Spring has sprung and how do I journal when I am digging in the garden?

Early Crocus

Time speeds up in the spring. We wait for so impatiently for the first crocus and then so quickly the trees are all green. Still fresh light green, but they are thickening up so fast. A spring thunderstorm is passing over right now and I relish the thunder. No matter how fast it moves, I love spring.

I am looking for inspiration in the garden. seedlings curling up, the first true leaf on the cucumbers, rich dark earth and fat earthworms. Flowers everywhere. Not hard to find some inspiration, just hard to find the time to journal.

Notice the air, the angle of the sun. Draw something small. Sketch something big. Can you capture the perfume of the lilacs or the air after a rain? Do some fast line drawings of a robin or sparrow. Trace the line of a hawk's wing. 

Spring is fleeting, capture it in quick lines and refine later. Let the season inspire you.

Round Robin Journaling

What a fun idea. Start a page, pass it to the left. Take the page passed to you and add some fun. Then pass it on.
We may try this in a future class. Try it with a friend, try it with yourself. We all have an alter ego.

Check out this blog.

http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/balzer_designs/2014/01/art-journal-every-day-art-journal-round-robin.html?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=handmadeart

Week someting! Must pick up that journal again. Spring has arrived.

The weeks go by so fast when you are busy. Lots of crafting and lots of singing, seldom at the same time though. My journaling is more sketching ideas for dolls, cute monsters,  fabric journal pages, prayer flags and decorated puzzle pieces. Fun items, but hardly the satisfaction I get from finishing a page.

I have more paper bag drop cloth backgrounds and I want to get out my gel plate again for more mono prints. I love having papers ready to cut up and add to any project.

Next week is our final class and I am thinking of Spring! Warmer air, blustery winds, soft rain, early spring flowers, crocus, snow drops and daffodil spikes pushing up. The grass is even beginning to green. And have you noticed the blush of red in the trees. You see it start to cover the hills and woods with a light red haze.

Sketch that first flower you see. Use the colors of purple, yellow and white, the dominant colors of early spring flowers. Draw the words that enter your heart when you breath warm fresh air. Enjoy.

Week Four and Five - Lettering and Style Journals

Lettering

Last week's class was small but fun. We explored using lettering in our journals as a design or focus point in an art page. Write big, trace over your letters. Use magazine letters to spell out your message. Print using wide letters, stretch out your cursive. Mix upper case and lowercase. Mix thick and thin. Practice different styles until you have developed your own style. Have fun!

Style Journal

Teag, a fellow Craftser member created a journaling techniques journal, a place to keep ideas so she remembers them and can refer to them when inspiration hits. Her pages are art in their own right and she has lots of great ideas to share. Take some time to scroll around the site as there are even more ideas to get your going in earlier and later messages on this Craftster message board. 

Art Journaling Techniques by Teag 1  (scroll down the page to find teag's post)

Art Journaling Techniques by Teag 2  (scroll down the page to find teag's post)

I have mentioned Craftster.org before and I encourage you to visit. It is an amazing place to wander around in and if you want to join in, membership is free.

Week Three - Have a song in your heart?

Or your head. I always have fragments of songs running through my mind. The direct result of choir, women's singing circle, radio, TV and even that constant music overhead when shopping.

Those fragments of songs make excellent starts for a journal page. Hand letter the words, decorate around them with drawings or collage, add some color over the top. Or write out all the lyrics (if you know them, if not, try Google) across the page and paint or collage over them, leaving your favorite bit free.

Tips for lettering:

1. Cut out words and letters from magazines to spell out your message.
2. Write lightly and big in pencil. Draw an outline around the letters with pen and color in.
3. Start with a highlighter. Write or draw your letters, outline and add embellishments.
4. Write big with a pen then go back and make some strokes darker and thicker.
5. Print out your words and tear or cut them out to paste down. Break them up in to individual words and place down one side of your page or flow across the page.

So as you listen to that song in your heart, pick up a pen and put it to the paper. Visit the gallery for some examples of lettering. Or visit these links for more ideas.

Jennibellie: turorials on making books, lettering and recycling into crafts: http://www.youtube.com/user/jennibellie?feature=watch

Easy lettering techniques: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th_2HvOnoO4


More lettering techniques: http://www.clothpaperscissors.com/blogs/clothpaperscissorstoday/archive/2012/06/25/how-to-make-art-journal-lettering-look-like-art.aspx


More: http://www.clothpaperscissors.com/blogs/clothpaperscissorstoday/archive/2014/01/17/handmade-cards-an-easy-creating-lettering-technique.aspx