The Liberating Joy of Paint Play

I filmed a video today, but had such fun creating these pages last night, I just had to post. 

 

While I’ve sat down to create backgrounds and paintings, I’ve never simply sat down to play with paint. Instead of being bright and blending things together, I decided to draw shapes, lines, swirls, scallops, and add a little collage. 

It was so liberating! 

I used to mix all my colors with titan buff or beige paint, muting them to vintage-like shades. I was the queen of pale pink and blue and green, of harmonious tones that looked like they’d been filtered by Earlybird on Instagram (a vintage, gold-layer filter). I slowly grew out of this, my colors brightening as my style morphed and changed. 

But for some reason, I was suddenly inspired last night to lay down several colors on one page, then another, then another, allowing myself to express thoughts and ideas in a new way. At least one new to me. 

I knew I was channeling a few artists as I worked, and maybe that’s where the initial spark came from; I’ve been ruminating on Austin Kleon’s new book, How to Steal Like an Artist. He recently posted a collection of twenty quotes that didn’t make it into the book, and one stuck out to me as something many of us practice but no one admits to. So I will. 

“If you think a man draws the type of hands you want to draw, steal them. Take those hands.” - Jack Kirby

Just visit a journaling group on Flickr or Pinterest or browse blogs, and you’ll see this. And this is how we learn. After three pages and a few hours of play, I realized that’s exactly what I was doing — picking and choosing the bits I liked created by other artists in the interest of Paint Play — so I moved on an flinched a few bits from one of my favorite artists, Carissa Paige (I even tagged her on Instagram to let her know that’s exactly what I was doing!). 

Do I care that I wasn’t being 100% original? Not really. I had such a great time. I love the pages I’ve started, the new things I’ve learned about myself, new ways I’ve figured to move my brush. I’ve re-kindled my love of muted colors, and hope to integrate them with my bright, lovely colors. I don’t know if they can peacefully co-exist on the same journal page, but I’m ready to try. 

Journaling is allowing yourself the freedom to take a chance and possibly fail. 

But you just might succeed. 

So your task this week is to say, screw it, open your journal, and do something you’ve always wanted to try but never thought would work. Or you would be looked down on for attempting. Or feel bad for copying. I give you permission. Good artists imitate. Great artists steal and make it their own. 

I’m sure these pages, while using a different color palette — one I haven’t used for awhile — will look entirely my own when I finish with layers of collage, drawing, and writing, and I can’t wait to see how they turn out. 

Excitement and discovery like this is exactly why I love keeping an art journal. 

Girl (with pages) In Progress

 

I was recently asked, and not for the first time, if I add the date to my journal pages. 

I do, once and awhile, but that’s usually only to help me figure out what order the journals go in when I’m going through them to track my progress or share them with friends and students. 

But it isn’t unusual to read a page about New Year’s before one talking about mid-December. My pages don’t go in linear order, one day, then the next. I don’t even work in order. 

Instead, I bounce around. Add a glaze on one page, a photo on another. Do scribbles with fabric paint, then go backwards and glue in collage elements. It’s rare that I sit down and start with a blank page, finishing the entire thing in one sitting. 

 

And I have way more fun this way!

Working randomly, adding little bits here and there, adds to the chaos of a messy page. Layers added over time — longer than an hour or two — means that things aren’t polished. Sometimes, things can feel too smooth around the edges, planning showing through. I love when a page just comes together, the sum of chaos its own beauty. 

What this means is that there are currently four or five pages in-progress in my journal. 

When I sit down to play, I page through, looking at the ones still unfinished, and work on whatever jumps out at me. If I feel like drawing with ink, I’ll turn to a page with a background free of too many added elements so the drawings stick out. If I want to color with shiny pens, I find one that’s nearly finished and just needs a few doodles. The work feels less forced and more organic this way. 

I used to do one a page at a time, in order, start to finish. There’s nothing wrong with that, and yes, at times, I’m inspired to sit and start with a blank piece of paper. But I’m pretty happy with my bouncing, non-linear workflow. 

 

Lately, I’ve added little watercolor pieces to the mix. When you’re low on energy or hurting, a waterbrush and little palette of paint can bring great joy, even if you’re just doodling (one of my favorite activities!). It’s a new artform I’m in love with, surprised with the beauty I’ve been able to create. And to think I never thought I could do watercolors! 

So here are a few of my pages in progress — do you have any? And when was the last time you showed them any love? 

 

Journal Page Mathematics

I wanted to show you how the journal page from yesterday’s post (which, if you haven’t read it yet, go give it a gander!) came to be. 

