TBP: Personal Geographies, Part 4 + Giveaway

This is the final project that I decided to try from Personal Geographies.

My Heart Belongs in San Diego.  Inktense pencils and India ink on watercolor paper.

Once again, this was loosely based off one of the projects of the book.

I absolutely loved flipping through this book, but as much as I loved the little stories and tidbits of inspiration, none of the projects really resonated with me.

Since this book is primarily about the projects, I don't feel right continuing to try working through it if I can't put my whole heart into it. So I'm passing this book on to you, one of my dear readers, in hopes that it will be an inspiration for you.

For your chance to win a copy of Personal Geographies, leave a comment of what a map means to you and a way of contacting you if you are the winner.  I will announce the winner on Friday, April 27th.  After the announcement, the winner has until Monday April 30th to contact me with a mailing address.  Otherwise I will be choosing a new winner.

TBP: Personal Geographies, Part 3

Here is another piece that was loosely based off a project in Personal Geographies.

Hand Map. 8" x 10".  Inktense and Micron Pens on watercolor paper.

My favorite piece in the whole book was Carla Sonheim's take on this project, so I had to give it a try.  Adding all the symbols onto my hand took so long it actually became a little meditative.  And now I know the palm of my hand a little more! 

Hmm, now that I'm taking another look at it, maybe I should have added a key . . .

TBP: Personal Geographies, Part 2

I have started to work on some of the projects in Personal Geographies. But as it turns out, I'm veering from what the directions actually say to do and doing my own thing based on some of the examples I saw.

Meanderings of My Mind. 8" x 10". Inktense and Micron pens on watercolor paper.

This one took me a long time to make. In general, it should have been a short project - but I decided to make little bits and pieces of it complicated.

I didn't like the profile shape that I was supposed to use. So I kept trying to draw my own until I got a shape that I liked (though it looks nothing like me).

After I drew in some shapes and colored it all in with inktense pencils, I ended up letting this sit for some time. I wasn't sure what I wanted to put down. Should I be honest and just put down what ever I'm thinking? Should it be funny or serious? I was over thinking it big time!

Eventually, I just picked up a micron pen and wrote stuff down as my mind wandered about for the day.  A bit more personal of a project than I'm used to.  In fact, I was very hesitant to post this.  But, I figured, why not?  I gave it a try, right?

I would love to hear from you.  How personal do you let your art projects go?  How much do you like to share and expose, if at all?

TBP: Personal Geographies, Part 1

Over my winter break, I received Personal Geographies by Jill Berry in the mail.  Even though I haven't had a chance to work through the projects yet, I thought that I would share my initial thoughts on the book.

In a quick flip through the book, I felt that the book was just full of different map-type projects that you could do and examples from different artists.  None of the projects stood out for me, so I made the mistake of putting it on my shelf for when I wanted to try out a project.

When I finally decided to pick the book up again, I slowly started reading through it from the beginning.  That was when I noticed the REAL gems of the book.  But before I get into that, let me share an overview of Personal Geographies.

First, there is the initial introductory chapter.  It discusses types and parts of the map, with tips on designing a compass rose and cartouche.

The rest of the book is separated into three chapters with 5-8 projects in chapter.
Chapter 1: Mapping the Self
Chapter 2: Mapping Your Experience
Chapter 3. Plans, Projections and Possibilities

As you can tell from the chapter names, they are primarily about looking into your self.  Past, present, and future as well as both mentally and physically.

Each chapter is full of projects that are clearly written and accompanied with step by step pictures. Through out the book, you will find examples of the projects from other artists as well.

The gems of the book were the stories and inspiration.  Not only did the author explain her map projects with the stories that brought them about, she also took the time to share what inspired her to create the project.  The inspiration could have been a quote, a specific map, an artist, or even a conversation.

Another little gem was the artwork and stories from other artists.  Every piece had a story attached to it to that the artist had written to explain their map.  Some short and sweet, while some others were long and engaging.  What ever the case, there were plenty of different perspectives for even more inspiration.

If you are looking for a book on making traditional maps, this isn't exactly it.  But if you are looking to make variations of maps, want to look more into yourself, or just love to read stories of other peoples lives - then I recommend you look into this book.

I think that I will be trying out some of these projects fairly soon.

The Book Project is an ongoing project to put my collection of art and craft books to good use by working through them. You can read more about it here. I would also love to hear if you are working through your books as well or would like to join me!

The Final Days of AEDM

This past week has been pretty quiet for AEDM, considering that I didn't feel like showing redundant pictures of a very slow going knitting project.  By Day 29 I ended up feeling like I had enough knitting out of my system and was ready to start drawing again.

