SWAT is back with another Drill- This challenge-- LOVE! For this challenge, I chose to do a Mixed Media Canvas.
I wanted to stay away from the cliche representations of love, hearts, cupids, roses and the like. I decided to use a lotus instead of a rose. Lotuses bloom in muddy ponds, and rise from the mud at the bottom toward the light to bloom. The contrast of the pure flower against the muck in the pond is recognized as symbolism for purity and enlightenment in many cultures, especially Asian cultures.
Love is about growth. In some ways, the purity of love shines against the mundane and pain of everyday life. Love isn't a separation from hurt, is endures beyond, and is beauty within the mess.
Supplies for canvas:
Colored Pencil- a mix of brands
Acrylic- Daniel Smith and Golden
Paper- Authentique
Of course we want you to share with us at SWAT! Upload your creation to be entered for this month's prize.
SWAT has its new challenge up, The 3 big S's! This time, the challenge is to create a project with Stamping, Stitching, and Spray/Splatter.
I'm not usually a huge stamper, but I used this challenge to push the boundaries of how I would use stamps on a layout to create interest and dimension.
I started with a Sassafrass Lass paper as a background, and used some Powder Puff inks to stamp on the circle images. Then, I used a gelato to add some blue and green to the background to add depth. I sprayed the gelato with an alcohol/water mix to soften the lines, and walked away for a while. For me, the challenge of working with spray and water-based media is not overworking the project wet. I have found that messing with things too much creates a muddy mess.
After that dried, I added a mist to get some splatter, and used the stamp with some acrylic paint to create depth in the pattern.
I trimmed the paper, and mounted it on a MME Kaleidoscope paper (Circa 2005- use that stash!!), and began building my layout.
I hope you play with us at SWAT!
Escape Fear- Mixed Media 2013 Venetia Holbrook. Art journal entry.
I am having a lot of fun with art journaling, mostly because there are not really rules, so I can play with ideas and techniques that I have been wanting to try.
Again, this was created with stuff I already had about:
Paper (Authentique)
Acrylics (Daniel Smith)
Stamps and Ink
Pencil (Blackwing)
Glue (Beacon 3 in 1)
Colored Pencil (Prismacolor)
Marker (Sakura Pigment Sensei)
Mists
The journal I am using is the Dylusions Journal, which I picked up at Artco Crafts. The book pages measure 11 3/8" x 8 1/4", and the cover is sturdy kraft, with an elastic closure. There is also a manila envelope on the front to store ephemera. The paper is a cardstock weight white/off white mix, which reminds me of file folders. The book is bound, and lays flat nicely, creating a good work space. The journal is holding up to glue/wet media well, so far I am impressed.
~Venetia
I've been meaning to play with art journaling for a while, and I finally made myself sit down and finish a page. What is an art journal? Read this great post about how to make one at Daisy Yellow. One of my 2013 goals is to finish an art journal.
If you are interested in Art Journaling, and you are a mixed media artist, or a scrapbooker, you will find you don't need much to start. Yes, I know that it is more fun to enable purchasing, and believe me, I plan to review more artsy supplies to enable your purchasing.
What do you need to start?
~A journal (you could use a box, or a sketchbook, or a used book.)
~Paper of some sort
~Acrylic Paints, stamps/stamp pads, ink, alcohol ink, watercolor, crayons, markers, colored pencils (ANY of these)
~Adhesive
~Junk from around the house
I am going to share the creative process I used for this project. Since I play with hearts often, I decided to start with a heart theme. I have a crate of Authentique paper from Scrapbooksteals.com. I dug out papers I liked, then I freehand cut the heart. I've sewn around hearts before and liked the look, so I hand stitched the edge and recut the heart to reshape it a little. Holding it against the background I decided it looked dull so I colored the heart with colored pencil. I wanted the grey background more colorful, but was feeling too lazy to pull out my acrylics, so I misted it pink. It looked like I over-misted, and I didn't like the result. So I added blue mist which blended into purple (a counter intuitive fix to over misting, but it works). I drew the corner motif on the bottom, used bubble wrap painted with acrylic to make the dots. To fill the extra space of the background, I tore paper to fill in the edges, glued it down, then tacked down the large piece of background paper. Once the background was ready, I placed the heart and decided it needed wings. I sketched the wings, and fussy cut them. Then, I decided on the title. Once that was all down the doodling looked lonely, so I added more black, and finished with the white because it needed something else.
The result was this journal page. Have you tried Art journaling?
~Venetia
I like mixed media, mostly because I can make up the rules as I go. This project started as an idea adapted from some Artist Trading Cards that I created a few months ago.
I found the heart premade at Artco Crafts, my local craft store. I like Artco because it is locally owned and has an amazing mixture of products available. I also bought the shrink plastic, Collage Pauge, and Faber-Castel Pitt Pens at Artco.
This project mixed combined decoupage, shrinky dinks, colored pencil, and scrapbooking techniques.
