a few more quotes for my journal

Just a few more pages of quotes to add to my journal. Haven't had much time lately to keep up on everything. So in the meantime...enjoy. thanks for stopping by. 

 

 

text box for "success and belief" were cut out of scraps of painted paper sprayed with blick liquid watercolors. Lettering done with black pitt brush pen. Highlights done with white gel pen. Background paper had been painted by scraping acrylic paint around with cardboard...then dot stencils were sponge painted with acrylic paint. Rest of the quote was written directly onto the painted paper using a prismacolor black marker thin tip. "Size" outlined with white gel pen (sakura gel roller).

Pitt Pen brush directly on painted page. White Sakura Gel Roll pen for white dots...cool grey copic for shadow.

"creativity" cut out of separate painted paper and glued down. Shadow added with black copic brush pen. Highlights added with Bic correction pen. Remaining lettering written directly on the page with black prismacolor marker. Highlight with white gel pen.

Base lines for writing were thin strips cut from scraps of painted paper and glued down All black lettering done with black pitt brush pen. Highlights done with white gel pen. sakura moonlight pens were used to add colored outlines around "future", Believe, Beauty and Dreams". Aqua Souffle pen used to make swirls inside "future".  (sadly not my favorite page....poor quality of picture too...hope to get better at photography too!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress

Making progress on my "Letter Loved" Journal. 

For those of you not following, this is an online course I have been taking with Joanne Sharpe. The final assignment is to create a journal using various techniques we learned in our class. I am using a collection of my favorite quotes as the theme. 
To create emphasis on the key words of the quote, I am cutting the word out of contrasting painted papers. In addition, I am also using a black copic brush pen for the cast shadow, as well as a bic correction pen for the highlights. 
The rest of the quote is written directly on the painted paper with a black pitt pen and highlighted with a white gel roller pen. 

2 page spread as you open the journal

"your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions"-Albert Einstein

"Live with Passion"- Tony Robbins

          

              "Be the change you wish to see in the World"- Ghandi

The text box for "change" was cut out of a separate painted paper, lettered on, then glued onto background page. The rectangle was then outlined with black to create further emphasis for the word. All other words were written directly onto the painted page. 
...so far....so good.

Letter Loved pages

Enjoy the close up pictures of my "Letter Loved Journal" pages.

Letter Loved Journal

Finally.....assembled my Letter Loved Journal!!!!! Major accomplishment! It has been on my To Do List since February! So far....I'm pleased with the cover and pages. Now I just have to fill it with LOVE. More will be added as I progress!  How many more days until "Artful Alphabets" start? Better get a move on! Enjoy the pictures!

A combination of lettering written directly on the cover and some cut out .

"Letter" was written directly on the journal cover using the black Copic brush tip. Red-Violet Copic was used for the shadow around the letters, and a bic correction pen was used for the highlights.

"Loved" was cut out and glued to the cover. Black Copic brush tip was used to outline and add cast shadow. And the bic correction pen was used for highlights.

Not wanting my Name to overshadow, I simply cut out a scrap piece of black cardstock and wrote my name with the sharpie white poster pen.

van Gogh Exhibit

Yesterday,  was a beautiful spring day of 80 degrees....and one would never guess it was still March! That in itself is cool....but to make it even "cooler", a group of Art Teachers in my school district had an amazing opportunity to visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art and view the Vincent van Gogh exhibit! What an incredible day!

Getting a chance to view up close and personal so many great works was just what I needed to jump start my engines! As Art teachers, we sometimes get stuck in a rut of production, discipline issues, grades, parent conferences, Art displays and lesson planning. We sometimes lose the excitement and enthusiasm that sparked our passion for Art in the first place. 

So getting a chance to see the great Masters, amidst an unexpected museum evacuation, was just what we needed. 

Entering  the van Gogh exhibit was like entering a holy place. Truly. The crowd was quiet, entranced and reflective. Though rather crowded as you can imagine...it was still a moving experience. 

Walking into the exhibit to view the "sunflower" collection was a very welcoming tribute to the great works by van Gogh. Trying not to touch the layered textures of his paint was very hard... but the security guards were kind in their warnings to step back! lol Seeing only a "portion" of his vast collection of paintings from his life,truly blows your mind. Here is a man, despite his challenges and obstacles in his life, found a way to create art ever day during his short time on Earth. The pieces he created during his stay in an asylum were incredible and an example of not letting anything get in his way of his passion.  

So I'm thinking, if van Gogh can do it every day despite his challenges: his lack of money, his mental state, his institutionalization, his lack of an ear...I can at least  give 10 or more minutes out of my day (with all of my blessings) to create something too! 

So go create some Art!!! 

rappy's banner

New banner for my webpage that I'm building with Elaine Ippolito....and hopefully, whenever I figure out all this blog stuff......perhaps at the top of the blog too. But for now....enjoy.....compliments of my fabulous friend elaine.....follow her on 
www.ippolito-art.com.
SHE ROCKS!!!!!!

paint scraping with layered stencils

Happy Tuesday everyone! I may start calling this segment "Technique Tuesdays"..
Today's mini tutorial will be on "paint scraping with layered stencils" that I have mentioned on my flickr postings. Hopefully with added photos it will be easier to understand. 

Step 1: Select 3 colors (works best with "analogous" colors=3colors next to each other on the color wheel- will prevent the "muddiness" created when mixing some colors) of acrylic paint. Squirt them randomly around the paper. 

Step 2: get a piece of some cardboard or an old credit card to use as a scraping tool.

Step 3: Use this cardboard in a back and forth motion over top of the paint...scraping it in all directions. *Don't over work it, colors blend too much and lose the cool effect. 

Step 4: Continue until the entire paper is covered to your liking. 

 (sorry, forgot to take a picture of the warm color scheme I had started above...oops!)
Please NOTE: This is how I did the papers for the "Dream Garden- Eric Carle inspiration" piece. I just cut out the painted papers I made this way!!!! sooooo easy!

If interested in taking it a step further......and make it look even "cooler"- if you can only imagine......
Step 5: Select a stencil and lay on top of the DRIED painted paper. Use a contrasting color and sponge paint with acrylic paint.

 Step 6: Carefully remove the stencil...and WAHLAAA! It looks GREAT!!!!! HOLLA!!!
(ok, so I got a little carried away. I'm just saying....you will love love LOVE this. So give it a whirl! Not that you need another addiction.....but you will seriously find it hard to stop! - See, this is why I'm STILL trying to put my letter loved journal together! lol.....well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!