Tag Archives: art journal artist india

On my art table: Finding beauty in the darkness

finding beauty in the darkness art journal page

There is beauty in the darkness, if only we are brave enough to find it!

But how often are we willing to even acknowledge our bad habits; our insecurities and fears; our anxieties. How often do we stop and reflect on our inner voice, and on how mean it can be sometimes…oftentimes? How often do we justify our bad behavior by blaming someone else for the way we may have acted out? We have a choice in every moment: we can choose anger or acceptance; irritation or flow.

This does not mean we have to put up with bad behavior – it simply is about how we choose to react to it. We can respond to situations by ranting and raving; acting out in anger or irritation…and often, that is our default. Or we can calmly address the problem at hand, or assert our boundaries and simply walk away from someone else’s drama.Continue reading→

On my art table: 2-minute art journal page

You’re busy, you have NO time, and you have NO space. You have NO art skills and NO supplies.

{Don’t you think there are too many NOs here?}

Anyhow…. I am here you to tell you that YOU CAN STILL CREATE ART!

I painted this piece in a tiny 3.5×5″art journal using only watercolor pencils and some white paint and yellow acrylic ink in the last step to bring it all together. And I love how lose and abstract it looks.

I created it as part of a 7-day speed art Instagram challenge hosted by Eli Trier. Her original idea was to have challenge participants do each prompt on a different sheet of paper, as an exercise in learning how to loosen up and get over the fear of a blank page. I decided to combine all the daily prompts on one page {without even knowing what each day’s prompt would be}, and it turned into the perfect summer art project {you can see it evolve, step-by-step, on my Instagram account}.Continue reading→

Whimsical art: Let your imagination run riot

Alice par John Tenniel 30Rainbow colored animals, bright happy colors, make believe world, fairies and mermaids, gnomes and elves, monsters and angels – that in a nutshell is whimsical art. Most whimsical artists produce light, airy, happy pieces of art that are meant to fill the viewer up with joy.

But it isn’t all glitter and fairy dust in whimsical land. There are also dark, brooding monsters and sinister characters – like the Corpse Bride and Tim Burton’s more gothic whimsical style.

Whimsical artists play firmly in the field of imagination – flowers with a human face, unicorns, phoenix girls, centaurs – it’s all about the quirky. Continue reading→

Understanding layers: why I hide collage below layers of paint

For a long time, I simply did not understand the importance of building up layers in art journals. I looked at mixed media artists with astonishment. Why would they do that, I’d wonder, as they put down beautiful scrapbook paper on the page, only to hide it under gesso and layers of paint. Or I’d watch in utter fascination as they laid down beautiful doodles and stamps and stencils, and then again hid it under layers and layers of paint.

But why? Those looked like complete paintings too!Continue reading→

Take 10: How to create stunning art journal pages in 10 minutes a day

I hear ya – you’re busy, what with work, home, socializing, blogging…all the other roles, responsibilities, and activities that make up your day. Where and how will you find the time to make art, you wonder?

What if I told you to take out just 10 minutes a day? You know you can do it – after all, we spend a lot more than that mindlessly scrolling through our Twitter and Facebook timelines!

But can you really create an art journal page in 10 minutes a day?Continue reading→

Release your fear: create art with wild abandon

release fear comparison create wild abandon

Fear of paint, of art, of creativity is something I’ve come across over and over again. People constantly say they can’t paint, or they can’t draw. But I say that everyone can paint. Yes, everyone.

Think back to your childhood – chances are that painting and drawing were your favorite pastimes. But as you grew older, you suddenly started thinking that you cannot paint.

Why?Continue reading→

Just print: Printmaking made easy

Printmaking is a beautiful, though complex art. You have to first design your print, then etch or engrave it on metal plates; or use blocks of wood to create woodcuts and wood engravings; or linoleum to create linocuts. These are then inked and printed onto paper or fabrics. There’s also the screenprinting process, where screens made of silk fabric are used to create a print.

Red Fuji southern wind clear morning

All of these methods produce some beautiful works of art, and the results of each vary slightly. While we cannot recreate these exactly, there are a number of ways in which we can create stunning prints much more easily. These prints can be standalone works of art, used as a foundation on which we can build up a larger piece, or a part of our original library of printed papers that we use as collage elements in our art practice.Continue reading→