Art Journaling Prompt

Hello Creatives,

It's art journaling prompt/ sketchbook time!

This project is in a mixed media art style and pretty easy, so it could be tried with kids in an art class as well. I created this as an example for my art class in the small group of kids that I teach, I will let you know if it's a success!

I think sometimes all you need to get going in your art journal is some instructions or a few prompts to follow.

So, I have created this for you today. Let me know if you try it, I'd love to see what you come up with!

You will need:

-Art journal/sketchbook
-Scrapbook papers
-Mod Podge
-Back & white print out of yourself or a loved one
-Acrylic paints
-Matte painting medium (I love to use gloss but I find it makes the pages stick in a sketchbook)
-Paint Pens

I began by sticking various pieces of scrapbook papers onto the pages. I had some scrappy bits that my art-class-kids had messed up. But not to worry, that adds to all the layering and textural effects! Tear or cut them up. Torn edges look good. Don't get precious :)

I paste the back of the papers with mod podge first, press them down, then paste more mod podge over the top. This helps to minimise wrinkling.

Cut around your black and white figure print out and paste onto the pages where you'd like it to be.

Then using medium & paint, add washes over the top varying from transparent to opaque. In some places the scrapbook paper gets completely covered. I added some petals around the 'love you more' piece, then painted in some dots and splodges.

Next up, take a small paintbrush and add some detail with a darker colour. I added outlines of a flower, but you could do anything here. You could add words, or shells, or toadstool for example. If you look at the last photo, I have added 4 points of interest with some visual space in between around the figure. 

I also added a wash of pale yellow over the cardigan, and painted some pink cheek circles in :)

Add more paint and washes if desired. I used a white paint pen to bring some texture back into the clothing.

Add some more medium-paint-mix here using darker colours thinned out quite a bit, and rub back, manipulate and push the medium around using a tissue. This creates some extra depth and texture.

Last of all, when it's completely dry (don't be impatient like me and ruin your paint pens), take some paint pens and doodle over the top however you would like.

All done! What I love about a set of "instructions" for art journaling/ sketchbook work, is that you can take some of the decisions and fear away from what to do, take the cues and just enjoy the creative process.

Enjoy!

Jules :)

New Art: Sculpture

Hello Creativity Lovers! I have some new art to share today in the form of a sculpture.

I was driven to create a piece that was elaborate and detailed. As I was making it I was thinking about the woman holding the cheetah creature, who also seems to represent a child, with its naive face and it got me thinking about the things we are connected to. We care for the extensions of ourselves in our lives; children or animals, and we are bound and tied to them in bittersweet ways. 

The Ties That Bind Us or; Nurture

The binding is represented by the entwining black beads around the woman's leg, keeping her in a place that sometimes feels restrictive, but ultimately, it's where she wants to be.

It's a mixed media art piece that was made used paper mache, air dry clay, plaster, gauze, wire, beads, wool, fabric and acrylic paint. It's also a shout out to my love of crazy colour, texture, and maximalism.

I think this 3D art/ sculpture has got me all excited about a new way of working, and my mind is flooded with imagery of possibilities. I have signed up for a ceramics class next term to keep this 3D art & sculpture thread going, and am excited to see where that leads.

Hope you enjoyed checking out my latest project.

Jules :)

New Art Print: Just be You

I have a new art print available in the shop.

This painting was created as part of the MATS illustration course I did. You can read about the process and see progress shots here.

A bit of wall decor... Example of "Just be You" framed 8 x 8"

It's such a simple yet inspirational and empowering quote. So many of us need a reminder that we don't need to try to be something else than our own unique, quirky and weird selves.

Just be you! Because everyone else is taken... :)

So from one shy person who at times can be riddled with insecurities, I'm finding this artwork is just as good a reminder to myself. 

I really enjoy my own company but am still learning how to completely own myself and be ok with who I am out in the wide world. I'm getting there slowly, the more I age :) 

I hope you like it!

You can find two sizes of this print here in the shop.

Jules :)

Creative Life Round Up

Hello creatives :)

It's been a few more days since my last blog post than usual. I have quite a bit on at the moment so posts may be fewer and further between, but rest assured I'm still here. I'll get a bit more regular with my posts when things calm down a bit here with my workload.

