Art Journal: Wood Grain Background

I was experimenting in my art journal this morning and came up with a fabulous technique that I wanted to share. Luckily, I was filming myself working in my journal, so I caught it all on video. Hurray! When I signed into iMovie, I realized I had an updated version now. (We upgraded my hard drive and memory this week... yay!). I decided to play with the "trailers" feature and created this video. It's completely ridiculous and yet quite fabulous, if I say so. I hope you'll agree.

Everyone in my online art class, Falling For You, will be getting the full details with our prompt today, but this is seriously too awesome not to share. So consider this a "sneak peek" if you will of what Falling For You has to offer! This class is PACKED full of content and is well worth every penny of the $20 price. We have 9 weeks left, so there's still plenty of time for you to join in the fun. Plus: you'll have unlimited access to the course content, which includes downloadable videos, PDF files, collage sheets, and digital stamps.




Materials: Sharpie fine point pen in black, ruler, Distress Ink in Tea Dye and Vintage Photo, foam applicator for the ink, scrap paper to serve as a mask.

Method: Draw wood panels on the page using a ruler. Add wood grain details: it helps to look at some wood while you do this! Let the ink dry. Using scrap paper as a mask, color each panel with distress inks. Some I used one color, others I mixed. Add more layers for darker parts. Work from one side of the page to the other. Revel in your ultimate craftiness. Joy.

Art Journal: Progress of a Page

When I came home from Nancy Rafi's Art Journal class yesterday, this is how my page looked:

Here's what happened next:

I liked it at this point, but it needed more:

I thought I'd messed it up after adding pan pastels and water-soluble oil pastels, because it got too dark. I started to erase the pan pastels, and decided to make these bubbles instead. But it still needed something...

Now the bubbles really "pop" - no pun intended! Also, I have a rule that once I date-stamp the page, it's done, no matter what. Other wise, I might just keep going in there and making changes forever!

Falling For You: Weekly Challenge #2

Each week of Falling For You, we'll have an art challenge. Sometimes these will involve using specific materials or colors; others will involve some sort of prompt. All class members are invited to participate and post their creation for the prompt here. I will draw one winner the following week. (Giveaway is open to class members only, though I encourage anyone viewing to "like" their favorites!)

This week's challenge is the "Afterschool Special" challenge. Participants must use a childhood photograph and school supplies to create a page that explores schoolyard bullying.

Art Video: Painting Start to Finish

I haven't really decided if I like this painting or not, but I think the process is cool! AudioSwap on YouTube isn't working, so I hope you'll forgive the music until I can get it changed!

Falling For You: Weekly Challenge #1

Each week of Falling For You, we'll have an art challenge. Sometimes these will involve using specific materials or colors; others will involve some sort of prompt. All class members are invited to participate and post their creation for the prompt here. I will draw one winner the following week. (Giveaway is open to class members only, though I encourage anyone viewing to "like" their favorites!)

This week's challenge is the "Apple of My Eye" challenge. Participants must use an image of an apple in some way in their page as well as offer a story that explains (whether real or fake) the origin of the phrase "apple of my eye."

Class members: please post your challenge entry here by 11:59 PM EST on Friday, September 23. Don't forget to leave a comment after you post! I'll use the comments to choose our prize pack winner! I'll announce the winner on Saturday when I post the next week's challenge. Have fun!

Giveaway Winner: Free Falling For You Class Spot

Wow! I had 45 entries in the giveaway to win a free spot in the Falling For You class. And, let me tell ya, your favorite art journal techniques are so varied and awesome! If you are ever lacking for inspiration, take a peek at the giveaway post comments and you'll find something to get ya going!

Some of you love using acrylic paints; others are fans of watercolor. Some like to draw, either with pencils or pens; others love finding the perfect collage image. Some of you love Inktense pencils and color wash sprays, but you all really love watercolor crayons. (Me, too!) A common theme was that everyone loves making backgrounds, particularly with credit cards and baby wipes. We are all, clearly, long lost siblings!!!

