As a creative blogger, I have a schedule of tasks and posts that I complete on a weekly basis. Just like any other job, some days I am on the ball, knocking things out of the park and on other days, everything feels like a struggle. I found myself sitting down to create and film an art journal entry this week when I felt like I just couldn’t get off the struggle bus. I had a lot of other things going on in my volunteer life, and my mind felt like it was running a million miles a minute. I truly doubted whether I’d be able to really create any sort of entry to made sense. However, as I began working on my “Just Because” art journal entry, I was quickly reminded of the power of letting your creativity take control.
For this layout, my main goal was to get messy and to enjoy it! The whole page began with completely covering the background in a cream colored acrylic paint, with just a few iridescent white streaks to add interest. I wanted to focus on fall colors once again, so the stark white of the page just was not going to work for what I was going for. Once the background was completely covered, I was able to move on to the next step.
I recently picked up a new masking stencil that I could not wait to try! It is a very intricate, abstract floral piece, sized at 9×12. Using Pixie spray to secure the stencil to the page, I carefully placed the stencil down into my art journal. Then, I used more Jane Davenport acrylic paint in fall tones to completely cover the page. I gently blended the colors together to really create a cool, textured effect. Here are a few tips for using acrylic paint over stencils:
- Only use a little paint at a time! Too much paint will start to run beneath the edges of the stencil.
- Dab in an up and down motion over the top of the stencil. If you brush from side to side, you are much more likely to push paint under the edges of the stencil.
- I like to work from dark colors to lighter colors. Because I never saturated my foam brush, working from dark to light allowed me to create a pretty blended effect.
After I lifted the floral stencil, I made sure the page was completely dry before moving on. I had already added a great deal of acrylic paint, so it was important to wait before adding more layers! Once the background was dry, I added another stenciled image in the bottom left hand corner. This time, I chose a Jane Davenport stencil of a female face, filling in hair and other details as I went. Again, I only used acrylic paint, being careful to dab lightly over the face stencil.
Within the floral stencil, the word “bloom” was cleverly incorporated into the image. I wanted to highlight it more, so I painted over the word with the white iridescent paint, then added shadowing with a black paint pen. I also opted to use a Micron pen to add a few abstract “scribbles” along some of the floral imagery. The messy look was really appealing to me in this project, so I went with it!
After adding a few paint splatters and a couple of phrase stickers, this layout was done! Making this page was exactly what I needed to settle my mind and my nerves. This is why I feel like it is so important to make some time for creativity every single day. I hope that YOU are able to make some time for creativity today!
Keep it creative,
-The Scrappy Wife
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Thanks for being real/yourself. My inner critic still stifles me and your idea of ” just because” struck a chord.
You have done what you needed to do…inspired someone. Job well done.
Thank you,
Sylvia