Your Children - Journal Page

I started with magazine images of a shell, three maple syrup bottles, three turtles, and trees. The color of the images and their interesting forms is what attracted me.

I spent a good deal of time intertwining the images with line work using black and white Sakura jelly roll pens and Elmer's Painters.

"Your Children" was written on the tree magazine page and after looking at the images it seemed appropriate. The turtles are to remind me to take my time and enjoy the process. The cruise ship was part of the shell page. While I'm not interested in going on a cruise I found the image fit with the spread and decided to keep it.

I am disappointed that I didn't remember to take process photos. I really like to look back and see how a page developed.

Through Long, Checkered Corridors

I just finished this spread. I have been longing to work in my journal for weeks. Hours of contentment weaving collage elements together with a silhouette resulting in this spread. Currently sunny and 74 outside.

QUIT SMOKING! DON'T START SMOKING!

I like to explore ideas by using images of unknown people to create scenarios. The unknown images often sparks ideas that I would have never thought to journal otherwise.

I wish that I had photographed the spread before I started painting and drawing over for comparison. In my journaling journey I like to revisit where I came from.

The idea of time "dragging" on and how time could be affected by a "drag" on the cigarette is the scenario I am exploring.

I feel powerless and sad when I see people smoking. Making art gives me some sense of control. 

QUIT SMOKING! DON'T START SMOKING!

PEACE - Art Journal Page

I have been trying to prep assorted pages in my journal to help jump start my creative process. I find that this is a good way to be productive when I'm not feeling particularly creative. 


I chose the main magazine image because I was drawn to the close-up of praying hands. 


Feeling compelled to journal yesterday I flipped through my prepped journal pages and I envisioned an image over the page. 

Do you see it?

I saw a dove.

Praying for -
Peace on Earth
Peace of Mind

The striped images were added later to cover lettering I didn't care for.  I think they add more visual interest and help balance the design.

Collaged Art Journal Page

I was inspired by a torn paper collage journal page spread by Marie Danti.  I started with this quote "When the uncreative tell the creative what to do, it stops being art". Next I ripped out mostly solid sections from a magazine and glued them down without preplanning. Pieces laid prior helped to guide the next paper I glued down. I didn't have a plan for the subject matter except to draw something in marker loosely. Tony Bennett was the source for the quote so I googled an image for him and liked the pose from his All Time Greatest Hits album.

The drawing isn't as loose as I had first intended.  Since it was an actual person I wanted there to be some resemblance. First I sketched the image in pencil. Next I drew over the pencil lines with marker. Then I painted in shadows with watered down acrylic paint.

I think the random collaged paper gives the spread more of a dynamic energy than I could have planned.

The FOX - Journal Page Collage

The Fox - Journal page collage inspired by some Clint Eastwood quotes found in the April 2015 Reader's digest issue. The three quotes I chose to include in my journal resonated the most with my own beliefs. I also included the artist drawing of Clint and for some reason the camera seems to pick up the drawing more than it shows in my journal. I chose to collage a photo of some buildings, in Hong Kong by photographer Romain Jacquet-Lagreze also found in the same Reader's digest issue, for their interesting patterns. The right page is a partial page revealing the start of another collaged page.

The quote that influenced the idea of drawing a fox over the collage:

"I've always felt that if I examine myself too much, I'll find out what I know and don't know, and I'll burst the bubble. I've gotten so lucky relying on my animal instincts, I'd rather keep a little bit of the animal alive". Clint Eastwood - Source: Esquire

Process:
First I glued down the quotes and pictures somewhat randomly. Next I looked for a photo of a fox that I thought would fit well in the layout and spoke to me. Google search and I found it here: http://wallpaperfu.com/cool-animal-background-hd-wallpaper/cool-animal-background-hd-wallpaper-2/  Then I applied several washes of fluid acrylics. Finally I drew in the fox and background with numerous layers of colored pencils. All of the art was collaged and drawn without any photoshop manipulation.