Journaling and Collaging

My favorite thing to do is to journal and collage in a combined method.

I decided to do a journal called "Women's Journal" and have it just be women photos, and portraits of women combined with every technique you can think of that can make a fabulous and many layered collage.

In the following examples, you will see that I used antique music, antique french papers, rub-ons, stickers, antique photo, gesso, snow white acrylic, antique white acrylic, black marker, water soluble pastels, and velvet paper.

the water soluble pastels were melted with a quilting iron. But learn this, if you melt your water soluble pastels onto your paper, they will not be water soluble anymore. You can drag the quilting iron over and over the pastels to spread them and add another color on top and spread that color.

I used a yellow ochre, a grape purple color, blue and white.

I also rubbed the water soluble pastels on other spots of the paper so that when I applied water, it smudged just nicely.

I watched a video by "Zin". it was not a teaching video, but just a video to watch her at work. I took notes as though I was taking a class. I tried to figure out various techniques and then go to my art room to work on my own with my own supplies. I added a couple extra ideas into mine. I really like Christina Zinnia Galliher.

Strathmore Online Journaling Class Free

Check out Strathmore Online Journaling classes for free. I already took a free four video class from Pam Carriker and the second series is up now. All free, so take advantage of it. You don't have to use Strathmore paper if you can not find it where you live. Make a home-made journal out of paper you have. Try to make sure your paper is firm, stiff, thick...if not, try to paint on a piece of paper with white acrylic or gesso or some neutral color. Let dry well and use your blow dryer to dry it if you want to get it done quicker. Paint the other side of the paper too and let dry. You will now have a nice stiff piece of paper to work on. A big mistake is to work on thin paper. It rips believe me. Especially if you add water or watered down glue or if you draw and erase, you will have problems. Stick with thick paper.

Free People

The designers that work for Free People are awesome artists. They make so many awesome artistic designs and decorating aspects for their store.

Let's get creative and do some of these ideas for our homes. Many of these things are made out of paper, card board, stencils, cardboard, pom poms, yarn, cotton fabrics, shiny sparkles.

So, I have working on my paper flower making to add to decorations in my house. I want to make some garlands to hang in my windows. Garlands are fun because they can be hung in front of those little white or colored Christmas lights. In the summer, you can hang the garlands along the trees and put a chair and candles and you have a little vacation spot to lift up your feet and snooze. I am already thinking about the summer. Hey, it is already time to start planting seeds in the house.

Drawing Lessons of Portraits and Landscapes

This quick lesson along with the below post, are great practice exercises even for the mature.
Perspective drawing for me is almost as complicated as the face. That is what my mind tells me anyway. So turning aside from the artsy fartsy of it all, and more towards the science of it all, I don't want my mind telling me that "I can't do this"! "YES I CAN" and "I WILL". I hope this is enough to say this morning and to encourage you and spur you on also in your drawing skills.

Remember I made mention in previous posts, I learned abstract art, not realism. So if I didn't want to put an eye ball or nose where they go on the head, I didn't have too! Sound a bit rebellious, perhaps, but now, I want to understand and know!

So, copy artists work that you love and lay a piece of tracing paper over them, and begin to draw out where the horizontal line is in the painting or drawing that you are using. Use a marker if you want so that you can see your lines later (not too thick of a marker because it will bleed through the tracing paper). Keep the copies of the original art work so that you can practice again. This is a mental exercise to learn about where the artist was standing when they began to draw this landscape. Look at what was drawn or painted in the distance. That is the background, what is in the middle of the picture-that is the middle ground, and what is closest to you is the foreground. If there is a person in the foreground, draw a line from the tip of their head to the horizon line. Do that with as many objects that are in the painting to see where they meet up with the horizontal line. Select one point on that horizontal line where all the other lines meet. This will show you where the focal point is.
I am doing an example myself and will post to show you how if you are a bit confused.