The problem was that I didn't know what I wanted to draw.  So I ended up grabbing my favorite drawing book, Drawing Lab, and picked the first lab that I opened up to (which happened to be Lab 36: Machines and Inventions).  I have the holidays on my mind!

AEDM Day 29 - watercolor pencils, ink, gel pens

On Day 30, I knew that I really wanted to draw the little rhino statue I have had sitting on my desk.

AEDM Day 30 - watercolor pencils, poster paint pen

And with that - we're done with Art Every Day Month!

TBP: Journal Spilling, Part 7

I was really hesitant with the next part of Journal Spilling.  Collage, gesso, watercolor, and stamping.  All that I predicted was an unhappy process.  Although still unhappy with the outcome, the process wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

After previously playing with gesso and watercolor (and hating it), I cringed at the thought of doing it again.  This time around, with expectations of the worse, I was able to free myself up and just go with it.  I suddenly liked the possibilities of that combination.  I found the only downside was the paper that I used for the collage.  I found that I didn't mind the thinner paper, but the thick cardstock became a hindrance.  Working over and around the thick paper became difficult and just plain irritating.

Overall, the project was not that bad and a few lessons were learned.  Moving on . . .

The Book Project is an ongoing project to put my collection of art & craft books to good use by working through them. You can read more about it here. I would also love to hear if you are working through your books as well or would like to join me!

TBP: Journal Spilling, Part 6

The next part of Journal Spilling was creating backgrounds, tearing/cutting them apart, piecing it together, and completing it with journaling.  I decided to rip out a journal page, tear that in half, and practice some techniques.

The top half of the page was embossed doodled, emphasized with a wash of watercolor.

The bottom half of the page was a wash of watercolor with playing with different colored inks.

Ripping those completed technique pages into smaller pieces; I threw them onto a page, wrote in some journaling, and finished it off by drawing in some lines to look like they were sewn together.

Some things are more goals than wishes and dreams . . . but those shown above are just a few of them.

The Book Project is an ongoing project to put my collection of art & craft books to good use by working through them. You can read more about it here. I would also love to hear if you are working through your books as well or would like to join me!

Starting, Finishing, and Taking Breaks

A quick drawing of things on my desk using a brush pen.

Very recently I got into a routine of working out. It became a habit, a part of me. I ended up getting sick and pushed to do my workouts - even without the energy. The only problem was that I didn't seem to be getting better. I was getting worse and hating my workouts. That's when I figured out that I needed to take a break, get better, and get then get back on to working out.

Around that time, I was driving myself crazy with the book project. What little time I did have was spent working on the project and through the current book. I was frustrated because I was starting to feel like I wasn't really making anything for myself. Sure, I was learning and pushing myself out of my comfort zone in order to better myself. Still, something felt wrong.

That was when I decided to pick up a book and start reading just for the pure enjoyment of reading. I didn't touch any art or craft supplies, spending my spare moments reading book after book. Weeks later, I finally picked up a ballpoint pen and started drawing. I felt refreshed and enthusiastic about creating again.

The hardest part of any project is finishing. But this is also for fun and fulfillment; I need to remember to take a break when it is needed.

TBP: Journal Spilling, Part 5

"Every act of creation is first an act of destruction."

-Pablo Picasso

This one was a work of layering gesso, paper, and paint - which ended with a lot of mixed feelings.  Since layering (especially with acrylics) is something that I don't normally do, it was actually quite freeing to do something different.  It was fun going along with what Diana did for her own page and having my own twists.

I don't know if it was the layers of paper, the use of acrylics, or something else; but as each layer was placed down I got a heavy feeling.  A downer, of sorts.  As much as I was having fun, the other feeling kept getting in the way.  I was glad to finally be done with it.

This is leading me to hesitation on doing some of the future projects of Journal Spilling, because I  don't think that I should be doing anything that I am not enjoying.  How far do I really go and try something out before I completely rule it out?  I've actually veered away from most mixed media books because their main techniques & materials involve acrylics and plenty of layering of either paints or paper.

I don't want to give up on the book, it has a lot of promise.  Just don't expect to see any more of the projects that include acrylic paints or too much layering (unless I happen to go along with it on a whim).

What would you do?  How long would you try out a technique or material before you rule it out as something you are willing to work with?

The Book Project is an ongoing project to put my collection of art & craft books to good use by working through them. You can read more about it here. I would also love to hear if you are working through your books as well or would like to join me!

Book Project Update

I updated my page about the Book Project; it now lists books that I would like to go through in the future.  It's quite a mash-up of books.

