So say we all... (art journaling)

Lately, I have been working on pages in my art journals.  It is a great outlet, since I can't get things too messy around here (our house is for sale).  Also breaking my toe last week has caused me to be more stationary than I am used to.   Art journals don't require anything more than the book, pen, or pencil, and you don't need a lot of space to work.
For me, I have put aside my acrylics and been working on my nemesis.... watercolors.
The paper in my journal is handmade (not by me) and reacts so uniquely to the paint.  I am really liking the affect.

BSG fans may appreciate this page...

Below is a page inspired by Kandinsky's composition paintings.  In a recent class, I had my students look at a few of his paintings and create their own similar piece of art.  This is my interpretation.  I guess I was craving olives...

Visual Journaling

I have been thinking that I need to organize my blog posts into a couple of different blogs.  The problem with that is that I would end up with 60 different categories.  It probably would be good to have a new blog for my art and visual journals.  I hope that I am able to use visual journals in some type of workshop format, for the use of art therapy in the future. 

With my journaling, I try to do a thematic approach, but no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to keep any cohesive theme to my pages.  Just like my blog, my journals end up being slightly  schizophrenic in nature. 

 

artistic doodling

 steampunk collage

more traditional watercolor, and conte crayon using a photograph I took in a local garden as a base.

Names and Artistic doodling

For a while now, when a friend has a child, I have painted a piece for the baby's room.  My sister wanted the sex of the baby to be a surprise, so I was working on a neutral sheep (her theme) painting for the nursery.  It was not working for me.  She had the baby and no spectacular painting.  So, this is what I came up with when I heard the baby's name.  Adeline is a family name from my dad's side and Frances is a family name from my sister's husband's family.  Now at least she has something pink. 

In other artistic pursuits, I have been mainly doodling.  There is a trend in art called Zentangles, it is basically structured doodling.  I have been looking at some online and it has been a lot of fun.  Zentangles are awesome because you do not need any artistic experience to learn, but as an art teacher, there is a lot of skill development.  Some of my art lessons have doodling included which are very similiar to the Zentangle approach.zentangle explanation 
What I have below are not really zentangles though, but my own take on artistic doodling.

Not a zentangle, but a watercolor poppy.  Poppies always remind me of the Wizard of Oz.

Above are a couple of my Zentangles.

A sketch of a rose from my Valentines bouquet. My husband, bought me the best bouquet this year, because it was a mix of red, pinks, and white.  I think the white ones were my favorites.  Red roses are so hackneyed.  And they are more difficult to sketch, since the values are so dark.