Time for a creative life round up! These posts are bits n pieces type posts, showing things I'm working on or thinking about or planning. Kind of like the blog post equivalent of all the left over veggies you have in your fridge that you turn into a soup :)

I feel like I haven't been achieving much because I have a children's book I'm working on brewing in the background that is taking most of my time, but gathering some images today and thinking about other projects that are happening and I'm not yet showing here, I realise I actually have got a bit of other creative work done!

First up is a dragon painting that has been requested of me. It's in it's final stages now. Nearly done, I think. It's acrylic on canvas.

I had one of my plaster birds hanging up on a wall and the hook fell off the wall! So a wing chipped. I thought I may as well make some more whilst I'm in the process of mending one. So I now have some plaster birds and hearts ready to be painted up. I have our local Arts Market to think about coming up later in the year which will be here before I know it.

As well as commissions and tutorials and artwork I'm supposed to be doing, I also love to create for the sake of creating. Creating art that has no owner waiting for it or no purpose in mind for it. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. Therefore, I'm free to just be as strange as I like and explore. That's when discoveries and growth as an artist happens (which is why I think working in sketchbooks is so valuable). 

Speaking of sketch books, here's a recent entry. Mixed media.

This cement water fountain sculpture that I made years & years ago is having some repairs done. Unfortunately the first layer of cement I added had gone off and didn't set, so I had to hose it all off and start again. It's a very time consuming project. Cement works in weird ways; it's hard yet sloppy, grainy but then you can make it super-smooth. It's heavy and subject to gravity, and it's so hard when cured but so delicate when unset. Knock a bit before it's set and it's gone! But I enjoy using it. I like it's permanency and the fact that you can put cement creations outside in the weather.

I have two tutorials nearly finished. One involves cement and the other doilies. Coming soon! I've also been dabbling with mosaic pieces out in the garage, but I might save those for another blog post. Nothing exciting to see yet. Just grouting some of the kids' old works. 

I'm now counting down the days to winter ending. I am tired. I feel like lying in bed watching movies and reading books and truly hibernating till the end of this month. It's not mega cold here or snowing or anything like in some parts of the world but I'm still feeling it. And where has this fatigue come from!? Bring on Spring!

Jules :)

Art Journaling Prompt: Collage & Mixed Media

An art journaling prompt for you today, using collage & mixed media.

I used collage to kick start this sketch book entry, scrap book papers, and some images printed on my ink jet printer at home.

Sometimes all you need is a few prompts to get you started on some new pages in your sketch book or art journal. Follow this art journaling recipe along as closely or as loosely as you like!

You will need:

-scrapbook papers
-printed images
-mod podge
-acrylic paints
-matt medium
-coloured pencils

Head over to The Graphics Fairy to find some copyright-free print-quality images that interest you and print a few out at sizes that will work well in your sketch book. I was quite drawn to the bird images. I had to shrink the images as they are quite large which is great to know for other projects :)

Take some decorative/ scrap book papers, cut some smaller pieces and start sticking them in with mod podge (pva glue also works, but I like the archival qualities of using mod podge).

Once you have some decorative paper stuck in, start filling in the blank pages with acrylic paint. Feel free to mix in some matt medium to make the paint washy or just to make your paint go further.

I like to stick to using matt medium so that I can draw over the top of the paint with coloured pencils.

Cut you ink jet prints out and glue them in place, covering the whole reverse side of the images with mod podge. I always put glue on the reverse side of the piece I'm sticking down, rather than the sketchbook.  It helps to avoid the piece you're sticking down wrinkling.

Once firmly stuck (I give them a few minutes- go make a cuppa) paint over them to seal the ink with some matt medium. When you're sealing, work lightly and only one stroke over each section of the image to prevent the printer ink shifting.You can do a second coat if needed once the first coat is dry to make sure it's totally sealed. This seals the printer ink so you can work over the top with paints etc without the ink smudging. (As ink jet ink is not waterproof when dry, but laser copies are.)

Once everything is dry again (use a hair dryer to speed things up), use some coloured pencils on top. Draw shapes, patterns, scribble a bit, and/ or add some hand drawn type. Just doddle and have some fun.

Then take out the acrylic paints + matt medium again. Mix colours close to your background colours and paint around the white bits, if there are any, around your cut outs.

