here's a sampling of the colorful backgrounds in in my visual art journals...
I like to create "journal blocks"---->these are blocks of colors that later I can write in to journal my thoughts, ideas, words, phrases. my journals are kind of like a "choose your own adventure" book. I open my books to a random page, I don't work in any particular order. Most days I will work on 3-5 different pages and add marks, colors or words.
*adding white paint of gesso over sections creates nice blocks for writing {TIP} with your digital camera take a MACRO photo of cropped areas of your paintings to create interesting journal backgrounds
*collage photos and hand painted papers onto the pages, add colored masking tape
*one of my FAVE printing tools is needlepoint canvas, use it as a resist and stencil, add accents of color with dimensional paint lines, add washes of color by adding a little water to your brush when your paint
*RECYCLE---->paint on brown paper grocery bags. WRITE with a white out correction pen to add contrast lines over paint
*DRAW and doodle with a BLACK chisel tip sharpie over acrylic paint
*{journal prompt} what is YOUR creative process?
*create monoprints with transparencies by paint the design on a piece of acetate with dimensional paint and taking a print of it onto muslin. let dry then wash with paint
*add black lines with conte crayons and charcoal pencils---->scribble. CREATE a fun foam stamp with black acrylic paint.
*use oil pastels for thick outlines of shapes
having journal pages with color, lines, shapes and blocks gives you fun jumpstarts to SPILL your thoughts. have fun with creating backgrounds, work on multiple pages at a time and just PLAY!! remind yourself that your journal is an never ending experiment..a place to be wildly FREE, imagine, EXPLORE...give yourself permission to let go.
Don't forget to REGISTER for my upcoming online workshop creative SOUL portfolio! It starts Jan. 5, you will be learning about painting backgrounds like these...along with a plethora of creative inspiration!
