Playing with Inks in my Art Journal

I was cleaning up our paper recycling box and found a stack of product safety inserts on thin paper with tiny print warnings in dozens of different languages.   I love working on paper with text, especially in a foreign language.  So I pulled the pages out to create on.

I grabbed my inks: India ink & Black Walnut ink, as well as a white wax crayon & a black grease pencil. 

In the page above, I drew with the white crayon and the black grease pencil before painting with ink.  The crayon resisted the wet inks layered on top, leaving white marks shining through. I finished the page with the walnut & India inks.

It was fun to paint using the chocolate-colored walnut ink I made years ago.  (You can see that post here.)

After the walnut ink dried, I layered on rich, black India ink.    

I enjoyed simply playing with these supplies.  One trick that helps me create freely is taking paper that's trash and turning it into something more fun. There's zero pressure to have "success."  It's trash.  

I glued part of one of the papers to a new page in my board book art journal. I added a pocket made from an envelope a bill came in.

 

I used Yes! paste to glue papers down, and washi tape along the edges, adding marks with a grease pencil & India ink. Mark-making relaxes me. It's an easy way to connect with my creative intuition.

I added a bit of blackout poetry with text encouraging the reader to "Discover what's inside."

I like the way the dark India ink around the page balances with the lighter values and the way the straight lines of text contrast with the curvy, organic lines of my painting.

I created a tiny artwork to fit inside the envelope pocket.  The little circles were inspired by a photo on a package of frozen peas we'd had for dinner the night before. 

You can get your inspiration from the most mundane sources!

I finished the page by writing a quote that spoke to me: "Attention is the beginning of devotion." -- Mary Oliver

I think I've always had an affinity towards upcycling papers and other materials into art.  

It can help to discover what sorts of materials, art supplies, colors and marks make you feel at ease, invigorated or playful.  Pay attention to what makes you feel most excited about making art, and follow that trail your intuition leads you on.

I wish you Happy Creating!

A New Kind of Bookbinding!

I discovered a new style of bookbinding that allows you to bind together a stack of single pages like this book of different-sized postcards.  I learned the technique by watching Tanya McGuire's YouTube video here:

https://youtu.be/DrEMsyYDvJY?si=eFrV5l5IUaY0pnHV

She links to a blog by Karin Bartimole with handy, printable instructions:

https://aviewbeyondwords.blogspot.com/2010/04/mandala-journal-tutorial-finally.html

After making the first book above, I gathered some papers and postcards I wanted to use in a book for my sister, who shares my love of art journaling.

I held them together with binder clips...

...and punched 3 holes in every page of the stack with a leather sewing awl.

Then I began sewing pages onto the stack.  With this method, you start at the back cover of the book and add pages working forward to the front cover.

The binding allows the pages to turn easily.

Here's the final book.

Here's a flip-through video of the book:

I hope this inspires you to create your own journal!

Happy Creating!

Creating in My Art Journal Step-by-Step

I find it helpful to see another artist's process step-by-step, so I thought you might also.  Here's the beginning of an art journal page-- a blank, clean space in my board book.

I was thinking of a visit to the summer camp where I worked in my youth as I pulled out a collection of collage papers from my basket.

When I have extra watercolor paint at the end of a painting session, I often splash washes of color on scrap paper and stick it in my collage basket.

I laid out some papers and spread some Yes! paste down with an old cruise card.

With the base glued down, I worked out what I wanted for the next layer.

After I glued it down, using a glue stick and Tombow Mono Aqua glue, I decided I wanted a little sparkle.  I drew with the pen tip of the Aqua glue, and then dusted the page with some vintage gold leaf dust.

I let the glue dry.

After the glue dried, I dusted off the excess gold powder and felt that the spread needed a bit of contrast.  I rubbed ink pads --black and vintage photo color -- along the edges of the pages.

I felt the page spread still needed something... so I added a few hearts and the word Camp.

When I'm art journaling, playing with little embellishments like the hearts, the glittery gold dust and the stamp pads deepens the process.  It's all play, and there's no wrong answer.  If I decide I don't like some element, I can paint or collage over it.

When you create in an art journal, I hope you give yourself this same latitude.  Create freely, on a whim.  Don't wait for perfection -- it never arrives!  Listen for that quiet, little nudge from your intuition and have fun!

Happy Creating!

Upcycling a Board Book into an Art Journal

I got the idea to upcycle an old board book into an art journal from this YouTube video by Ceri Griffiths. 

https://youtu.be/XijpQxrfh_8?si=7RH4uvZHCJKXcnuS

Ceri walks you through the process of removing the printed surface of the book to create a blank board book to journal on.

Inspired by Ceri, I thrifted a board book at my favorite Goodwill store and prepared it for art journaling.  Then I dug through my painted papers and other collage scraps, pulling out bits that appealed to my artist's eye.  I didn't use them all, but followed my Intuition, that tiny voice within, and started gluing down papers, adding text, drawings, tissue paper, whatever!

  The brown "calligraphy" below on the left is from a Wanderlust 2024 class with artist Eugénie Bilotte.  You can find Wanderlust - a year of classes in art journaling -- at Everything Art (https://www.everything-art.com/). 

The fern on the right is a gelli print on a book page.

I love black print on earth-toned papers -- from tea bags to old book pages and cardboard.  On some page spreads, I simply created a background of collaged papers.  I can add more later as the inspiration strikes.

Other pages came together with a focal point and a theme, like this bluebird & nest page about the revitalization & nurturing I receive from time spent in nature.

