Art Journaling with Art Prompt Cards

Hello blog friends,

I endeavour to make art every day, even if it's just a fifteen minute break in between work and chores, but sometimes I struggle to come up with an idea. This is where my handmade Art Prompt Cards come in handy. 

I shuffled the cards and then picked three. The prompts I chose were "shades of red", "make splatters" and "add stamps". On a whim I decided to film my process of impromptu art making and you can find the short video below. Don't forget to leave a thumbs up 😊

Whenever I don't have much time, I like to grab a few favorite tools, such as a brayer, grungy background stamps and paint pens. In the above collage you can see how I have built up layers with paint and stamps using the art prompts. If you look closely - in step four I made some splatters in a darker shade of red than the main red, which is carmine. (In the video I mistakenly said crimson).

If you have followed my blog for a while, you'll know that I often add face sketches to my art journal pages. Alternatively, I use this fun face stamp from Jane Davenport - and before you ask - it's been discontinued, but there may be some sets still available online. Just put her name in search + stamps. This face stamp in three sizes lets you create endless hairstyles, which I find highly entertaining. Should you choose to draw a figure the clothing options are endless, too. 

In my example: after stamping on a separate piece of paper I sketched in a short hairstyle and added just the top part of the body. Yes, my lady has lilac hair 😊💜 I also used my large alphabet stamp set to stamp some words.

A fun page created with the help of my art prompts and using some of my favorite tools! Thanks for stopping by my blog. Have a wonderful weekend ahead and Happy Easter to those that celebrate 🌸

Monday Moodboard

Hello lovelies!

I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend. We're in the middle of a cold spell, which is not unusual for my area. Hopefully the temperatures will have warmed up by Easter at the end of the week. And that's the theme for my mood board today. As in previous mood boards I have chosen a pastel palette once again. Enjoy and happy Monday!

Click on links below for more info.

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Art Challenge! Mixed Media Abstract with Watercolors (and a Fail)

Hello lovelies!

If anyone asked me I would say that most of my time is spent experimenting rather than creating actual artwork. And I'll let you in on a little secret...quite a number of those pieces don't turn out as I had hoped. But I would never simply discard them, as there are always some bits that I like. My solution: tear those bits into small pieces and use them as background collage! It works for me. 

And on a few occasions on this wonderful art journey of mine, I have purchased items that somehow end up at the back of the supply cupboard, sadly neglected. I came across a few of these as I was clearing out my studio. In the short video below I'm sharing my art experiment with these unused supplies and how I feel about the result. One thing is for sure - I will never use gold leaf in my art again. I'd rather use gold paint or paint pens. 

That being said, if any of my readers has experience in using gold leaf and its proper application, please kindly share in the comments. I would love to know!

Here is a close up of my abstract art experiment

Even though I messed up the lower part with the disastrous gold leaf, I do like this color palette and the round shapes as well as the mark making. As I mentioned in the first paragraph - there are always good bits to be kept. As for the other supplies, I have put the marker pens in my line of sight, so that I can use them for mark making. I'll try to use up those watercolor pans, even if "only" for making background washes. I probably won't use the stencil that much, as the florals are too stylized for my liking. Thankfully, it only cost me a few euros. I like the India Ink and I'm not sure why the jar has been sitting there unused, but instead of the dip pen, which, I admit, is very decorative, it's more practical to journal with my regular fountain pen.

As always, thank you for stopping by and again, if you have any tips as to how to work with gold leaf, do leave a comment. Thank you. Happy Friday!