Monday, September 19, 2016

Pen & Ink + Distressed Bright Colors


I would like to start today's post off with today's piece for 29 Faces, which was a whole new kind of experiment for me.

I think I've been gushing about this challenge the entire time I've been doing it - there's really something to working at the same thing consistently, and I've definitely seen significant improvement just in the time I've been working on this challenge. This entire month I've been making an effort to experiment in different mediums, and today's face is the 28th out of 29 faces in the month of September. It was done after being inspired by another challenge that I just recently heard about - Inktober.

Now, I haven't done a whole lot of pen and ink drawings in my day, solely because it's always seemed like an intimidating medium to me. However, seeing as this entire month has been about exploring new things (as I did with watercolor, an equally intimidating medium), I thought it only fitting to do a sample piece for Inktober using a face. This was really about me convincing myself that I could do it if I truly wanted to - I'm so pleased with the result that I probably will be doing Inktober this coming month. So stay tuned!


Now we arrive at the art journal page I finished this afternoon. This was done on the page opposite the one created in this video - in it, you can see me building up a few layers that I built up on top of. That is what makes the color scheme vaguely similar to the previous page - I decided to go with the colors that were already down on the page.

There is something that I really love about this page - I feel like it really describes me in a lot of ways. I love bright colors, but I also love distressing. I love texture and a lot of layers, and this page did all of that for me. 


  • A big part of the purpose of this page was to experiment with the Ranger texture paste I had bought at Michaels the other day. I had bought some texture paste previously, but it wasn't very good and was really more like white paint. I should have known, since it was pretty inexpensive. However, this texture paste was much different - it was thick and I laid it down over top of a stencil to create the pattern of squares you can see throughout the page.4
  • The blue squares scattered throughout the page were punched from the leftover paper I used to draw my face from before - it was a piece of 140 lb paper that I sprayed with Dylusions ink spray and wet with a paintbrush to spread it out over the surface of the paper. The color seemed to work well, so I went with it.
  • You can see just how many layers of paint I put down in the second photograph. It took me quite a while to get this page to a place where I was genuinely happy with it, and these are the little areas that make all of the process worth it for me (besides the fun of playing around with  color).

  • Something I am quickly starting to become a big fan of is doodling in the layers of my pages, specifically underneath a ton of other layers. You can see that in this photograph, with the gold circles I did in sets of three.
  • There are many layers of stamping and paint - you can see the butterflies and dots specifically. Also, if you look closely in the upper left corner, you can see an under-layer of collage I ended up covering almost completely - it was a piece of a gelli print from the other day I was trying to use. I guess I'll have to try again soon.
  • I'm linking this page to Stamplorations Stencil Sunday (mixed media + a stencil), as well as Altered Eclectics (anything mixed media).
In the long run, I'm extremely happy with my creativity results for today - sometimes I feel as if it's too much work to try to juggle it among all the chaos of everything else that is going on in my life, and then I realize just how much better I feel when I do make things and I remember why I do it. 

Thank you all for visiting, I look forward to seeing you around!

11 comments:

  1. Wow this face is amazing. I love everything about it.

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    1. Thank you so much, this is extremely nice of you to say! I love the way this girl turned out myself, so it's good to hear that you like her too!

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  2. I can only draw a stick person, sigh. Your drawing is gorgeous Jorda, got to show my oldest child because she loves drawing and does animae too. I so adore your art journal, the colors are really interesting to look at. Great texture and nice sentiment. Glad you joined STAMPlorations September Mixed Media Challenge and see you next time.
    Hugs and smiles,
    Asmah
    STAMPlorations Mixed Media Design Team
    Qinaahana Arts & Crafts {My Personal Blog}

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    1. This is so incredible of you to say! I'm glad that you enjoyed my drawing, this girl in particular is one of my favorites! It's so good to know that I inspired you and hopefully your daughter, it means a lot!

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  3. Fabulous combination of colors and textures. Love the layout of butterflies and those great squares. Thank you for joining STAMPlorations Mixed Media challenge, hope to see you soon again.

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    1. I had a whole lot of fun creating this art journal page, and I'm glad you like it! Thank you so much!

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  4. Beautiful page. I love how the little turquoise squares just pop out. Such pretty combination of colors and texture. Thanks for sharing it with the STAMPlorations Mixed Media Challenge.

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    1. You're so welcome! I'm glad you like what I was able to create.

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  5. beautiful art journal page!!!! Thanks for playing along with us at STAMPlorations Mixed Media Challenge this month!!! :)

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    1. This is so nice of you to say, I appreciate you taking the time to stop by!

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