My favorite page of the entire book so far is this one, reminding me to follow my Intuition (rather than my inner critic, the Hobgoblin).  I mingled collage, hand-cut stamps, gold acrylic ink and ink pens.

The beauty of creating in an art journal is that you can use any medium you have, from pencils and ballpoint pens to bits of paper from your daily life, to stencils, stamps, paints ... anything!  

And if you find you don't like something you put down, you can paint or collage over it, shaping the page in a new direction.  Just listen to that quiet little voice -- your Intuition-- and follow what it says.  

I find my Intuition never leads me astray.

Happy Creating! 

Worms Inspire Art!

In spring, my thoughts turn to gardening.  I've wanted to set up a worm composting bin for ages, and finally made it happen.  

When the UPS package of worms arrived, I assembled all the parts, added some vegetable scraps, and then created this art journal page about my vermicomposter (worm bin). I used collage, colored pencils, ink, and alphabet stamps.

The page shows the thrifted tote I punched drainage holes into the bottom of and used as the worm bin, the shredded paper that became the worms' bedding, the mortar pan to catch water drips, and the worms that I dumped on top of the bedding.  I can't tell you how exciting this is for me! 

I had a worm bin years ago when I worked as a park district naturalist.  Setting up my new worm bin brought up feelings of nostalgia and happy memories from those days.

Celebrating the things we love in our art journals is a way to deepen our enjoyment of them. 

Happy Creating!

Art Journaling with Word Art

Part of what makes art journaling so freeing is the fact that there is no wrong way to do it.  You simply follow the little sparks of ideas you get when you pick up art supplies -- from paints to butterfly wings, to old books.

Above is an Altoids tin I glued vintage book page bits, tea bag paper and other ephemera to. It stores snippets of text for art journaling.

Words snipped out of old books, magazines or wherever you like can be added to your art journal pages.

Clipping them out can be a relaxing way to slip into your creative mode, and you can assemble them into poems that don't have to mean anything to anyone but you.

I was thinking of a dream cruise to Alaska, and found these bits in an old travel book.

You can often find old books in thrift shops, rummage sales, and in free piles at libraries, etc.

The books I use were mostly saved from going into a dumpster.

Why not give some old text a new life in your art?

Happy Creating!

Mark Making and Art Journaling in Wanderlust 2024

I enrolled in Everything Art's Wanderlust 2024 last November and have been enjoying the weekly art inspiration and instructional videos.  A recent session with French artist Eugenie Billotte invited us to look for treasure in our homes to create with.  

Of course, treasure could mean a wide variety of things.  I gathered words and pages clipped from vintage book pages, an old photo, and interesting papers like the textured brown paper packaging above.

  Eugenie walked us through upcycling and mark-making activities that I found freeing, relaxing, and calming.

After creating a small stack of decorated papers, we began working in our art journals.

Here's my finished page spread with a B&W photo I took one spring decades ago of blooming Bloodroot as the focal point of the page.  Nature is my treasure.  I love walking through the woods in the spring, watching birds at my feeder and listening to their songs.

I made a wheel with samples of the decorated pages I created in this lesson.

If you're interested in joining Wanderlust 2024, you can find information here:

https://www.everything-art.com/p/wanderlust-2024-artjournalingcourse

I played with the remaining words I had clipped from old books to make poetry.

And I took some of my leftover materials to create this little treasure about my excitement about an upcoming adventure.

I hope you take the time to play with art supplies, make an art journal page, or express yourself with words cut from magazines or books.  Making art just for yourself is a great form of Self Care!

Taking on my Hobgoblin in my Art Journal

When an artist shares their work and their techniques, I always take away inspiration. The most recent example is Lynne Perrella's book, Artist's Journals and Sketchbooks.  

The image on the cover fascinated me, and I figured that Lynne must have created the bold pages by layering on acrylic paints in contrasting colors -- red orange and blue violet, for instance.

I wanted to try to duplicate Lynne's gorgeous colors in my own art journal.

I began by squirting blobs of Cadmium Yellow Hue and Vermilion acrylic paint onto a blank page spread.  Using the side of a sturdy plastic membership card, I scraped the paint and move it around.  The corner of the card made a good tool to carve back into the wet paint in places to create texture.

After the first layer was dry, I used the same technique to add Ultramarine and Cerulean Blue to the pages.  Where the Ultramarine was applied thinly, it looked black against the red-orange.

I love the contrasts of light to dark and of the orange and blue color opposites.

I did some written journaling separately about my fear of making a failure when creating art.  My Hobgoblin (inner critic) yelled that it was dangerous to make larger and more personal artworks.  As I responded in my writing, I realized that there was no danger in creating, even if I made a total flop.  I always learn from my failures.  

The real danger was in not creating that piece of art that my Muse was calling me to make.

Regretting later that I didn't make the art was much sadder than making a messy attempt that didn't come together.

I added these words using Posca paint pens.

Along with a printed butterfly and some little flowers from a Valentine's bouquet. 

Here's the final page spread.

I found the whole process of answering my inner critic with facts and logic empowering.  Rather than just listen and follow along with the noisy negativity, I had the power of truth and reason.  It made me feel invincible!

Of course, I make creative messes all the time.  I once read that if you like everything you make, you're not trying hard enough. I take these "failures" as signs that I am a creative explorer.

If you find that taking on your inner critic feels overwhelming to do on your own, a therapist's support can create a safe space for these investigations. 

I hope you find time and space for creativity just for your own joy this week.

Happy Creating!

Copyright Betsy Bangley 2024. All Rights Reserved.