My "frustration" art journal page is featured on the formations Tumblr feed. There are lots of other artists too. Head over and check it out here.
Formations Art Journaling tumblr feed
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| Coffee Mug |
| Coffee Mug |
Originally uploaded by ilookhoo
I rather like the simplicuty of this image from ilookhoo on flickr. Black, white and red. Coffee pot and mug. Steam connected to brain. Right. Exactly how I feel in the AM. Check it out big on flickr.
it’s not too early Secretly I hate Christmas
I don't but what I hate is trying to find unique gifts for my family for Christmas. My family is notoriously hard to buy for and this year I'm taking the handmade plunge and going all out and getting only handmade Christmas gifts for some of the hardest to buy for people on the planet.
I got out of my Mom's birthday easy with some handmade beads for her troll bracelet. For Dad's birthday we got out of it easy with a thick book on drying foods. (He's a farmer) Last Christmas I scored with a reusable shopping bag full of thrift store wool sweaters and a vintage polish coffee percolator. The middle brother got something I don't remember and I copped out and got my youngest brother a…. gift card. I hang my head in shame with that one.
So this Christmas I'm going handmade. But what to get. For my Mom I'll probably get her something again for her bracelet- there are a lot of artists selling really cool lamp work beads for troll bracelets.
I'm not sure what to get Dad or Matt. Allen, well, I'll look for something World of Warcraft related or iPod touch and that will be easy.
I have to start early or I"m left scrambling around in the last week looking like a moron at the mall nearby wandering the aisles with all the men who waited until the last minute. My goal is to buy everything handmade this holiday season!
#5 Any media/ medium is okay
What speaks to you? Crfayons? If so use them. Do you only like to write in blue, purple or green? That's okay too.
Do you like:
Sharpies?
Caran d'ache?
Charcoal?
Acrylic?
Watercolors?
Colored Pencils?
Collage?
Gouache?
Ink?
Rubber stamps?
Pastel?
Watercolor Pencils?
If so use them.
Do you hate any of the above? Then don't use it.
Do you like to use more than one? Use whatever you like. Mix 'em up.
Use what you like there is no one (but you) to stop you!
Inspiration and technique: Susan Cornelis: Soul Collage
I really really love Susan Cornelis’s work. She does some images of chickens that I simply adore, but I”m also a fan of her collages and sumi ink drawings/ paintings that she calls Soul Collages. It looks to be something of an automitic drawing process that involves sumi ink poured onto a wet page, manipulated with various tools and then collaged on with color added. It would be a great way to work out ideas, get inspiration and to work yourself out of a rut. This could easily be adapted to working in a spread of a journal- smooshing pages together to manipulate the ink. Reminds me of a rorshack test.
Pictures From My Pocket – Who Loves the Sun 6
Pictures From My Pocket – Who Loves the Sun 6
Originally uploaded by littleblackbooks
Some cool little pictures from littleblackbooks on flickr, head over to their stream to see a lot more of their work.
#4 Do a little every day
Even if all you do is go through your journal and randomly color pages, or doodle borders or even just scribble do something related to art every day. It can take 5 to 10 minutes but you should do something everyday. It's part of the process. Process is the most important part of art journaling. Once art journaling is part of your everyday habit you won't want to leave it behind.
DinaStamps: My Art Journal
Rule #3 Be Wary of the Sales Pitch, but don’t begrudge
Everybody wants to sell you something. You need 3 things to art journal:
- Yourself.
- A journal.
- Something to write/draw/paint with.
It's that simple. You don't need every product ever made, though they are fun. Some of the most beautiful journals I"ve seen are black and white or made with a ink and one other media. If you like color all you need is something simple, marker,watercolor, crayons, you name it and you can add color. You don't neede every rubber stamp, ink pad, re-inker, paint or marker ever made. Pick a few and go with them.
There are free tutorials online. There is nothing wrong with paying for a tutorial, hell classes are fun. But you don't need to know how to make a page just like someone else to make a great journal. All you need is you, a journal and something to make marks with. Anything else is optional.
Rule #2 Pages Don’t HAVE to be Pretty
That's right your pages don't need to be pretty. They can be ugly. You can leave them raw and "unfinished." Your pages can be:
Dirty
Dark
Ugly
Nasty
Angry
Black
White
Plain
The finished page will be beautiful in some manner. If you don't like it you can always go back to it, reuse it, gesso over it, collage it into another page, glue the pages together and further manipulate the page.
Make it yours but don't hold it to anyone else's standard of beauty. Don't compare your pages to other people's pages. They are yours.