This is the big sister to a layout in my tiny art journal , which I showed you a few days ago. While this has a different arrangement, it started with the same concept, circles and the same quotation. It also has the same paint colors. Both backgrounds were painted at the same time. Just as with the tiny version, this began with text papers from a book, magazines and junk mail being attached to the page with Liquatex Matte Medium. When it dried, a layer of gesso mixed with a bit of water was brushed over the page to lower the contrast.
I’m tackling an older (from January) color challenge this week: Teal, Yellow and Grey. This is another small (2-5/8" x 4") card cut from a junk mail advertisement. I began by swiping the three colors in various places across the card. When that dried, I used a stencil to add the deeper, teal-blue design. I also added a few yellow hexagons. To me, the lighter color near one side of the card looked like water, so I reinforced that with a bit more streaks. I added some small touches of contrasting red orange to suggest the idea of flowers.
I showed you a page from my art journal on Friday. If you remember, it had a design issue: The way it was laid out, the page was divided into distinct quarters with no flow between them. I decided to tackle a revision of the design. The first step was to get rid of the worst parts and restore the basic design as best as I could. I began with Liquatex white and bright aqua green gouache. I dabbed these over the wording using my fingers and a brush to blend them out into the background.
This is both a fail and a win. Initially, I started with the second color scheme challenge for February. I had brushed on streaks of Bright Aqua Green, Quinacridone Magenta and Dioxazine Purple. These colors are intense. I didn’t like what they looked like on the page. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to tone it all down and possibly cover it up with a coat of gesso. When I did that, I liked it a lot better. All the colors were a pale value, which was easier for me to deal with.
This is the reverse side of the card I showed you yesterday . When I flipped the card over, there was this shape that was part of a speech bubble in the advertisement that was originally on the paper. When I flipped the card upside down, the shape reminded me of a bird, so I went for it. This began with painting the lighter blue, and violet color on the card, avoiding the bird shape. Then the bird shape was painted in with the dark blue.
This is a simple color test for a color challenge for this month. The colors are Light Blue Permanent, Deep Violet and Prussian Blue. This is a small (2-5/8" x 4") card cut from a junk mail advertisement. I hate to throw perfectly good paper and cardstock away, so I often cut the cardstock into this size/shape pieces. Then I use the small cards for various small art. In this case, the card was mostly white with a small amount of printing.
Yesterday, you saw my micro art journaling layout for a Facebook Color Challenge. Today, here’s my full-sized page for the same challenge. I began by using a palette knife to apply the three colors to my page. I didn’t have any particular style in mind, I just wanted to see what they looked like. Then I used a couple of stencils to add more color to the page. While that was drying, I started looking through a magazine that was in my office, because I was going to put it away, and I came across this image. It was absolutely perfect, repeating the rectangular pattern in the clothing, and picking up the color! I attached it to the page using matte medium.