Tuesday, May 19, 2015

OMG I MADE AN ART JOURNAL PAGE!

I KNOW I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE IT MYSELF!!!! 


I signed up for a swap on swap-bot and got super-lucky - my partner ended up being someone I'm already BFFs with, so I immediately knew what kind of pages I wanted to do for her.  Happy, ridiculously bright, totally experimental ones!


I started with some fairly random 4"x6" pieces of cardstock from my overflowing collection, slapped a little paint, gesso and collage stuff on them...


... then started adding bits of bright colour.  I also darkened up the colours around the edges using some Inktense blocks and a water brush.  GOD I LOVE THOSE INKTENSE COLOURS!!!  They go on like watercolour, but then when they dry, they're permanent.  So you can keep layering without ever losing the work you did underneath.  Perfect for if you're not a talented watercolorist.  Ahem.


Some drips here and there, more random splashes (I wore a beret and tilted my head thoughtfully to one side while I did this)*


Some watered-down white paint to push the background into the background...


Ohhh, now we're cooking.  A few more layers of that juicy Inktense colour really brings the whole thing together.


Then a bunch of random marks and doodles with markers and paint...


A quote on happiness... (that was the theme, hence the bright happy colours)


And finally, I thought the balls of weirdness looked a little too floaty so I attached them all to long spires, as though they were alien-like eyeballs on stalks.  Nice imagery, hey?

Some detail shots:





Making these two pages brought me such feelings of peace and joy.  I definitely gotta keep doing this stuff.

But first... sleep.  Goodnight.

Love Shelley!

* I totally didn't.  I don't even recall wearing pants, now that I think of it.