Art Journal: Maps

Posted on 26th September 2023 by perfectly4med

It has been a little while since I have shared one of my art journal spreads, so I thought I would do so today as a plug for next week’s art journaling session here at The Studio. I’m also sharing the stages the layout went through to get from where I started to the finished article. ‘Maps’ is the theme this month and you’re very welcome to join us on Monday at 7:30pm for the session where you will create your own take on the theme. All materials are provided, and you can get a suitable journal from me for just £2 if you don’t have one already. Just let me know if you’d like to attend. Here’s my finished layout:

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Art journaling: playing with Brushos

Posted on 7th August 2023 by perfectly4med

This morning’s project was to prep for this evening’s art journal session at The Studio. We’re playing with Brushos, concentrated crystals of watercolour/dye. They give great, largely unpredictable, paint effects and work wonderfully as backgrounds to mixed media work. They are also tiny and get into all sorts of different places, so they come out rarely and take some cleaning up after! A pot once dropped into my distress ink box and took months to get rid of them all… Everything is covered and ready for colour carnage: here’s my example:

The session runs from 7:30pm, costs £5 and needs to be booked in advance. Materials are included and if you need a suitable art journal to work in they are available for just £2 on the night. Just get in contact for more information or to book your place 🙂

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Art Journaling: Spring quote

Posted on 11th March 2023 by perfectly4med

It’s a while since I posted anything art journally, partly as I was doing the Wanderlust course last year. That is still waiting for me to finish! I have still been holding monthly art journal sessions in The Studio and some of the themes have been taken from what I have learnt over the year. This month’s theme was ‘start with the same quote’ and I chose a spring quote from Robin Williams (the quintessential American comedian).

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Wanderlust 2022: Weeks 22-28

Posted on 4th August 2022 by perfectly4med

Update time on how I am getting on with the online Wanderlust 2022 mixed media course. The last seven weeks have been concentrating on using craft acrylics. We learnt they are generally cheaper and less pigmented acrylics and have a large premixed colour palette. Then we learned how to use them in various ways to make our art journal pages. I have fallen behind in the course due to holidays and that hot spell (which made the paint dry too quickly), but I’m catching back up. Here’re my takes on the seven lessons:

Wanderlust 2022: Weeks 15-21

Posted on 15th June 2022 by perfectly4med

Continuing on with my art journaling course, Wanderlust 2022, we’ve been concentrating on using artist acrylics for the past 7 weeks. It’s been interesting to revise colour mixing and use ‘proper’ acrylics with their better opacity. There’s a self-portrait, a mini Gelli-printed art journal, a homage to my favourite artist and some collage and glazing. Here’s what I produced…

art journal page using collage and artist acrylics

mini art journal using Gelli plate with artist acrylics

Wanderlust 2022: Weeks 8-14

Posted on 11th April 2022 by perfectly4med

For this section of the fabulous Wanderlust 2022 art journaling/mixed media online course, we’ve been looking at using modelling paste and image transfers. Each week we’ve been set a different theme with a guest teacher showing us their project ideas and techniques. My previous sessions are here. This section’s layouts are here:

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Wanderlust 2022: Weeks 1-7

Posted on 11th March 2022 by perfectly4med

It’s been several years since I last did the Wanderlust online course (2016). It has gone from strength to strength, and this time it offers a year of weekly prompts, lessons and inspiration for mixed media art journaling. Unfortunately, it’s too late to enrol for this year’s course, but it is worth watching out for the early bird offers for next year which are usually 50% off the regular price.

The themed sections start with an introductory week, outlining the studio supplies and techniques that are coming up in the next six weeks. Then follows a weekly tutorial from guest tutors furthering exploration of the theme and showing off their individual styles during their tutorial. This can be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half of teaching!

These are my pages from the first section of the course: gesso and gel mediums.

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Creative Jumpstart 2021: The first week

Posted on 10th January 2021 by perfectly4med

I signed up to do Creative Jumpstart 2021 back in November. What with Covid and no studio groups to prep for, my creativity has had a minor slump and I’ve not even had the mojo to create for the fun of it. Creative Jumpstart has a daily 10-15 minute tutorial or inspiration video to watch and so far it has included monoprinting, art journaling, illustration, watercolour and collage as part of the ‘storyteller’ theme. I’ve had a go at all but one so far and it’s been great to challenge my prejudices against some media (watercolour!) and to try out new media. Here are my attempts at the first week of projects:

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Art Journal Page: Quiet Spirit

Posted on 22nd October 2020 by perfectly4med

I recently took delivery of the latest Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous mini-stencils, along with a Crafter’s Workshop 6×6″ stencil. Along with those came some DecoArt Americana acrylic paints. I decided that I would have a play since I haven’t done much art journaling during COVID lockdown. The text was an image transfer, put together in Adobe Illustrator before printing in reverse ready for sticking down. The woman’s head mask is by That’s Crafty!.

Review: Digital Art Journaling

Posted on 20th March 2020 by perfectly4med

Well, it’s a strange world at the moment. I’m not in self-isolation, but I, like many other self-employed freelance workers, am finding things a wee bit quiet at the moment. So, I’ve been flicking through some art journaling magazines and came across a course I thought looked great. It’s ‘Digital Art Journaling’ from Jessica Sprague and despite it being published a couple of years ago, is still available. Here is a flick through of the finished journal and after, a quick review which I hope you find useful.