Sketchbook Pages and a Failed Zentangle!

Here are some sketchbook pages and a zentangle.

more sketchbook pages

Here are three more pages from my sketchbook. Lots of random doodles!

sketchbook

On October 19, 2010, I decided to start a sketchbook. I hope it will be more visual than textual, as I started it with the hopes of practicing my drawing skills. I also hope to exercise my imagination and free my inhabitions. Here are a few of the pages I have so far.

doodles and a zendala

Since I started my new babysitting job and my new tutoring job this week, I have been slacking with my art work. However, here is a zendala I made over the past week and a page of doodles I whipped up today. I used some Zentangle patterns from the book by Sandy Steen Bartholomew. The book is called Totally Tangled and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in Zentangles!

This too shall pass!

This is an art journaling page I made over four days last week. I used a salt resist with Twinkling H2Os watercolor to make the background. I included bits of collage from Samantha Kira at www.journalgirl.com. I also used Sakura pens, tissue paper, colored pencils, and Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayons.

Pretty in Pink: A Quick Collage

Here is a quick collage I made today. It is not complete, as I plan on adding some lettering to it, and perhaps some other touches. I also made my second-ever ATC today! It is for an art swap that Samantha Kira (www.journalgirl.com) is hosting. I fear that my art swap partner will be disappointed, but hopefully she will understand that I am an amateur!

doodle mania!

I have been making doodles for Traci Baustista's "Creative Doodles" class. It's so fun to make these! I love to experiment with my different pens and different types of marks. Doodling is very liberating. These are just four of the many doodle pages I have made.

drawing exercise and three works-in-progress

Here is an "upside down drawing," a drawing exercise I did from an instructional book, Drawing for the Absolute and Utter Beginner. I think it came out better than I thought it would. Also, here are three works-in-progress. I did these on individual sheets of paper.

first attempt at drawing!

I've been doing lots of art-related activities recently! Everything from coloring pictures for a charity called Color a Smile (www.colorasmile.org) to painting backgrounds to doodling designs in my art journal. I don't have any completed pages of my art journal to show you, though. However, I do have my FIRST attempt at drawing to show you. I followed an exercise from a website called Teach Art at Home (http://www.teachartathome.com/). I will be taking an online drawing class with Leslie Herger (http://www.comfortableshoesstudio.com/) in September, so I wanted to experiment first. Here is my final product! (PS- I know it's terrible!)

Rome and Sparta pages

Roma- I made this spread about a month ago. But, a few days ago, I added to it. I used an ultra fine black Sharpie, a fine black Sharpie, pictures and a map from an old book about Rome, gesso, and walnut ink.

Sparta- I made this spread about a month or two ago. I used watercolors, Twinkling H2Os, a black Sharpie, green acrylic paint, and two poems from a book of modern Greek poetry. After reading one poem by CP Cavafy (one of my favorite poets ever), I was inspired to art journal about Sparta. Writing in cursive is always a challenge for me, as I usually do not write this way. However, I was happy I chose to use cursive writing for this piece.

zendala

Here is my very first zendala! Zendala is a cross between a zentangle and a mandala. I made this zendala early in the morning after a sleepless night. I used an 03 black Micron pen and a fine black Sharpie permanent marker. I would like to thank Milliande at http://www.milliande.com/ for her video about zendalas! It was her video  that inspired me to make my own zendala.

Shape your Happiness spread

Here is a collage I made today. I started with the intention of making a gluebook-style spread. So, at first, I used just paper and a glue stick (and a scissor to cut out the elements). After I made the collage, I decided to place a player of yellow tissue paper over the spread. I used gloss Mod Podge for this. I find it interesting that this is the second art journaling page I've made this month that is yellow. Maybe a psychologist would be able to figure that one out! lol

Art Journal Stimulus Project (with Dawn D. Sokol)

This is an assignment for Dawn D. Sokol's art journaling class. With a permanent marker, I wrote all the nasty emotions I have been feeling and the causes of these emotions. Then, I painted two layers of white gesso and two layers of deep yellow paint. Next, I used a red permanent marker to write all the good things about my day. I also added a quote by Dr. Seuss and three pictures of song birds.

bronchitis and backgrounds

I've had bronchitis that has lasted more than two week! I am starting to feel much better now, and I am back in action with creating art. Two days ago, I painted some backgrounds, some with watercolors and some with acrylics. I am starting to realize that I like creating art journaling pages on individual sheets, rather than in a journal. However, I still use journals, as well. Here are some of the backgrounds I did the other day:

10 minute collage

This is a collage I made a few weeks ago while doing an exercise in Diane Trout's book, Journal Spilling. In this exercise, Trout encourages readers to work quickly and without stopping. I followed her advice pretty well. It took me 10 minutes to make this collage. Here is the collage:

no art recently!

I have not been making much art recently, as I started a new volunteer position two weeks ago. I now volunteer with children at a domestic violence shelter. I've still been writing in my journal a few times a week, but I have not been taking out my art materials and playing with them much. So, instead of posting a picture of my art, here is a picture of Vasya, the orphan from Ukraine whom I have been sponsoring for three years. He is holding clothes I bought him in this picture. If you would like to sponsor a Ukrainian orphan, check out: http://anorphansmiles.org/

two collages

These are two simple collages I did using some elements from Kira Harding, Traci Bautista, and a few other places. I did them both fairly quickly, a suggestion from the book Journal Spilling by Diane Trout. If you have not heard of Kira (www.journalgirl.com) or Traci (http://www.treicdesigns.com/), I highly suggest you visit their websites! Both of them have digital downloads of collage elements. You absolutely must buy Kira's collage book! It's AWESOME!

