When I think of plein air painting, I think of the impressionists and my absolute favorite artist in the whole wide world, Claude Monet.
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Water Lilies and Japanese Bridge, Claude Monet
Plein Air painting + my travel art journaling supplies
Harness the power of water: 5 fun painting techniques
Over the last few days, we’ve talked about brushes and collage, creating abstract art and examining art deco patterns to gain some inspiration for our art journal pages. Today, let’s look at some fun ways to add paint to paper.
5 fun painting techniques
Drips: This is one of my favorite things to do. Use some watered down acrylics or acrylic ink, stand the journal upright, and watch the paint drip down the page. Take a look at the super short video below to see this technique in action.Continue reading
Collage: a quick and dirty primer
Most of us have created a collage at some point or the other – most commonly as teens, when we pasted fun photographs of friends and family on some chart paper, or put together a vision board with some images and text. But collage can be so much more than that!
Getting started with collage: supplies
Gather together images, newspaper and magazine clippings, painted and handmade paper, ribbon, thread, photographs, and anything else that can be glued onto a page or canvas board and you have the makings of a collage.Continue reading
April A to Z 2017: The Artists Toolbox
I’m doing it again – participating in the Blogging From A To Z Challenge, that is! Last year’s experience was exhilarating, and I’m eager to do take it up again this year.
All through the month of April, I’m going to introduce you to the tools, mediums and supplies that are the staples of an art journaling artist, as well as introduce you to some styles and techniques that you can incorporate into your work.
Here’s what you can look forward to next month:
A run-down of the basic tools that you need in your toolbox – paper, brushes, scrapers, found objects and the like.
A close look at the supplies (geared towards art journaling) that you need in your studio, as well as an introduction to various acrylic mediums. This will be invaluable for anyone wanting to start an art journal and wondering what materials they would need to get started.
An introduction to various art movements and techniques that will help you to get started on your artist’s journey.
I do hope you will join me on this month-long journey, and that it will inspire you to pick up paints and paper and dive into this exciting hobby!
Magic making: Creating my first oracle card deck
Last year, I had a dream: to create my very own oracle card deck.
I did some research and tried brainstorming a few ideas, but I was getting nowhere. There were too many ideas knocking around in my head…too many elements I was trying to put into one deck. I couldn’t narrow down on a theme or a structure and I would change my mind almost every day! So, I put it on the back burner and forgot all about it.
The first four cards for my first oracle card deck!
Then, at the start of March, I stumbled upon the Create this oracle deck Instagram challenge run by otmoraclecards. Continue reading
#PocketFullOfArt: Approach this work with devotion
This simple, small little spread took me three days to finish, largely due to the lack of time.
I’ve been using my daily Tarot pulls as inspiration to create a small spread in my tiny art journal {almost} every day. The goal was to finish a page a day; however, I’ve come to realize that isn’t always possible, even though I am working small. And that’s OK.
The biggest point of the Pocket Full of Art initiative is to create some art everyday, in the pockets of time that we have available to us. To come each day to the table, open to the possibilities and the emotions. To express ourselves with paint and paper, or origami folds, or with a cross-stitch or any other form of art. Continue reading
#PocketFullOfArt: A daily art challenge with a twist
Challenges seem to have become a thing around here – after the Mindful Break and Kindle Thy Spark, this is my most ambitious yet – a daily art challenge! But first:
Why a daily art challenge?
Because my one small regret from last year is that I did not make enough time for art, especially in the second half of the year. Moving to a self-hosted blog and all the tiny little tweaks I had to make to it ate up a lot of my time and attention. Setting up an online Tarot reading business took up another chunk of energy. And then there was all the time I spent dreaming about blogging and fun new ideas – like the two Instagram challenges mentioned above. No wonder that my art table felt a bit neglected! Continue reading
On my art table: Soulful surrender
There’s a current of magic that flows through our life.
I’m not talking about the Harry Potter kind of magic. I’m talking about the magic that shows up in our life – through synchronicity. Which is simply being in the right place at the right time, meeting the right people at the right time, hearing a message or a piece of music at the right time.
It’s not necessarily earth shattering magic.
#MicroblogMondays: The birth of a painting
Before I started on my art journey, I often wondered how artists came up with ideas for their paintings. What sort of research did they do? What techniques did they study? How did they prepare for a session? I never found any satisfactory answers – or maybe I didn’t look hard enough. So I thought I’d share my process for brainstorming and researching ideas and techniques for a canvas that I’m about to start.
The birth of a painting
In the middle of busy work loads and hectic commitments, I’ve been squeezing in some reading time. My Pocket feed is filled with articles on color theory and symbolism, color meanings and associations, the meaning and significance of color in different cultures, color color, and more color.Continue reading