Patterned papers

i have been busy making papers for collage. It is so much fun!

Some of the pages in the photo have already been used as you can see by the tearing in them.


Paivi has a tutorial on that. It was where I got the idea to spend some time with a blank mind and just get busy with my paints. So many things going on in my mind that I decided I needed something simpler and where I didn't need to think.
It is so easy.....  A watercolour background, doodles and more doodles and more paint or coloured pencils and then you have a wonderful paper to use for collages or wrap a present.

Stormy Sea

This month was the last one in Paivi's Imagine Monthly Spring course. It was all about stormy seas paintings. The technique as usual was liberating. I loved doing it. Paivi leads you through a journey within where you use your emotions to paint....I already enrolled in the same course for the Fall.

Sinking Sun

This is my new painting. It was done with watercolour, FW acrylic inks, pens and inks in various colours.

It all started with splashing watercolour on paper. When painting the background I didn't have any idea what it would be. Just that I wanted to use yellow.

After this stage I looked at it for quite sometime trying to see what I was going to do with it... I turned the paper around, looking on how I would use it. I started adding some colours at the bottom. I quite liked that purple blob and it reminded me of a spiral.

After adding some swirls and spirals and colours it started to remind me of the sun sinking in the sea in Summer. I love the way it colours the sea. Now to finish it, add some details, paint a little more the sky and do the sun.

Liberating

This way of starting a paint is really liberating.....

I learned with Paivi from Peony and Parakeet. You start with covering the page with doodles and then paint on top following the doodles or not. The good thing is that you don't have to think much, you just paint .... wonderful!

a couple more using this technique.

Playing

It is funny how this one came along. I started playing with watercolours and letting it drip down the paper. I used a lot of watercolours and I didn't know where it would take me. All of a sudden I saw some flowers taking shape. Got some acrylics and started painting, more like dabbing some paint on top of the watercolours. I used Golden acrylics and FW acrylic ink. 

HUmmmm this need a vase.... But I didn't want to put a proper vase there. It would look too heavy so why not some swirls and spirals? I love spirals.... Then a bit of shadows and there it is.....

Practicing

I have been practicing all I learned with Paivi at Liberated Artist.
This one below was worked in watercolours and acrylics.

It is so much fun when you have a background and then start coming with something out of the chaos you created.

...and the journey begins...

Some of my first art journal pages that were fun making them. There is a big difference between the last ones and the first ones.

This one below won first place in the January context at Wanderlust 2016. It was to make a page related to the sentence I wrote. It was done with acrylics, pens and a collage of magazine pieces.

I couldn't believe I won first prize. I was over the moon.

Then there was a prompt for Be Brave and here is my spread.

My text in it had more to do with letting it go. How to make the background with all sorts of different textures and to really let it go and not fight what your mind is saying.

So, the background has all sorts of different mediums, stencils, paint, modelling paste, collage... you name it and there it is...lol.

For the next one the prompt was What you see when you look in the mirror. Right, so "she who doesn't want to look old" decided to do one about her hippie years in the late 60's....ha that is old lol. But I had fun.

Those are a few of my spreads in art journaling. I will be posting more later.