What's the point...

So what is the point of pretty pages and pretty images?
What is the point of painting some flowers?
What is the point of painting a cute face?

I am looking for meaning.

I want to surprise myself.
I want to let my unconscious self speak.
I want to create something meaningful.

Simpel and decorative

Simple, quick background - watercolor, acrylic ink, marker, stencil, paint stained tissuepaper- , cut into small pieces, reposition pieces (or not)  and put in nice frame....

In my art journal this week

Instead of "copying" something, such as a portrait or still life or landscape I wanted to surprise myself and create something new. I used a drawing technique I learned from Milliande. She calls it a free  form investigation sketch.

Here is an example:
















It's fun . When I start I don't know what it is I am painting. I love the fact that slowly something comes to life.
This week my doodles became a moondance, a composer and a statue. The statue isn't finished but I wanted to show it anyway.

I really want to learn to tell a story,  not just copy something. I want to find my own style and meaning. This is my favorite technique to learn just that.

Non-dominant hand drawings

Using my left hand I made some portraits.
I was pleasantly surprised. I really liked the style of my left hand drawings  and the simplicity. Most of all it was fun to do. I wasn't as critical of myself as I usually am.

I used my left hand to sketch the faces than used my right hand to color. The images came from magazines.

It's a great way to silence my perfectionism.

My favorite portrait is the second drawing. The girl with the red hair and braids.
The first red head girl I framed and it she is now looking at me from the wall behind my desk. She reminds me with her uneven eyes that it's OK to make mistakes...  She's still beautiful.

Embarrassed

                                                                  Daydreaming
                                                                   

Sometimes I feel embarrassed when I look at something I made.
It looks so simple and yet I like it.
I feel as if someone is about to tell me: 'Is that all? You really think that is good enough?'

Capi - raw sketches

"CAPI : Create Art Portfolio Ideas - Developing & Documenting - a Multimedia Approach to Exploring Themes in Search of a Personal Artistic Style”

I've mentioned I have joined CAPI in a previous post. It's a year long course by Milliande and I have now finished some of the first assignments.

My favorite assignment was a free form association exercise.

If you want to check it out here are the links:

http://www.milliande.com/capi-raw-sketchbook-assignment-1-free-form-association.html

http://www.milliande.com/capi-raw-sketchbook-assignment-2-form-investigation.html

http://www.milliande.com/capi-raw-sketchbook-assignment-3-form-composition.html

I found it hard to just sketch and doodle without thinking about the end result. I need more practice on playing and exploring shapes and sketches.

I couldn't resist making stamps out of foam sheets using some of my shapes  as you can see here:

I wish I found out about this exercise years ago!

CAPI

Yesterday I joined CAPI, a project by Milliande.

“CAPI : Create Art Portfolio Ideas - Developing & Documenting - a Multimedia Approach to Exploring Themes in Search of a Personal Artistic Style”

From the website:

"To clarify: CAPI is not about pretty journal pages or step by by step completed artworks or a tube of glitter to jazz up a craft project.

CAPI is about definite exercises to unearth "What am I trying to say with my artworks" and "What tools I can use to consistently realise that in my art ".

CAPI : to be an invitation to a  process without a set schedule... a challenge for each of us to truly ponder and discover something deeply intrinsic in what/how we do and say as artists... 

CAPI is a structure within which to make individual discoveries and collect a toolbox as a source of focus inspiration."

Here is the intro: http://www.milliande.com/capi-create-art-portfolio-ideas.html

Finding my own style is something I want to focus on this year, I think this project  is a good way to start.

The do's and don'ts of creativity.

I have been writing in my journal today. I was thinking about the things  I have learned the past year and made this list of my do’s and don’ts :

• Don’t believe it’s always fun.

Especially at first it’s hard.You don’t know what you are doing, you have no idea how to get your ideas onto paper.

It can be frustrating watching tutorials where artists are creating beautiful work and tell you to ‘just have fun with it’.

It’s not. 

It’s hard, I make mistakes. I make bad stuff.

But I can now accept it’s part of the learning proces: Nobody tells this to people who are beginners.

• Don’t set myself up for failure with unrealistic expectations.

I won’t art journal everyday.
Sometimes I feel like doing something else.

• Don’t expect what works for others will work for me.

It won’t.

• Do allow myself to not finish work.
• Do wait for the glue to dry.
• Do go on an artists date once a week. 
• Do give myself permission to do things my own way.

What are your do's and don'ts?

Expressing myself through art journaling

I have always found it difficult to express myself through art.
I can paint a portrait, a landscape, a still life - that’s 'easy', but to actually express my feelings, my thoughts - that is not easy.

Two collage methods I found very helpful to become more open:
1 Combining text and images.
2 Soul Collage.

Combining text and images:

I simply collect images I like in one container and text in another.
And then I have fun combining the two.

I use a very basic background technique :

I glue down 3 or 4 bits of random paper.
I add diluted white acrylic paint or gesso.
Then paste the images and text
add some more white paint or gesso and finaly
add some details.

I need loneliness, even the painful aspects.

upwards, into the sky.

Soul Collage :

“Using intuition and imagination, you create your own deck of collaged cards, where each card reflects a different aspect of who you are.” 

link: http://www.kaleidosoul.com/soulcollage-cardmaking.html 

The intuitive method:

Find images that appeal to you.

Collect background images.

Categorize images and work with one category you find interesting.

Combine those images with the backgrounds you have collected: the right one will just ‘click’.

This is the very first card I made about two years ago. I found I had collected these images of hot airballoons. Why?

No idea. 

But put together with these high (and safe) castle walls, they tell a story.

(Sorry about the quality of the scan.) 

The outcome of these collages are always personal and often lead to more ideas for themes.

On art journaling

Here are some of my art journals:

They are cheap notebooks that I use almost every day.

I use them to experiment with different techniques and materials.
To make notes and write down ideas.
To make small composition sketches.
For mind mapping, doodling.
To create a visual journal about thoughts, feelings, events, people and moments I want to record.

The reason I use cheap notebooks is that it takes off the pressure of ‘doing things right’.
I can waste paper as much as I like.
With expensive paper or journals I would be to worried to do anything!

(I still have some very expensive pastel drawing paper under my bed that I have used only twice in 20 years.)

Here is some more information on art journaling:

15 reasons why artists keep visual journals

How to start an art journal.

Mini collage

When I am sitting at my desk and have to wait,  I will grab a piece of paper and start making a mini collage.
Sometimes it’s a blank piece of paper, sometimes paper I have used to wipe off excess paint or ink:

 I will use  my cheap box of watercolors, some left over bits of colored paper and add some details with markers.

Messing around like this is great. There are no expectations, no right or wrong, no mistakes. Just cheap bits of recycled paper and cheap materials, so I don't have to feel bad about wasting money or materials. And the best thing is that without all that pressure I feel free to experiment. With sometimes surprising results!

 

Collage