I have been trying to write this blog post all day.
Whenever I’m in a Flare-Zone (flare up, day/s of pain, etc), I try to stay off the internet and not write anything. Pain turns me into a big, fire-breathing dragon guarding whatever tatters of sanity are left, with a quick temper that roars when I get overstimulated. The moment I step into my apartment and the door closes behind me after running even the easiest of errands, I break down and start sobbing from holding everything in for so long. And I get overstimulated waaay too easily.
This all combines into a Cloud of Negativity that only spreads onto the internet, in Facebook statuses that I regret a couple of hours later when pain meds have mellowed things out to a controllable, I-can-do-art-now level. Ugh. Have you ever sent an email you wished you could just snatch up from the air and grab back?
Today is a better day than yesterday, and I’m hoping tomorrow is even better than today. Though the girl at the office (where I had to use the fax machine, since mine isn’t working…grr!) told me it’s supposed to start raining come Wednesday…can a girl get a break? Anyway, I spent last night watching Once Upon a Time & Revenge while doodling and finishing up these pages in my larger journal, and as soon as I finished my cotton candy girl, I was like, “Oh my goodness, I am in love with this page!” I wanted to snuggle it close and marveled at the fact that I made it!
It started all layered and collage-y and with tons of neon….I am SO helplessly in love with neon! The page on the right was done with charcoal and at first, I thought she looked like an alien…I think she still does, but adding hair did help. And then merry, happy marks.
I really want to make a video or class around happy mark-making. Working on the iPad has so loosened me up, and I no longer feel like I have to cover every bit of the page…well, I already talked about that, but it continues on.
I now switch between my bigger journal and my Moleskine sketchbook. More paint and marks and neon oil pastels. The face on the right is a graphite portrait I did last year that I recently unearthed when cleaning. I made a smaller copy and just pasted it into my journal with some washi tape accents. Journaling is really opening up to me in a new way…after eight years, it continues to surprise and save me, which is why I keep doing it!
I’ve found a way to use my ever-growing washi collection (we did a SWAP on Friday that was genius!)…I put it down the center of my journal spreads to keep stuff from leaking through. I’m not a huge fan of doing two page spreads, so it breaks it up into pages while adding texture and color. I can jump off from there.
Tonight, I’ll be playing in my journal some more. It’s a wonderful distraction, and can be done anywhere!
What new things have you tried lately?
Any new colors, materials, or techniques?
Are you drawing more, loosening up, expressing yourself?
Materials used: a lot! MS paint, neon oil pastels, washi tape, collage materials, Prismacolor Colored Pencils, paint pens, markers, graphite, charcoal