The Hyper Monkey

For the first time I worked on canvas.

It’s just a cheap canvas from Wal-Mart but it’s still a canvas. It’s not nearly as gessoed as a more expensive canvas would be, but in a way that made it easier to work with. The watercolors absorbed a lot better.

It was not without it’s challlenges. Blending was still a bit challenging as you can see there. Getting the edges crisp and clear was also rather challenging.

I originally wanted the butterfly to be gold, but the ink didn’t show up on the dark paper. The white doesn’t show up very well either. Live and learn.

There’s actually a small hole in the canvas. That’s where the idea of the collage came from, out of necessity. I think it worked out okay though.

I already have plans for my next little canvas and I bought a big canvas that’s better quality. I need to sketch out what I want to do more for the big canvas though.

Today I realized I did the One Color Art Geeks Prompt wrong. I wasn’t supposed to use white or black at all. At all!

So I set out to make another page exclusively in one color.

I blended with a Liquitex Fluid Acrylics in a pale purple. I used only purple Neocolors. I used purple shades of Inktense pencils.  Finally I used Deep Plum Glimmer Mist for the background.

At first, I was really afraid to use fluid acrylics for blending but I’m glad I did. It was much easier to blend then with a heavy body acrylic. I like the texture of the fluid acrylic.

I enjoyed doing the Purple Girl so much, I might go back and redo my Blue Girl completely in blues just to see how different she looks. It just depends on how energetic I’m feeling. I woke up much earlier then I normally do so I’m really tired.

I’m not sure how much I like the Purple Girl, but I did enjoy painting her!

I recently joined the Art Geeks Art Journaling Community.  There are two prompts per month and you’re only required to do one.

The one I decided to do this month is the “One Color” prompt. Rhomany did a portrait and art journal page all in one color.  She did hers in purple, I did mine in blue.

I mostly used Caran d’Ache Neocolors II Water-Soluble Crayons and white acrylic paint, but I also used Derwent Inktense Pencils. I do admit to sketching the portrait in graphite.

Since most of my materials are by my armchair, I did the portrait there. I did do the background at the table.

I enjoyed this prompt so much, I’m considering doing a girl in purple. It was a wonderful way to climb out of the box and try something new!

I wasn’t feeling very well today so I decided to paint in my armchair. Plus, today is Sunday. It’s a day of rest! So what better day to paint in your armchair!

All I did were a couple of small portraits in my smaller sized Strathmore.

The first one I did in soft colors because I wanted her to look fairy like.

The second one I did in more earth tones.

It was a nice way to spend a Sunday morning. I hope you find a creative and relaxing way to spend your Sunday too!

My mother had a colonoscopy done today and I had to drive her. I opted to wait there for her while she had her procedure which amounted to something like a two-hour interval.

During that time I worked on two art journal pages. One of them isn’t finished. The other is rather disappointing. I misspelled a word and I ied to save it. I’m not sure how it came out.

I think it looks like a red hot mess.

At least I got to try my new Faber-Castell Gel Sticks. I used my waterbrush to pick up color directly against the stick instead of rubbing the stick on the paper. The sticks have pretty good pigment. I’m fairly impressed with them despite the fact they don’t have a purple.

Just a note, I used an Inktense pencil for the petals of the flowers.

I would say that I’d take my supplies to the waiting room again. It was fun even if it was cramped. I’d prefer a table over  a chair. Hell, I’d prefer two chairs over the one chair I was scrunched up in. It was still not a bad way to while away the time.

Here’s another page I finished the other day that has nothing to do with waiting rooms.

I picked up some Graphic 45 goodies from Blue Moon Scrapbooking the other week and it’s provided me with a lot of inspiration. Expect to see more pages like these and with more Graphic 45 goodies.

The stencil is a new as well. It’s a Crafter’s Workshop from Joggles.  Crafter’s Workshop has the most extensive line of stencils and is my favorite brand by far.

I can see how it’s easy to confuse art journaling and scrapbooking. There are a lot of similar materials. Often times in art journaling memorabilia is used. There is a difference though. I can’t definitively describe it. You’ll have to look to someone more experienced then myself for that answer.

Maybe it doesn’t really matter in the end either. It’s all creative expression. The label is just a label at the end of the day.

Whatever it is you want to label what I do, I’ll continue to do it. I’m having a blast. :-)

I finally scanned in the portraits I painted in my 9×12 Strathmore. The eyes are a bit too wideset for my taste but I was experimenting with different styles.

I did this portrait in watercolor, acrylic, and colored pencils. Doing the hair took forever as I did that in colored pencil too.

Portrait 4-8-12

This portrait was done in watercolors and acrylics.

Portrait 4-9-12

Both were done from my armchair.

The following art journal page was done from my armchair too. Although I did the background, the stencil, and the stamping at the table. I suppose it wasn’t a total armchair job. I was still able to get a good portion of it done in my chair.

The background was one of the was I prepped yesterday. I’m going to try to have a bunch of backgrounds prepped in my art journal for me to add collage and doodles to from my armchair or while I’m out and about.  I won’t be able to do stamping while I’m out, but I can always add some in when I get home.

On Tuesday my Mother is going in for a routine colonoscopy. I’m driving her and the wait is about two hours. I plan on bringing my art journal with my pre-prepared backgrounds, some collage items in a sandwich bag, my Tombow Stamp Runner, some Inktense Pencils, a few Neocolor II crayons, a waterbrush, some pens, and some pencils. I have a travel case just for that express purpose. How much I’ll bring will depend on how much I can fit in it.