You can also add some more interest with paint by adding some spots and detail into any shapes or patterns that you decided to draw.

I added some more detail with my coloured pencils. I thought those black birds needed some more contrast so I added some black pencil to them to make them stand out.

Dilute some acrylic paint with medium and add some washes over certain areas. If you're unsure about mixing colours, keep it simple by only mixing a couple of colours together to avoid muddiness, and that will help to keep your colours fresh. 

You can keep going and adding more patterns, washes or detail with your paints or coloured pencils, or else if you are happy with how it looks you can stop there. 

So there you go, an art journalling recipe for you to try! See what you can come up with!

Jules :)

Make Art That Sells- Wall Art

This illustration for the MATS A course I am taking jumped the queue! The next one in line was the Children's Book component (I'm 3/4 the way through so I will be posting that very soon), but this one is in the running to be reviewed live by Lilla Rogers in a week or so and so I completed it first. It would be so awesome to be chosen for a live review in the class. Even if I don't get chosen I will be super happy for anyone that does and will enjoy watching it. (The live reviews are only visible by class members.)

This piece was for the Wall Art category. I had a colour palette allocated to me, which was pink & blue. I had no fear there, I love all colours so it really wouldn't have mattered what colours I got!

I started by collecting some bits and pieces as this was to be done as a mixed media piece. I found a cool website called The Graphics Fairy where you can download images to use in art as they are copyright free. I also created some bits to use like the little painted circles there, and raided my crafty stash.

I started by doing a collage and then just adding more and more elements. I used paint, stencils, stamping (the bird is a hand made stamp made by me), a variety of papers, and paint pens.

Once I had covered the whole panel I added the words "just be you", and started drawing in the lady. I started by drawing her straight onto the board, but then decided I would have more confidence with drawing her shape if I did it on a large piece of paper first and then transferred it on.

I started drawing and painting in the bunch of flowers too.

Once drawn I positioned the image and could transfer it onto the panel. Much easier!

I then collaged some more elements on top of the painting; little tiles and buttons, those painted circles, and some doilies that were in my studio for another project I'm working on.

I had a lot of fun on this one. I loved using the doilies in the illustration. 

My aim was to create something uplifting that someone would love to hang on their wall.

You can check out the other illustration projects for MATS A here:

Make Art That Sells Illustration Course- home decor illustration

Make Art That Sells Illustration Course- surface pattern design

Make Art That Sells Illustration Course- Children's picture book illustration

Make Art That Sells Illustration Course- gift market assignment (coming soon)

Jules :)

Creative Life Round Up

This post is one of those bits-n-pieces blog posts. Here's me and my girls before a recent outing :)

Did you know it took about 30 photos to get a decent one!? Kids! They get a camera lens in front of them and they go silly.

My girls made me some flowers for Mother's Day this year.. I'm happy they won't be dying any time soon!

Something I'm working on at the moment (one of the many hundreds of things) is a mixed media painting for the MATS online illustration class I'm taking. (Read about my journey so far here.) The first task was that I had to gather some bits and pieces before I started the artwork. 

As it happens, my eldest is currently doing mixed media art in her art enrichment program at school (a program where kids showing talent get to do extra specialised art classes- she's so excited she got to go!). She had a sick day last week and we did mixed media art together in the studio. I have to be careful not to make sick days too much fun! (The iPad is definitely off limits.)

Her work so far. This is a background she made and she wants to draw and paint a portrait of me over the top. 

Now for some creativity in the kitchen. Last week one of the mornings I was up super early making seed balls (my own recipe), banana bread breakfast muffins, peeling a pomegranate, popping out our homemade fruit juice gummy lollies and picking oranges from the backyard. And incase all that makes you feel guilty, that is definitely not a standard morning. I do try to get up earlier usually to squeeze in an extra hour or so tasks before the kids rise, but many days I keep hitting that snooze button until the very last minute!

These seed balls I made up was from frustration of never having the ingredients for particular bliss ball recipes. This one is totally customisable to what I have in the pantry, and is nut free so school safe. And yummy :) I just have to be careful not to snack on them all day.

I hope you enjoyed that round up. I'll be back soon with more fun stuff for you.

Jules :)