Thursday, January 6, 2011

Let the Art Journaling Commence!

Thinking About Trees
I figured I'd start the year off with a bang by doing a full-page spread on January 1 with a sketch of a willow tree I had photographed several years ago, done in marker, acrylic paints, colored pencil and a bit of Souffle pen (basically whatever was in reach). I've been thinking about making some ATCs for a tree swap at Illustrated ATCs but hadn't gotten my act together, and I'd also thought about doing some bare trees for the Milwaukee ATC group's January theme "Winter" so this page is titled "Thinking About Trees."

I don't plan to do a full spread everyday. Having done several 365 projects now, I've learned to keep my expectations low, and I'll be happy if some days all I do is doodle a bit. I'm also not planning to do the pages in order, so the past few days I've been jumping back and forth between two spreads. "Snow" is mostly complete now, though it looks unfinished in the scan because the shiny embossed snowflakes don't show up very well.
Snow
Also there's a little foldout tab on the left side that didn't fit on the scanner bed where I noted the progress of this spread: writing out excerpts from Archibald Lampman's poem Snow in white acrylic ink with a dip pen on January 2, and then stamping & embossing the snowflakes and adding tree shapes with a thin brush and acrylic wash on January 4. This was inspired by Loreena McKennitt's song based on this poem, which was going through my head despite the fact that we've had very little snow this winter.

I've also been filling a spread with little sketches of faces from Mark Simon's Facial Expressions: A Visual Reference for Artists in ink and colored pencil.
Faces
As you can see by the right side of the page, my lack of bookbinding practice means my current stitching might not last the year. We'll see!

5 comments:

gracie said...

Beautiful!
I live near Milwaukee...could you tell me more about the ATC trade? Are you in a group of some kind? I'm new into the world of art journals. Thanks!

EraserQueen said...

Snow is one of my favorite Loreena McKennit songs! You did a great job capturing the mood and feel of snow :D

Sorry the vid scared your cat haha.

Carolyn B said...

@Gracie - you can find the Milwaukee ATC group's monthly meeting information here: http://www.carolynbrady.com/liveATC.html
@Annie - Thanks! I finally broke down and bought some baseball card display frames so I have your Loreena McKennitt ATCs ready to hang on the wall as soon as I figure out where :D Outdoor Cat forgives you for disturbing her sleep!

Unknown said...

I love how you're starting, Carolyn! It'll be so cool to see this journal at the end of the year - what a great way to chronicle the next 365 days! :D

Carolyn B said...

Thanks, Mel - I'm not much of a journaler in the true sense (not given to much soul-searching self-reflection anyway) but I figured it would be like the ATC-a-day project - a place to do a little something every day :D

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