 I know everyone is waiting to find out who the winner is, and I am thrilled that you are all so excited about it! So, without further delay, I'm happy to announce that the winner of the free spot in the Falling For You class, per Random.org is:

 

Congratulations! I will be emailing you very soon letting you know that you've won and sending you an invite to the classroom. [edit - Actually, when I tried to email you, I realized that you aren't set up to receive emails through blogger. Here's a page about no-reply bloggers. Please email me for course details!]

Didn't win? Don't worry! Class starts tomorrow, and you have the rest of the day today to join the class at the discounted returning student rate of $15, which for an eleven week class is a steal! After today, the class will return to the regular price of $20, which is still an awesome price, if I do say so. For today only, I will honor the $15 returning student rate for ANYONE, so hop on that train right away!

So what's up for Falling For You?

Lots of awesomeness! We will be having weekly art challenges coupled with a giveaway. I'm excited about the challenges & can't wait to see what you do with them! We'll have prompts, inspirational image collections, technique videos, and a couple other cool weekly features. I have the first four weeks pretty solidly planned out, and will begin recording the first technique video today: Dirty Dozen -- 12 ways to use stencils in your pages. 

When I first got my stencils from the Crafter's Workshop, I had no idea what to do with them, so I just started experimenting. Some stuff worked well, others not so much. I came up with 12 different ways to use them for different looks and I'm going to share them all with you! Cool, right?

[And, actually, I think there will be 13 now, because Bernice left a comment about her favorite technique using water and water-soluble inks.... sweet! Thanks, Bernice! I tried out the technique last night and I love it!]

{Don't worry if you don't have stencils: I'm going to share some information on making your own stencils using things you likely already have around the house!}

Other techniques will be: creating awesome textured backgrounds with a few simple supplies, exploring pastels, & everything image transfers. (The others are still yet to be determined, but will definitely be fun!)

Some days we will have specific prompt assignments or challenges; other days will be all about creative play. We'll have one day per week that is a "catch up day", where I'll post a round-up of images & pages created by students that week.

Can't wait to see you there!

Mixed Media Art: Be A Dreamer

For this piece, I started with a background layer of masking tape, which I then painted over using two shades of blue craft paint & some Adirondack color wash in Wild Plum. After this layer was dry, I used clear gesso to "seal" the layer and give me tooth for further layers.

Next, I found an image in a catalog (TOAST) and added the iron-on butterflies in the corners. I glued the image with gel medium, outlined it in blue and purple oil pastels, which I blended with my finger.

Then, I traced the girl's face and hands with a black Sharpie pen (note to self: should have done this before the oil pastels because I think I ruined my pen... sad face!). Used a touch of a pink neocolor II on her lips and used 3 shades of purple neocolors to change her hair color.

Added a piece of vintage sheet music and wanted to iron another butterfly on top, but the iron wasn't hot enough & I'm impatient, so instead I used a Sharpie poster-paint marker to write the word "dreamer" and draw a little heart. I went around the edges with black pan pastel, which I just love.

Loved it at this point, but the bottom right corner was looking plain so I decided to find a quote to add to the space. It reads: "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." (Henry David Thoreau)

Since I was using my Uni-Ball Signo UM-153 white gel pen anyway, added some doodles and hearts, as well as some highlights on her face.

Finally, I used one of my new stencils from Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's line with the Crafter's Workshop to add the white triangles around the figure. I used white pan pastels and an eraser to get rid of the bits that ended up on the girl.

I am loving this piece! (It it a painting? A mixed media canvas? I dunno what to call my work, but it makes me happy regardless!). I worked on it for at least three hours during crafty morning with my friend, but maybe longer! Still, I consider it time well spent!

{FYI --- We'll be learning the techniques I used to create the background of this piece in my new online art class: Falling For You. There's a giveaway going on right now until tomorrow morning if you'd like to try to win a spot! I promised two winners if we reached 50 entries & we're pretty close to reaching that!}