If you are interested in working through any of these books and would like a buddy, I would love to hear from you.  Accountability buddies rock!

Check back soon, my next entry for the Book Project will be here on Monday!

TBP: Journal Spilling, Part 4

On a previous post about the Book Project, I showed the background page I made below based off the book Journal Spilling.  This was a resist page of masking fluid with watercolor.

I added more on to the page with watercolor crayons and gel pens, ending up with the journal page below.
 

This was a simple journal page that started off with the words "letting go" and a heart immediately showing up afterwards.  I drew in the borders and started in on some stream-of-consciousness journaling.  It became a page of learning to let go of the little things and just keep moving.  I quickly colored in the words, heart, and border with watercolor crayons to finish it off. 

You might notice bits of red popping out of the border.  I had actually thrown in different shades of red to liven the border up, but with felt that it brought more attention to the border instead of the words "letting go."  To tone it down a bit, I ended up throwing on a layer of a light brown over the whole border.  The reds still popped through, but no longer seemed to fight the words for attention.

The Book Project is an ongoing project to put my collection of art & craft books to good use by working through them.  You can read more about it here.  I would also love to hear if you are working through your books as well or would like to join me!

TBP: Journal Spilling, Part 3

Last week for the Book Project, I showed some background pages that I created using some of the resists mentioned in Journal Spilling.  This week I would like to share what became of some of them.

The one below was a white gel pen resist with watercolor.

I turned the above background into the journal page below.  A self-portrait done on a lined sheet of paper that was a stream-of-consciousness about myself and my critic.  It was glued on top and then more color was added to both the background and self-portrait to bring it all together.

The background page below was a gel pen and salt resist with watercolor.

I turned that background into the journal page below.  I added more lines and posted a picture of a favorite character of mine, Yomiko Readman a.k.a. "The Paper" from Read or Die.  I proceeded to write about my critic a little more.  I finished it off with stamping "the critic" along the top and highlighting those letters with white gel pen.

My favorite project so far was making the self-portrait page.  I was really resistant to cutting into the page that I wrote, but I'm glad I went along with it.  I also liked that it was my own drawing.  I do like collage, but I feel my journal pages are lot more personal when I include images that I made (photos or drawings).

The only the thing I might change/do is maybe add more text to the background of the self-portrait.  I know it's not supposed to be about looks in my journal, but something about the page makes me feel like it is unbalanced.  I'll let you know if I choose to do something more to it!

TBP: Journal Spilling, Part 2

This time around for Journal Spilling on the Book Project, I decided to focus on playing around with watercolor in my journal using different resists that were recommended in the book.  Nothing spectacular, but easy to do and a good starting point.

Masking fluid & alcohol resists

Mix of different watercolors on a wet page

Gel pen resists

I actually had to go back over it with watercolor to darken the page a little more and add more white gel pen for more contrast.

Gel pen and salt resists

I used table salt on this, next time I'll try a different kind because I thought that the granules were too small and uniform in size.

Colored pencil resists

I was supposed to use to use crayon but colored pencil was what I had close by.  It didn't pop very well, so next time I'll try crayon.

I plan on giving these another try whenever I start up a new journal (hopefully with pages that can handle watercolor better).  I think watercolor paper would have made a big difference on the outcomes and would not have frustrated me as much as the paper in my current journal.

Next week I'll share an art journal page that I created using one of these background pages.  Thanks for looking!

TBP: Journal Spilling, Part 1

The next book that I am working on for the Book Project is Journal Spilling.  In order to make this a little more fun for me, I am going to complete this book by taking part in the Journal Spilling workshop that is hosted by Artists of the Round Table.

time to spill
The first exercise for this week is one in loosening up and letting go - just going with your gut and moving along without really thinking about it.

Usually I get so held on up exercises like this; to just randomly pull stuff that calls to me and putting them all together.  As I was ripping pages out of my magazines, I was first afraid to rip them out.  The pictures that I was choosing didn't seem to go together and I was afraid of wasting those pages.  I forced myself to get over it and ripped away.  The more I let myself go, the easier it got - I was able to listen to my gut more.  As I turned over one picture to glue down it down, I saw the checkerboard in the back and knew that I had to use that image instead.  I loved the way that it all worked out and felt that it really expressed where I am right now.

time to play
The second exercise for this week was to play around and learn more about the materials I have to work with.

