below it began with a watercolour crayons background, a compass mask and some stencilling with white gesso.  I couldn't resist adding the rather glum face from a collage sheet.

I didn't have any idea what this page was going to be about, so I just began doodling with my Promarkers and paint pens.  This is always my favourite part of the process, but it usually comes at the end when I fill up the spaces, rather than early on like this.

The photos were taken at different times of day and I think the paler one above is daylight, and the one below in electric light - the colours are astonishingly different aren't they?  I'd have to say that the paler images are nearer the reality.

I wrote the words "I am" above the image, and then everything else just flowed from that.  It was an interesting way to work - putting the art down first and then making the writing fit around it.  I've seen Teesha Moore work that way and rather liked it.  If I'd change anything it would be that I've written the smaller paragraphs rather straight, and I think they should be more curvy.

I also really like doing these wobbly layers - makes me think of geological diagrams of sedimentary rock - and that works with the subject matter.  It's definitely true that I am a person composed of many layers, laid down over decades, still in the process of becoming.  Well that's my excuse for all my many imperfections, and I'm sticking to it!

LIFE - YOU KNOW IT AIN'T EASY ....

 

I must have been in multi colour mode when I did this page - probably because I was determined to use the wacky figure top left I found on a Ceremony collage sheet!

It started like this, with a painted background, and then I drew these ribbons with a Posca paint pen.  I've included a picture of this pen because I can genuinely recommend them - and nobody is paying me to say this, but I don't mind if they want to!  As you can see you get a really good opacity even over the acrylic background.

Then in went the little man (sporting new eyes) and those blue lines just invited me to write in between them.  I didn't know this is what I was going to write, and appear to have been just getting stuff off my chest as per usual!  I've tried to show here how the lettering is built up from the basic - see the previous post for a tutorial on this.  The white lines and the red dots are also Posca paint pens, and again their opacity is really easy to see.  The little heart is from another collage sheet.

Here I'd just added yet more ribbony lines and even more red dots ...

And then I went a bit wild on the doodling front ... I actually think I prefer the picture above to the finished version, but there you go.  I am occasionally guilty of overdoing it on the decorating front!!.

I really ENJOYED making this page, especially doing the red paint dots.  Funny what will prove satisfying to the creative mind ...

LETTERING TUTORIAL....

I really hope this works for everyone who has asked for it.  Now that I put the pictures up it looks a little bit dark, so if that's a problem please let me know and I will take new photographs.

What I'm hoping is that if you save these images you should then be able to print them out A4 size so that you can read them easily.

Its possible that there's a better way to do this - but this was what I could figure out at the time!  I do hope its useful and please do let me know how you get on with it.  Pass it on if you like, but I'd be grateful if you'd credit me with a link back to the blog!

Have fun ......!

NOT GIVING UP ....

 

It has taken a while, but I've finally realised that a particular door I've been banging on isn't going to open because its not meant to.  This has required considerable mental re-adjustment but hey ho, so I am beginning again.  However, lest I should later accuse myself of giving up too easily, I wrote this page as a justification for being where I am.  It works for me.

It began with me messing about with 3 colours of paint - that ombre thing of shading colours which is all the rage at the moment might have influenced me?  Whatever, it was fun using water to try and get the colours to blend seamlessly - acrylics tend to resist doing that.  I added the thoughtful lady just because I like her - Modigliani again, I do love his work.  The people he paints seem so human and fallible somehow?

Then I decided it looked a bit too clean and pure, so I added a wobbly black line around the outside (using the blunt end of a Promarker) and some grey paint for shading, then followed it up with a crackle effect stamp in grey and black.  That muddied the waters nicely.  There's also pencil shading around the figure - I'm quite into doing that lately.

 

The art word and the numbers are just because they looked nice, and then I wrote on top with the chisel end of a black Promarker - I find they work pretty well over paint, though not everything does.  At some stage I also tried rubbing gesso on with my finger, but didn't much like the effect - it looked better in the You Tube video I watched.

You can see above and below the difference between the basic letters and the finished ones - its a doodly kind of process thickening them up and extending the feet. For the finer detail I change to a Pilot drawing pen - I have them in various nib thicknesses.

And although it looked nearly finished at that point, I got out the Posca Paint pens in order to add doodle dots - as you can see the opacity of these pens is great because I could even add yellow over red and get a good crisp finish.

So there you are - finished page and a resolution made and acted upon.  I am NOT defeated, just taking the realistic decision to regroup and re-form, and see where that takes me.  I wouldn't want you to think I was giving up, obviously!

FORGIVE ME .....

 

I'm very enthusiastic about food - definitely not one of those people who say things like "oh I couldn't possibly eat all that" or "just a sliver for me".  Unfortunately this means that from time to time my naturally pear shaped figure spreads alarmingly, and it becomes necessary to take action in the form of a diet before the day comes when most of my clothes don't fit any more.  This is known in our house as The Punishment Block, and I won't attempt to dignify it with any claims that I am "fasting" for any religious purpose.  However,  I take the view that I would rather eat well most of the time and diet occasionally, than live on lettuce all the time! 

