Beth Baxter Studio |

Collage & Doodles Art Journal: Step by Step

Step-by-Step Collage & Doodles — I love combining collage and doodles in my daily art journal.

Leaves and bird image glued into journal. — I had some images left over from this project and glued them in my journal.

Lines drawn — Then I drew some lines, using lines in the images as starting points. I’m not sure that I like these lines, so think about what to do next to improve the spread.

Punching and gluing circles — I decided to punch out a bunch of tiny circles and glue them along the lines. And yes, that was tedious, I had to use a tweezers to hold the circles while I put glue on them.

All circles finally glued — I finally had all the circles glued down and think things look much better.

Doodling around circles — Then I doodled starburst lines around the circles in the top section. I wish I could articulate better how I come up with some of my ideas. In this case, as I was gluing the circles down, I just started picturing them as starbursts.

I thought the bottom section needed a different, more grounded doodle pattern than the top section. Now the spaces between the leaves and the bird need some attention.

Completed art journal spread — I tried a couple of different things and finally settled on using washi tape to fill in the middle shapes. I chose a design that contains most of the colors of rest of the spread. I also added the same tape in the upper left and lower right to balance the composition. And now my collage and doodles art journal spread is finished.

Purpose of Life Quote

“The purpose of life is to discover your gift; the work of life is to develop it; and the meaning of life is to give your gift away.” — David Viscott.

Photo Tip: Shoot After the Rain

Recently I set out to take a short hike at Landis Woods. I took my camera but wasn’t very hopeful of getting any good photos because it was a grey, overcast day. But I had forgotten that it had rained overnight and earlier that morning. The trees and leaves were gleaming with rain water and rain drops were hanging from branches and I got some great photos. I will be sure to remember this photo tip: shoot after the rain.

Ivy Climbing Tree Trunk — The rain water coating these leaves and tree trunk reflects what little sunlight there is and creates a glow that would be missing on a dry day.

Rain Drop on Berries — Here, individual raindrops cling to the red berries and their husk. Unfortunately I don’t know what kind of berries these are and a google search wasn’t very helpful. Comment below if you know what these are.

Raindrops on Twigs — This is a raindrop on a twig. I also like the blurred raindrops in the background.

Raindrops on Leaves — And here are some leaves covered in droplets.

So, the next time it rains remember this photo tip: shoot after the rain.

Cut Paper Collage: Lesson Learned

I love books, and I love making art, and have gathered quite a collection of books about making art. Every now and then I like to pick one of the exercises from one of the books and learn an art lesson.

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Today, I chose the Cut Paper Collage exercise from Collage Journeys by Jane Davies.