My pages evolve organically, with layers added in bits and pieces here and there until, finally, they come together. They’re not in order as you turn the page; rather, they are scattered and added to and get messy and come to be as they’re supposed to. 

I may not have a particular thought in mind until the final push — a collection of layers, created from the cast-offs of other pages and projects being worked on, will, suddenly, call to me the same way you see a face in the grain of a wooden door, a dog in a puffy white cloud, or Mary in the center of a tomato. In the slant of sunlight or the shadows of a lamp, it all magically becomes clear in a way I’m sure the Divine always saw, but I needed time to see. 

Which is a very positive and together-sounding way to explain my process. My students have been asking me why I make the decisions I do while doing art, and I had to come up with something.

Allow me to walk you through the evolution of a journal page. 

I used this page to test a doodle foam stamp I made for Journaling Deep. It worked alright (this is before I discovered GAC 100 and its magic properties for making brayered stamps work better).

Not pictured: I decided to see if my soft pastels would work the same way my charcoal does, ie. using erasers as drawing tools (I have several erasers, now, and blending stumps). It didn’t. So I covered the page with bright, dreamy colors and then let it get all funky because my fixiatif was in my car. 

I then decided I couldn’t really do anything with a page covered by pastels and painted over them with gesso. This is when I started to get an idea of what I wanted to write/journal about — I’d been listening to Sara Bareilles in the car and there was a lyric I wanted to do a page around. This is about the same time my Leg Pain became my Leg and Arm Pain and I stopped being able to sleep (still unresolved). 

I knew I wanted a representation of myself, and didn’t want it to be an illustration, per se, but a drawing with a nose. So I hopped over to Tam’s Fabulous Faces course and watched the first video — it is an amazing class, by the way! I wholeheartedly recommend it. What’s even more amazing is even though I followed along, my work looks different than what she drew. That’s the mark of a great teacher! 

 

I painted the face with acrylics and watercolor crayons, leaving the rest of it white. 

 

I remembered a page I’d done recently that transformed a bleh page into one I loved, so I borrowed the ink writing and Cobalt Teal, as well as the lines of dots I’d done on there. 

This is am important step to cultivating your own mark — instead of sitting down to find inspiration online or in a magazine, look back through your journal for bits and pieces you can transplant and refine on a later page (I’ll be offering a short course on pushing through your creative roadblocks next week if you want to learn more about this whole process!). 

 

By the time the page was finished, the message had changed from one of anger to one of positivity and hope. And that, my darlings, is the transformative power of visual journaling. 

 

If you’re not on my mailing list, I’d suggest hopping on; as I go through this transition into creating a more aligned business and life, I’ll be posting to the mailing list more often and offering beta-test opportunities for my new offerings. 

Creating in your art journal on those kind of days...

Yesterday, Cassandra wrote:

The last few days, I've been hit with a serious wave of weakness and fatigue to the point where getting dressed is a major accomplishment-- but I'm not sleepy. Getting chores done is nigh impossible, and I'd rather not turn my brain to complete mush via computer and tv. I know you've had "fibro days" that are at least somewhat similar, and your art journaling arose from those. I was wondering if you would be willing to put together a post on getting through sick days with the help of art-- what sort of things work best from the couch and such.

While I’ve written about my armchair art box before, I wanted to write about something a bit less involved than that overfull shoebox. I’ve been working out of a smaller box myself, as long days make for tired nights. Simple is best. So here’s a little overview of my current armchair box and a few pages I’ve done in the past few days. 

 

Waterbrushes are a sick girl’s best friend. They allow you to put down color without needing a cup of water next to you or messy brushes. I totally recommend grabbing one of the nicer ones you can get in the embossing/stamping/Tim Holtz section of your local hobby shop, as you really do get what you pay for. 

Pair one with pan watercolors, tube watercolors with a little palette, or watercolor pencils for instant color with little mess. I have dogs that like to jump after shiny things, so a cup of water isn’t the best idea. Also, watercolors are forgiving — let some dry on your palette and re-activate them later on! Curl up and doodle or simply spread around color! 

Smaller scraps you’ve collected in the studio, rub-ons, and photographs are easy page kits for when you just want to tape bits down and do a bit of collage. 

Markers are a nice alternative to watercolors if you want to do some doodling but don’t want to get out the water or any paint. I have a few Pitt brush markers, Marvy fabric markers, and Sharpie pens to color with, but have also pulled out Copics or colored pencils. 