As Christmas approached I found myself looking forward to all the delicious treats we had planned almost as much as I was anticipating the arrival of our daughters.  This demonstrated to me that my priorities might be slightly off kilter ... and that was the genesis of this page!

It began with a Neocolour crayons background and a picture found in a magazine.  After gazing at this vision of loveliness the words "forgive me" seemed entirely appropriate!  Its very odd, I never really had a sweet tooth until I hit the menopause, but ever since I've craved all kinds of sweet stuff.  What can I say, its not greed its my hormones (or lack of them)??

Once again a picture to show the difference between my basic lettering, and what it looks like when I've thickened it up and embellished it a bit.  If I can ever summon up the energy I might try and put a simple lettering tutorial together - if there's enough interest?

So there you go ... I confess that I'm just a greedy girl.  Its no good me promising God that I will stop because there's absolutely no chance of my sticking to it.  Anyway, I do believe that possibly life's greatest pleasure is sitting down at table to enjoy good for and good company with people you love.

When the current diet ends I'm sure I will simply joyfully reaquaint myself with all the food I've been doing without, and gradually put back the pounds I gained.  Then I will have to lose those before we go on holiday and indulge in all sorts of good things .... are you sensing a pattern here??  Damn right you are, and I DON'T CARE!

HEARTS AND FLOWERS ...

 

Hot off the press this one, only finished yesterday!  So there I was on Valentine's Day with two flowers cut out of a magazine, and well, one thing led to another.  What you see below is one of my painted backgrounds - aren't I branching out?  I used to hate paint but am learning to love it.

Then I added some random borders in colours I liked, and of course the flowers - I knew at this stage that I wanted a valentiney theme, but not how the page would develop.  Its fun to work that way and just let it grow ....

Not much difference between these two pictures but I wanted to show you how I used crayons and a black line to emphasise the edges, which I thought looked a bit indistinct above.

Then I just wrote what was on my heart.  Himself and me have been together a long time, and it has been a Great Love for both of us.  We're so lucky to still be as dotty about each other as we ever were, which sounds a bit sickly to say but is simply true.  He drives me utterly crazy as well of course, as I do him.  Maddening and marvellous, both of us, and both at the same time.

And then lots of doodly dots and a small heart stamp to finish it all off, plus a bit of pink posca paint pen on the lower rose.  I'm pleased with how it came together - and I like the fact that (to me at any rate) it has an almost vintage look?

I'd been watching videos of the wonderful Teesha Moore on the Artstronauts Club, and been inspired by her techniques - which is what got me cutting out roses from a magazine.  In the end though, however much you might borrow ideas from other people, for me at least they always have to find a place within your own style.  I'll never journal the way she does, and actually I don't want/need to because I have a different style, but that doesn't mean I don't LOVE her work, and draw all kinds of inspirational ideas from it.  The other art journallers I particularly love are Ingrid Djikers and Tracy Bunkers - have a look at their work and you'll probably see why!

Feeling like a DRONE ....

 

I think the text is probably self-explanatory here!  It really was one of those days when I felt like a person who was putting nothing in, and just taking from the rest of the world.  I get like that sometimes, I guess a lot of us do?  Anyway, my way of dealing with such moments is to journal about it and try to work through it.

But it should be obvious why I began by laying down a dull shade of flat beige paint, and adding even more around the edges in the form of washi tape - these are Tim Holtz I think?  I do actually like these colours that I think of as "vintage", and it was an interesting exercise to work in such a monochrome palette.

I really love this stamp of a rather glum looking person, I've had it for ages but she comes out regularly.   I think its by Teesha Moore, and of course she was perfect to encapsulate the negative mood I was in!  The black edge really seemed to add something at this stage, and was achieved by simply dragging the thick end of a promarker fairly roughly around the borders of the tape, with no attempt at my usual tidiness.

This page is in two halves I suppose - you can see the first half below, where I simply put down the way I was feeling.  Just stating how you feel is therapeutic in itself - recognition and acknowledgement of what's actually going on inside you is powerful, and the first step to challenging negative emotions and asking yourself what the truth is.  We all make statements about ourselves (I'm useless, nobody will ever love me, I'm not good at that, etc etc) which simply may not be true and should be challenged.  A psychologist I once worked with used to ask me "where is the EVIDENCE for that"?  In other words, what can you bring to validate your assertion that you're useless waste of space or a drone?  Very often there actually isn't any.

So that's where the second half of the exercise came in - recognising that there actually wasn't a lot of evidence for this assertion.  In fact it became clear as I thought about how I spend my time that, even though I may not leave the house as much as other people, nonetheless I'm not sitting here doing nothing ... but actually striving in my own way to make a difference and share the things I learn.

And then it turned out that I WAS making a real contribution (OK maybe not with the singing) and that the world might even be a better place because of things I do?  Well, I'd like to think so, and it IS what I aim for ... with varying degrees of success.

The lettering as always is done by starting with a simple shape, as you can see in picture 3, and then gradually adding thickness and curving edges.  The white makes quite a strong addition too, and like I say I do actually rather like this (admittedly dull) palette of colours.  And I felt a whole lot pinker when I'd done this .... which is after all the whole point of the exercise!

If you have days like this - give it a try?  You might even end up feeling better, and even if you don't you'll have got something off your chest!