"consumption" mixed media piece

This is a mixed media piece I created a few weeks ago. I was thinking of adding more to it, but then I realized I am happy with it the way it is. The inspiration came for it when I was in an artistic and playful mood one day. First, while I was looking through images of birds, I fell in love with one bird in particular. I thought he looked like he should be swooping down and grabbing a fish. So, I decided to add pictures of the bird and four fish to a watercolor-painted sheet of paper I prepared the night before Then, I thought it would be humorous to make a slight political statement by drawing a comparison between the bird and Marie Antoinette. Once I thought of this comparison, the word "consumption" immediately came to my mind as an encompassing term.I added two portraits of Marie Antoinette, along with the word "consumption." I finished the piece by using acrylic paint to paint a yellow sun.

Pippa the Fairy

Here is a drawing I did! I followed the instructions from the ebook I received from an awesome artist named Nicolette Anderson (http://nickieblog.blogspot.com/). I first drew the fairy in pencil. Then, I went over the lines with a black Micron. Then, I colored her in using crayons. After I drew her, I decided she needed a name. So, I named her Pippa. I used Crayola markers to write her name and draw a heart. Finally, I did a green squiggly border with a green marker. So fun! NB: The paper is thin, so the zentangle-style mandala I made on the next page is peeking through a bit!

PS- This is a great site for people who love to doodle or who want to learn! http://www.doodle-art-alley.com/

Japan page

Here is a page I finished today. I did the watercolors a few weeks ago, but then abandoned the page because I did not like the way it was turning out. However, after flipping through my art journal, I rediscovered the page's potential. I used markers, writing, and lines to complete the page. I even included my best friend's name in kanji (or some other Japanese alphabet).

mandalas

This is my first attempt at making a mandala. I am using Erin Dragonsong's ebook about mandalas (http://www.wicca-spirituality.com/mandala.html). The ebook is only 35 dollars and I think it is very much worth that price. I know that this mandala is not good. Again, this is my first-ever attempt at making a mandala. It was fun to create this mandala. I will probably try to design a few more before I go over the patterns in ink and color it.

My first decent art journaling page!

Here is a page I did that I actually like! I am trying to add more layers to my art journaling pages. So, I started out by writing with a Micron pen on the blank page. Then, I painted on a layer of white gesso. Next, I used a Sharpie to write "Therapy," added three pictures that were cut out from magazines, and added two textual elements I cut out from a literary journal. I then added a layer of white gesso over the three pictures. Finally, I painted over the entire page using Twinkling H2Os (a brand of shimmering watercolor) from LuminArte. I completed the page by adding more writing.

flowers and a dragonfly

Here are some doodles I have done! One is a page of flowers and the other is a dragonfly. I did these with pens and markers. Nothing special.

Flower and more borders

I know, I know- I've been slacking. My health has not been good, so I have not been doing much. Here is a flower I made a little while ago and some practice I did with borders. Both are for Nicolette's classes. Sorry about the last picture- I am using my mom's laptop and I have no idea how to crop on here.

painted borders

I've been slacking! Of course, it's due to fatigue and pain, but, still, I feel like I've been slacking. Anywho, here are some borders I made in Violette's art journaling class! I love the class... check it out here (http://violette.ca/). I used a credit card to smear paint on paper. Then, I cut the paper into these strips:

Creative Lettering Class

I am taking a lettering class with Nicolette Anderson (http://nickieblog.blogspot.com/). I love it and highly recommend it, especially for people like me who stink with making pretty lettering. So far I have done three assignments: writing out an alphabet, writing a quote ("It's all about the climb") in an alphabet called Tinkertoy, and writing the same quote in a different alphabet and then using color in the negative space. Here's my "homework"!

blue heart

I made this piece after reading about the technique in Violette's "Journal Bliss." I put two layers of gesso on a page in my composition book. Then, I glued on a blue heart made of construction paper. Next, I glued on a layer of light blue tissue paper and used some pearly white paint. Lastly, I applied gel medium.

comp book cover

I decorated the cover of my composition book! I wanted a simple design so that I would not feel intimidated to use my art journal.

I used sandpaper on the cover to get some of the glossy finish off. I used Original Tacky Glue and attached three layers of yellow tissue paper. I attached a piece of pink construction paper and then a red heart made of construction paper. I also attached another piece of pink paper with my name and "Art Journal #1" on it. Lastly, I covered it with a gel medium.

I wish I would have used gesso after I used the sandpaper, so that the writing on the cover would be covered. I may add a few extra layers of yellow tissue paper.

Michael's coupon

I went to Michael's again today! This time, it was to use my two coupons. I bought:

• some acrylic paints
• brushes
• more glue sticks
• Original Tacky Glue
• more gloss medium varnish
• some brads
• some more heart-shaped buttons

I was originally supposed to pay 48 dollars, but, with the coupons, I got it all for 32 dollars! What a bargain! Now, I should be set for a while!

I love you, Ao!

This year, I asked my best friend, Ao, to be my Valentine. I am bribing her with a collage I made! haha. I used three sheets of patterned paper as the background. Then, I wrote "I love you" in six different laguages using a ballpoint ink pen (I have not yet received my fountain pens from www.dickblick.com). I used a glue stick to attach them. I really hope my "Aoica" likes it!

simple piece for a soldier

I made this very simpe piece with markers on plain computer paper that already had "Erika" printed on it. Erika is my "adopted" soldier through Soldier's Angels (www.soldiersangels.com). I am going to mail it to her tomorrow, along with a letter I wrote her. I cannot sleep again tonight, which is a bummer. Oh, well... I will make the best of it by making things and such. Just a note: the bottom of the paper got cut off by the camera.