Barefoot Wanderings

Sketches & Watercolour

Some doodling and playing with watercolour paints.
Each page was done over a few days, snatching moments to create!

 

Chocolates and Flowers

There has been much going on for me lately. Some horrible news, some great news and many other little and big things on the go. Sadly, I have not had much time to visit blogs and I have not really done much art either. This is pretty much it for the last two weeks, this journal page.... it does include drawing up and cutting the stencil for the 'x's.

Thank You, SuziBlu

......and to Megan, for a few weeks she kept asking if I had checked out a blog she came across.
The blog is SuziBlu, she is amazing and an inspirational goddess.

Of particular interest are the videos she posts, especially the ones related to How to Keep an Art Journal. With each video she gives simple exercises and her little gems of wisdom are excellent - they are all things that we know but are easy to forget.

I have completed two exercises which are the journal pages on this post.

The first exercise (besides getting a journal) is Getting rid of Your Excuses to make art/journal everyday, and to give a reason why you should do it. This is the mauve, green & blue page. Yes, that's a photo of me as a baby.

Another great exercise is the self portrait which is the red page. It doesn't really look like me but that's the point of the exercise. I did this with her words in my head.

Some of her great wisdoms that really ring true with me, and have stayed with me since first hearing, so far are the following (which aren't all from the same video):

• That everyone starts somewhere and it all starts with making art.
• Practrice being kind to ourselves because if we make bad art we might think that it isn't good enough and that we don't deserve to make art, maybe we will be nicer to ourselves when our pictures don't come out exactly the way we want.
• This is a process. One awkward drawing leads to a stronger one, it will eventually, it's just a skill, your hands will eventually know what to do.
• All art is valid.

Journal Page

A bit of fun in my journal,
playing again with paint combos, new stamps and some texture.

Colours: Golden Heavy Body Manganese Blue and Quin Magenta, and Matisse Flow Antique White

Art Between Art

Following on from Making Art Everyday, there is also Making Art inbetween Making Art. You know those times when you need to wait a few minutes for something to dry (and the heat gun isn't appropriate!), this is when I have now decided to move to one of my journals and start to create something. I work between the two. It is also good to turn to play in this journal if I am a little stuck with the piece I am working on, it gives me a break and time to just play.It is also a great place to play with colour combinations.. 
This journal is another excerise to try to free myself up. To stop THINKING and just do. It does not matter if it doesn't work. It doesn't matter if it gets finished in one sitting - which is sometimes better not to get finished as there is not a blank page to start with.
I often see what other artists have done and am inspired and influenced by them. To use similar things in this journal is fine because it gets it out of my head, I try something new/different and it enables me to eventually make it my own.

Colours used are Golden: Quin/Nic Azo Gold, Titanium White & Cobalt Violet Hue