I bought some Faber Castell Gel Sticks from Amazon on the advice of Journal Girl. Hopefully they’ll arrive in time for me to bring along. They’ll be a nice addition to add color to a page. I probably won’t need them but it’ll be nice to have along anyway. It’s always nice to over-prepared then to not have enough at all. Plus, it’ll be nice to play with them since they’ll be a new addition to my arsenal.

If you get a chance, do join us on Journaling Deep and over at The Studio.  There’s a lot of great resources at The Studio and Journaling Deep has a lot of great techniques.

Another plug I want to mention is Rhomany’s Portrait class.  She teaches how to draw a face based on a square. You can’t go wrong with that technique. Anyone can draw a square. Just get a ruler! I’ll most likely be taking that course. I hope you’ll join us.

That’s it from me today. I hope you all have a great weekend!

I spent most of today prepping backgrounds in my small Moleskine. That way I can just add collage and doodles and whatnot when I’m not able to sit at the table. This is also for when I’m not in the mood to do portraits. I was able to prep five backgrounds with spray inks.

Then I worked on a page with a favorite quote of mine.

“Inner peace comes from within,

Not from without.”

-Buddha

I’ve used that quote a couple of times before and I just love it.  I’m constantly striving for inner peace. There are times when that’s a particular struggle since I’m bipolar and peace is rather hard to come by during those extreme highs and lows. It’s times like those I turn to the wisdom of Buddha to help me get by.

Inner Peace 4-12-12

I used Lumiere paint and white pen to accent the Lotus, the letters, and the circles. Other then that I left the page as simplistic as possible to create a very peaceful visage. I also used very light and airy colors to also give the impression of peace.

Beneath the paint there’s a collage of patterned paper and book pages. The patterned paper got lost beneath the gesso but you can still see the book pages. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but next time I won’t use such thick gesso over patterned paper.

I really enjoy working in this size Moleskine. It’s a 3 1/2 x 5 1/2″ Sketchbook.  My Strathmore is a similar size and it seems to be a size that works best for me.

With the new Strathmore 9×12″ , I think I have five journals going on right now. They all serve their purpose and I use them all concurrently.  I’m almost finished with my Bee Paper Deluxe 9″x9″ journal and I have another one ready for me to use.

I can’t say I prefer any one brand over another because each one has their own attributes. One will have a good size, another will have great paper and a great size, still another will have great paper for different purposes. For example, I like the Moleskine Sketch for my gesso, spray ink, acrylic paint work and I like my Strathmore Visual Journal for my portrait painting. It’s hard to pick one great journal because they all fit varying needs.

I’m thinking of starting a composition notebook journal. I like the size and binding of composition notebooks. I can easily overcome the paper quality by gluing two pages together then using gesso.

I definitely don’t have a problem with having so many art journals going on at one time. I believe they’ll get filled when they get filled. It’s not a competition or a race to the finish.

I firmly believe you can never have enough art journals.

More art journal portraits in the smaller 3 1/2″ x 5″ Strathmore Visual Journal.

4-10-12

4-11-12

I wish I hadn’t put purple hair on the first portrait. I don’t think it matches her eyes. Oh well.

It’s getting too easy to paint from my armchair. I almost get too lazy to go  to the table. However, when I’m doing a certain style of art journaling there is no substitute for sitting at a table. Things get too messy otherwise.

Time for me to unlaze!

I’ve been painting in my art journal in my armchair! My Fibromyalgia has been bad. Too bad for me to sit up at the table to paint. I decided to be pro-active and move some of my supplies along with a container of water and my waterbrush to my armchair as an experiment.

The experiment was a success! I’ve been painting like a madwoman! This is my first entry in my small Strathmore Visual Journal.

First Entry

This is my second entry in the same journal.

The Strathmore Visual Journal paper is great for mixed media.  It took the Neocolor watersoluble crayons, watercolor pencils, and acrylics well. There was one instance where I overworked the page, but the colors only seeped through the page slightly. I love the smooth texture compared to cold press watercolor paper.  I’m really impressed with this journal! Not even the Moleskine compares!

I have a bigger Strathmore I’ve been working in as well and the paper is identical. I find that paper sometimes differ when you get to different sizes depending on what you buy. Not with the Strathmore.

I’ve painted in my armchair for two days in a row. I’ll probably have to do it tomorrow too. It’s not substitute for the table but it sure beats not being able to do a thing!

I’m getting into a groove with the graphite. The trick of shading is coming together for me. I even found some blending stumps to help me out.

Graphite has become my new love.

That’s not to say I’m not painting. I’m still painting, but when my Fibromyalgia is flaring and I’m stuck in my chair it’s great to have an option. Although I am planning on working on an art center for my chair area.

I plan on having a water container with a lid. I plan on being able to carry my Neocolors over here with my watercolor pencils and Inktense pencils. Of course I’ll have my oil pastels. My white acrylic paint is probably the only acrylic paint I’ll bring here, so portraits are all I’ll do in my chair, but it’ll be nice to do something while I’m stuck in my chair. Usually I’m stuck with reading and when that’s your only option it gets limiting.

So here’s hoping my little portable artarama dealio works out!