She Can & She Will Art Journal

My one mission when I sat down to do a bit of art journaling this week was to use primarily Jane Davenport supplies to work on creating one or more of her whimsical girls.  As I’ve mentioned before, I try to create time every Friday for art journaling, but this week my struggle was creating the headspace to art journal.  I had a crazy busy weekend ahead of me including one event that I was particularly nervous about.  It was one of those mornings when my brain was running a million miles a minute, and I could not get my mind to settle down.  So, Jane’s supplies seemed like a good option because they work so well together and are designed to make creating easier!

To begin, I pulled out a sheet of collage paper and cut long strips.  As I pulled out my art journal to begin adhering the strips of collage paper, I had a bit of a proud moment.  Some of the ink from a previous art journal page seeped through the binding and was showing up on the blank page I intended to use.  I’ve watched Dina Wakely so many times on YouTube, and I remember her saying that any “true” art journalist has had this issue before and simply takes it in stride.  I knew it would be covered up by paint on this page, but I just had to take a picture of my first true bleed-through in this art journal!

I adhered the collage strips down with Liquitex matte gel medium and trimmed off the edges.  After that, I pulled out a few of the Jane Davenport acrylic paints that coordinated well with the colors in the paper strips.  I used my finger to spread paint around the page, filling in all the blank space and attempting to blend in a few places to create a cohesive look for the page.

As I finished up the background paint, one particular collage strip kept catching my eye.  There was a face that seemed to be peeking through the page, and I decided to take some time and define that face a little more.  I chose Jane’s face washi set and adhered an eye down to mirror the eye that was already on the page.  After I added the eye, I used select Mermaid Markers to draw in some hair and attempt to shape the face.  I also completed the mouth shape and shading with Mermaid Markers and a white gel pen.  This is the point when I really started disliking the girl that was coming off the page.

To me, the shape of the face was harsh, and a bit masculine.  It is a very elongated face with a severe chin.  I nearly decided to paint over the whole thing because I was so unpleased, but decided to keep pushing and see where this girl might take me. The washi tape collage pieces I pulled out next helped to cover up one of the harsh lines created on the right side of the face.  I feel like the crown I added, tilted to the side just slightly, helped give this girl a bit of an attitude which I was beginning to dig.  It sounds silly, but I suddenly felt guilty for judging her looks earlier.  There are so few women around the world that fit the conventional standard of good looks.  We are all so varied and unique, and our personalities and hearts are what really sets our beauty off.  To me, this girl began to look like the type of woman that always got the job done, no matter what.  Her page definitely deserved to be finished!

I grabbed the journal tattoos next, which I have had the tendency to hoard.  They are so lovely and add such a unique touch to a page!  I added a second girl at the top of my title box, giving her a crown at the same angle as my main girl on the right.  I pulled out the silver paint one more time to create a base for a quote tattoo.  However, when I tried to rub on the tattoo, I quickly realized that the paint had not dried completely. Ugh!

After taking a break and letting the paint dry all the way, I was able to complete that last journal tattoo.  They are so forgiving…another reason I love them!  The title was an easy choice for me, and I used a mix of lower and upper case alphas to add a little visual interest.

I feel like a broken record, but once again, this art journal entry did not go in the direction that I thought it was going to go when I started.  That is the beauty of art journaling though.  It feels like a conversation between the artist and the page.  Almost like they work together to come to a conclusion at the end.  This art journaling entry also helped to calm my nerves and take my mind off of the upcoming events that were taking up so much of my headspace!  Jane’s line makes it both easy and inviting for beginning art journalers like myself to jump in, get messy, and feel slightly successful.  I can’t recommend her supplies enough!

Have you had a page go awry in the middle of working on it?  What was your solution?  Let me know in the comments below!

Keep it creative,

-The Scrappy Wife

Supplies Used:

• Jane Davenport Art Journal
• Jane Davenport collage papers
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Jane Davenport Acrylic Paints
• Jane Davenport Mermaid Markers
• Jane Davenport Washi Tape
• Jane Davenport Journal Tattoos
• Alphas from my stash