Art Journal Page Twelve

Page twelve in my art journal sits across from page eleven, so the two pages are seen together when the journal is open.

The pages had the same treatment, with modge podge, paint, stamping and even down to pen choice and line work.

As with page eleven, I found this page too insipid, so it too got the magazine treatment at the same time I did page eleven.

I only used one page from the magazine for both pages. I had cut the magazine  page into strips, and half of each strip was glued onto one page, and half  onto the other, with a space left between the strips. On page eleven there was some orange, while on page twelve there were mustards, greys and blacks. 

It still gave the page some life and the black from the boat in the magazine picture lifted and accentuated the outline of the number twelve

This was my page twelve before I added the magazine page, while the top photo is the completed page. It looks much better.

Art Journal Pg 11

Opening up to a blank page in my art journal is always daunting. The last one I had painted green and hated it so I pasted paper over it. The full story of that page can be read here. ( create link)

For this one I mixed colours together again and painted the pre-prepared mod podged page. I have decided my painting skills need work. Once dry, I then proceeded to stamp on another colour with a star shaped stamp I created years ago from a cork.

At least my page now had something on it, so then it was a case of picking out pens to add some line work. I had my trusty black felt tipped pen, but I also looked through all the coloured texta type pens that I had. I found some Sharpies, and also some gel pens, but settled on the gel pen for colour. It was orange, and I thought stood out best on the paint colour.

I used the painted stamp as a starting point, and drew star shapes echoing the stamp, then more lines to repeat and accent the shape. Then I got out the orange gel pen and drew little orange dots between the lines. M...... still not liking the page, I added an outline around the orange dots in my fine, black felt tipped pen. It was better, but still not to my linking. I left the page for ages before I did anything else to it. I added some black dots and circles to the inside of the number eleven, and this seemed to make it worse. Every time I got it out I was trying to work out why I didn't like it.

It was something about the colour. I had picked the orange gel pen because I thought it would contrast with the painted background, but it didn't. It was the wrong shade of orange, and I came to the conclusion that it was a discordant colour scheme, one that I have never taken to.

So....... how to fix it and make it better? I could either paint over the top of it all and start again, or add something to it like I did before with the last one.

I had been going through old magazines and saving pictures that I liked, so I went through them and picked out one that I thought would blend in. The page was from a travel brochure, and was a picture of Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong and the famous red sampan.

I cut the magazine picture into varying width strips, kept the strips in order, and then glued them over the top of my page so there were gaps in between. I cut the strips to length so that they fitted around my number eleven, not over the top.

The end result is much better. My number eleven is still the focus of my page, and the orange/red sail of the sampan adds that splash of contrast that I was looking for. The page to me now feels like a party on Victoria Harbour, something that I have done in real life. So in fact I have created a memory without even realising it.

This is what my page looked like before I added the  magazine strips. I wasn't sure if it was too busy, or what the problem was.  All I knew was that I wasn't happy with it. Now comparing the two, I think I had lost focus when I added the pattern to the inside of my number eleven. I always wanted the numbers to be the focus on the page.

I am content with the finished page. Would I use it for inspiration to my stitching? Not sure. Watch this space to find out.

Art Journal pg 10

Page 10 of my art journal lives opposite page my page 9. I prepared it and painted it at the same time. From then on I worked on the two pages treating them as one. I figured when  the page was opened, you will see both at the same time, so they have ended up similar, but not exactly the same.

Both were prepared with mod podge, both were painted and stamped, and yes I hated both. Both got the cut out paper treatment . The cuts were randomly done on the paper, so the holes are different shapes. The patterns that I drew inside and around the holes are also different, but the two pages flow well together.

In the beginning I hated these pages, but by adding the paper and patterns in and around the holes,  the pages have been  brought to life.

Art Journal Pg 9

For this page I mixed up three colours of  paint, a green, blue and white, then proceeded to paint onto a previously mod podged page. Then using a cork, I stamped little splodges for my numbers using white paint.

The numbers were then outlined in my wedge tipped felt marker to make them stand out.

At this point, I didn't like my page very much, it was too green. I am more of an aqua green person, so the page sat there while I decided what to do with it. I had this idea that I could cover it up with something else.

The something else turned out to be a scrap of recycled paper, I used the other side of something already printed. I first cut it to size to be a bit smaller than the page, then folded it onto sections and cut randomly along the folds. This created lace type effect, still letting in some of the green but not all. I also cut the shape of the number nine out of the white paper to make it more visible, then glued the cut sheet over the top of my painted page.

This left some lovely holes now that were open to some decoration. The decorating came in the form of my trusty fine tipped felt tipped pen.

In the end I love how this page turned out. It is definitely a 'me' page, full of holes and lacy effects. I will certainly be one that I will use for inspiration for my stitching.

Flight

"Fly Ladybug Fly" was the page I made for the book called "Flight". My drawing of a ladybug was digitized and stitched to a background which I made by stamping painted leaves onto fabric.