Gel pens & multiliners are great for doodles to be colored later. White pens are great for adding embellishment to previously-finished pages. 

A small pair of scissors and double-sided tape are a must for any sick day art!

Here are some tips for working in your journal when you’re sick but need something to do. 

 

1. Practice lettering. This bit of journaling took me 45 minutes and kept my attention. Write the words with a marker first, then outline them. The first loosens you up, the second takes a bit of easy concentration. You can easily fill a page with this. Pair it with a photo, and you’ve got a nice looking page that allows expression without taking too much energy. 

 

2. Doodle. I recently started doodling with my waterbrush & watercolors, and have had a ton of fun with very little in the way of supplies. Use markers, or even a pencil, to doodle across a journal page. There is so much for you to discover by way of doodling, you shouldn’t discount it (I recently bough Stephanie Corfee’s book Creative Doodling and Beyond, which is full of amazing doodling prompts that can be done right in the book).

An alternative to this is zentangles. Oh, zentangles, how I love you so…

3. Give a page a colorful wash. You can use watercolors or colored pencils to spread color around doodled elements or words you’ve written across your page to pull everything together. Spread several colors around and then doodle on top of them, make fun frames for photos, or tint some of your found papers to make bright elements to collage onto the page.  

4. Be okay with less. When it comes down to it, a journal page created while sick isn’t going to measure up to one you work on in your studio with all your supplies. And that’s okay. Not every page needs to be full of color and collage and cool techniques. Allow yourself to have fun with the simple processes that come with doing less; get lost outlining a favorite quote, spend hours blending colored pencil colors, allow yourself time to refine your doodles. 

You may feel too tired or sick to do any art, or feel that whatever you make while curled up under a blanket isn’t good; it is. You’re working from a different place, one that is less flashy and bold, but no less important to investigate. All the little things can give way to discoveries that may, down the road, change and shift the art you create when you’re feeling better. Give yourself a break, get a mug of tea, and show your journal some love. 

I'm off to bed, as I'm teaching my first class here in Arizona tomorrow afternoon and want to make sure I'm well-rested for my students. There's still time to join us (just email me if you do call and sign up so I can make sure to bring enough supplies!). 

Art Acceptance...confidence in yourself and your abilities

I’ve had so much fun playing with photos on my cell phone, you knew it was only a matter of time before they fully worked their way into my journal. 

I have to admit — I was at a loss for a bit. I could cut them up, make collage fodder from them. Color around them, doodle with pens (I’m doodling all the time, now). But that was stuff I’ve seen before. In the sea of mixed-media, I wanted to do something different, something I hadn’t seen before. And if this has, well, I haven’t seen it! 

One of the big things to happen for me recently is Art Acceptance. 

What is Art Acceptance? It’s two-fold:

1. The creation of art that you find aesthetically lovely and pleasing, that brings you joy, happiness, and pride when you share it with others. 

2. Allowing yourself to create without the fear of creating Bad Art, and thus holding yourself back in fear of the blank page and enjoying the process for the joy and lessons it has to teach you. 

(I made this up, by the way, as a major chunk of my Personal Philosophy on art.)

A lot of people ask me how to find their personal style, or become comfortable with their art, or find their way in general. I get that at least three times a Q&A, and have been working on an answer for that. 

It may take me awhile. 

Because the answer is to do more art. I worried about it. A lot. It’s a phase, like the tricky adolescence we all go through, trying to find our place in the world as we transition from child to adult. And just like adolescence, we have to go through it in order to find our way. 

Art Acceptance comes later in your art life. It’s that place when you finally create artwork you love most of the time (no, no one creates art they’re in love with all the time; it’s impossible). More than that, you have the confidence that your intuition and abilities will lead you to lovable art. Striving for perfect or awesome art isn’t the aim anymore — learning and honing your talent is. You want to try something new in order to improve what you love doing, not to create a stunning end-piece. 

Art Acceptance is an awesome place. You admit you’re still learning but have found your stride. 

You’ll get there, 

if you keep showing up. 

The images from this post come from the journal spread I created for tonight's episode of Journaling Deep. At 14 pages, it's my longest yet, and a double issue. And each costs you $2.50 a week. Considering the 7 hours I put into each one, that's a steal!

New (smartphone) Photography Discoveries & More!

I was going to post the Q&A video today and this post tomorrow, but I’m a bit tired and wanting to curl up with my Smash book, so the Q&A is going up tomorrow and this tonight. Which means things may be confusing for one line or two in the vid, but if that’s the only odd thing, we’ll all be lucky. When I’m not bouncy excited, I’m weird-humor even-keel, and living a life on camera, well…welcome to me!

