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All posts for the month February, 2014

Secrets

Secrets

I’ve been working through Dina Wakley’s Art Journal Freedom. So far, these are the two pages I love the most. The first is using the rule of thirds–dividing your page into thirds and putting the focal point where the lines intersect. The lips are painted on a small vellum envelope, and there is a secret inside.

I used magenta and gray ink in the background. I wanted to blow it around, but didn’t have any straws, so made do with rolled up paper. I accidentally smeared a bit of the magenta, but as often happens, it was serendipitous, giving me the perfect platform for my writing.

The text is from the movie The Prophecy, when the angel Gabriel explains why we have a divot above our lips.

Way back, before you were born, I told you a secret. Then I put my finger there, and said: “Shhh!”

Nevermind

Nevermind

The second exercise is about using lots of white space. I had a bunch of new toys to play with, so I used them liberally. I stamped with the bottom of a mushroom container; used stencils from Stencil Girl; and mixed teal paint with my delicious new fiber paste.

One of the coolest discoveries was made when I used the black napkin with white dots I picked up at the grocery store. The black stayed opaque, but the white became transparent. Neat effect!

I made up the phrase on this one, and found a vintage photo to go with it. It says:

“Nevermind, nevermind,” she said. “I have enough now.”

If you’d like to see more process pics, find me on my daily art progress blog, Skelemingo.