A Weeks Worth of Mixed Media Art Journal Pages

This week I have been busy trying out a few new techniques in my art journals. 

On a weekend trip, I collected various pieces of ephemera and used them as the base for my art journal page. I stopped to grab a bite to eat, and decided to sketch the view from McD's which was a great juxtaposition between going big and fast food with the way of life of Frida. 

This page was created using one Crayola black marker and a wet brush. I loved how the line is still visible but the wash effect makes the image appear as if it is melting. 

Kandinsky is my favorite artist of all time and I love Klee as well so the use of these two pages was extra exciting. I opted to try using a glossy photograph of one of my pieces of artwork to cut up and use as the basis of a house, which I had sketched from looking at the cottage across the street. I was particularly thrilled with the bold color against the paler background, along with the sketching. The message that I chose to convey was living life out loud, in full color, and not living in the shadow of the expectation of everyone else. 

This page was a challenge because not only did I have to sketch myself in the mirror, I had to identify and list my strengths as well. Because I sketched it from the bed, I chose to sketch the dresser in front of me, the cigar boxes that were stacked, and a few items that were standing guard on the dresser. Because the boxed seemed so vivid and higher in value, I wanted to leave the sketch of the face a bit paler. I also didn't want to cover the text coming through the page. I used markers, fluid acrylics, watercolors, graphite, and paint pens. 

What to do with extra paint? It is always a question for the mixed media artist. I chose to scrape the colors on a dual page, began to sketch with oil pastels. and once the image was set, chose a few quotes that matched the mood of the figure. I then elaborated with text and lines about his distaste of cats.