Ever since Becca got an iPhone, I’ve been a green-eyed monster, especially when she whips the thing out to show me her most-recent Instagram pics. In fact, while we were hanging out last night, we spent half the time with our noses in our phones, playing around with pictures! It’s quite addicting, and even though I have Mad Skills on teh Photoshop, I love the different filters and textures available in all these camera apps. And before you ask, no, I don’t have an iPhone (to my eternal sadness. Actually, the phone I have is marvelous, especially since I bought it for $200 on eBay. What I don’t like is that I have a 4G phone, pay for 4G service, yet live in a city without 4G service. Oh, Sprint. You piss me off for the tune of $120 a year…). 

All of these photos were taken with Vignette, which is very, very worth the cost for the paid version. I love it to pieces! 

I processed them in either Magic Hour — another paid program that I just purchased this morning and adore — or GO Photo, which is free and goes with GO Launcher, which is a ton of fun, if you have the time/inclination to personalize your Android. 

But that’s it. Lots of playing around and clicking and adjusting. The knowledge I have from Photoshop actually helped make things easier (for example, Magic Hour allows you to adjust the Curves, which I only know how to do because of playing in Photoshop since I was 13), but it’s so user-friendly, you can get started with no experience at all!

But let’s not make this whole post techny! I carved those stamps from craft foam with my new wood burning tool (thank you, 50% off Michael’s coupon!) and it really is like cutting through butter! I messed up on one, but then got the hang of it really fast and it was like drawing, except then I could make block prints with ‘em! The foam was $1 and I still have over half a sheet left, and can’t wait to make more. Oh, why was I intimidated in the first place?

Except for the fumes. OH, the fumes. Really. I was sitting in front of a window under a fan at high speed and have learned that I need to dig a mask out of my garage or else I’ll get sinus headaches very easily. Or I could go outside and work on ‘em. Either one — trust me, darlings, the warnings are in the books for reasons. And this is one of them. Even when I was working with wood, I needed to take a step back for a bit and relax. Then again, I have a tendency to lean over my work when I get into the details (which isn’t good when your back dislikes you most days!), but still. Better safe than sorry!

We also wrote on tissue paper with Copics to layer, but didn’t know that the markers would leak through the tissue and stain the table, so that’s a reason to have a black craft table (I honestly had no idea as I bought my desk in black for this very reason). 

And I found out that GAC 100 is so super awesome, I’ve got to play with it some more to see what else it can do.

Most of these are close-up shots of backgrounds I have yet to work over. I have a few awesome pages in the works -- why can't I post everything all at once by visiting you all and gushing over art?

[mini-tutorial] Thin Line Squeeze Bottles

I was wandering through Hobby Lobby, as I do, and found these little bottles with needle tips. Now, I’ve used these little bottles in my artwork before and made quite a mess, and wondered how the experience would be changed if the tips were really, really little.

It is awesome. 

I mixed some fluid acrylic with water in one, put on the needle tip, and started playing around. You can draw remarkably well with these bottles, and I found myself doodling and then experimenting with writing. 

 However, be careful! Once the acrylic is gone and there’s only muddy water left, you won’t get those precise lines anymore. So play around with your watercolors and acrylics in these bottles to find the right viscosity to make some really cool marks.  

The great thing is, since you’re writing in acrylics, you can work over them or color the shapes in without having to worry if the ink is going to spread. And since you can hold the bottle much more firmly, and have a solid tip, you can write and doodle with it much easier than if you were to attempt the same thing with a brush. 

Working with Layers... (part 2 of last weekend's vid!)

Here's part two for your enjoyment. I spent a lot of time editing this to make it dynamic, informative, and fun! Sorry about the end; the way I had everything set up meant there was a light above the camera, and the camera didn't like that -- but I'm pretty sure there's a LOT for you to learn from this vid that you won't miss me writing words with a black marker. ;) 

I loved making this one! I think for next week, I'll be showing you the basics of stitching on paper or fabric with a darning foot. Doodling with a sewing machine for the win! 

I've gotten a LOT of questions for next week's Q&A vid; I LOVE learning what you are curious about, because that helps me help you! *G* 

I'll see ya tomorrow; I'm a bit tired and sore from last night's casino adventure (and no, I didn't win big, but I did walk out with $10 more than I walked in with!), so I'll be here watching The Dark Crystal and doodling ideas for a new mini-class I'm psyched to write.