When I started working in this journal I didn't like that way that it handled watercolors and gave in to not using watercolors in it whole-heartedly.  In this exercise I decided to break out the watercolors again and play no matter the outcome.  I found out that the paper could actually do more than I expected if I added a lot of water in the beginning and had more water in my brushes.  That was the most fun I've had using watercolors in this journal.  I didn't like that I had to add so much water, which in turn took the paper forever to dry and gave the back of the paper a weird, mottled look.  But that's another story, I'll talk more about this journal when I'm finished playing around in it.

Good times so far, more to come when I receive (and complete) the next workshop assignment!

TBP: Drawing Lab, Part 8

Here we are on unit 7 of Drawing Lab.  I'm actually to the point where I need to take a break from the book, but I will definitely be coming back to this over and over again.

The final lab that I have worked on (for now) is lab 49 - Illuminated Pages.  These came out quite differently than the other labs, but I fell in love with both the process and outcome.    Working with my favorite mediums, pen and watercolor, on books was a refreshing change.  Of course, I will be working more on this lab.

It may be a while before you see more of my projects from Drawing Lab. If you liked what you have seen so far, pick up the book and give it a try yourself.  You don't need to know how to draw to get started and I think that makes it even more fun!

Check back weekly for my latest update on the Book Project.  Thanks for looking!

37/52 (71%) projects from Drawing Lab completed.

TBP: Drawing Lab, Part 7

Unit 6 of Drawing Lab focused on being inspired by nature.  I don't know if it is because I have been working solely out of this book for so long or because of the labs themselves, but I had such a hard time getting myself to do any of the labs in this unit.  Although at this point I shouldn't be, I was still surprised how much I enjoyed doing these labs.  They were fun to do and I was actually pleased with most of the outcomes.

Below are my three favorites from this unit.

This one was actually a bit different from the other labs because it was more step by step of what to do.  The flower above was done with graphite pencil, watercolor, acrylic, and a white gel pen.  I enjoyed playing with all the different media in one piece (more than I would normally dare), though I did end up confirming with myself that I am not a fan of acrylic.  There are some things I would change if ever decide to try this lab again, but overall I liked the piece.

The bug one was just so silly!  Made up bug names, lots of doodling, some contour drawing, and just having fun playing with colors.

This one surprised me the most.  I did draw from real life things placed randomly on the paper.  I was planning on painting them similar colors to the real objects, but realized that it was just going to be a bunch of green and grey.  How bleh!  So I went nuts just choosing whatever colors I felt belonged there and fell in love with the piece.  This one was by far my favorite from this unit and I'll definitely be going back to this lab!

Check back weekly for my latest update on the Book Project.  Thanks for looking!

36/52 (69%) projects from Drawing Lab completed.

TBP: Drawing Lab, Part 6

I'm up to unit 5 of Drawing Lab for the Book Project.  This one seemed to emphasize process over end product.  I wasn't happy with most of the outcomes in this unit, but had a really good time getting there.

Here are a few of the outcomes:

Check back weekly for my latest update on the Book Project.  Thanks for looking!

25/52 (48%) projects from Drawing Lab completed.

Life Drawing Lessons (TBP: Drawing Lab, Part 5)

My past posts about Drawing Lab for the Book Project have been separated by the units of the book. I'm breaking away from that today to go back to unit 2 and discuss life drawing (Labs 14 & 15). This is actually something I've been wanting to do for a long time but never got around to doing. I finally got the chance to go to one recently. I went in with assumptions and left realizing that I have a lot to learn with plenty of questions to ask.

To sum it my assumptions up, I thought that all life drawing sessions were the same.  I thought that there would be some kind of teacher/mentor type person and that the model poses would vary with short and long poses to practice both gesture and form.  I ended up going to a workshop with a model that was to stay in one pose for three hours and no teacher/mentor in site.  Thankfully, it was a small turnout and the other attendants were friendly and willing to answer any questions I had.

I came out with a better understanding of the different varieties of life drawing sessions and came up with a list of questions I might want to ask before attending a life drawing workshop elsewhere.

1. What is the usual routine for the session? Is there a mix of different timed poses?  Or is it one long pose?


2. How long is the session?


3. Is this a class with a teacher/mentor?  Or is an open session to work on my own?


4. Is there a limited amount of people allowed in?  Do I need to make reservations?  Or is this on a first come first serve basis?


5. Will there be critiques afterward?


6. Will the model be costumed or nude?


7. What are we allowed (or not allowed) to bring?

I hope that these questions are useful to anyone else that may be considering taking a life drawing session as well.  And if anyone has any more advice or questions I should add, please let me know.

Check back weekly for my latest update on the Book Project.  Thanks for looking!

20/52 (38%) projects from Drawing Lab completed.

P.S. Stay tuned tomorrow for the start of a three-part watercolor painting I've been working on.