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Art Journal Tips

Bird Series in my Art Journal: Part 2

Bird Series in my Art Journal: Part 2

The second step of my bird series was to add doodles. See the Part 1 post here.

Chunky Chickadee with doodles
2 chunky birds with doodles
4 chunky birds with doodles
heron and cedar waxwing with doodles

View the other parts of this series:

  • Part 1
  • Part 3

Supplies used in this journal spread (These are affiliate links. This means that if you click on the link and buy certain items, I will receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you) to help keep the lights on in the studio.)

  • Moleskine Sketchbook, Large
  • Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen – Sepia, Super Fine Nib
  • Elmer’s Extra Strength Glue Stick
  • Scissors

Filed Under: Create Tagged With: Art Journal, Art Journal Tips, Step-by-Step

Bird Series in my Art Journal: Part 1

Bird Series in my Art Journal: Part 1

I got a free subscription to a bird magazine for filling out a survey. I was charmed by all the photos of birds and cut out a bunch of them.

Birds and shapes cut out of magazine

I particularly liked the chubby chickadee and cut his shape out of other photos from the magazine. I had more cut-outs than I could use on one page, so I decided to create a bird series spread in my art journal.

Bird photo glued into journal

Spread 1 has the lone photo of the chubby chickadee.

2 bird shapes glued into journal

Spread 2 has two of the bird shape cut-outs.

4 bird shapes glued into journal

And Spread 3 has four.

2 more bird photos glued into journal

Spread 4 has a heron-shaped cut-out and a photo of a Cedar Waxwing.

I’ll be posting Part 2 and Part 3 of this series in the next couple of weeks.

Supplies used in this journal spread (These are affiliate links. This means that if you click on the link and buy certain items, I will receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you) to help keep the lights on in the studio.)

  • Moleskine Sketchbook, Large
  • Elmer’s Extra Strength Glue Stick
  • Scissors

Filed Under: Create Tagged With: Art Journal, Art Journal Tips, Collage

Sketching in My Art Journal

Sketching in My Art Journal

I’ve been drawing on and off for most of my life but have never been satisfied with my results. A pattern design course from Make it in Design inspired me to start sketching again. I decided not to worry so much about the result and enjoy the process.

Nature sketches

I debated whether to use a separate book for my sketches but finally decided to do them in my art journal. I like having all my inspiration in one place.

Flower sketches

I’ve been drawing flowers and nature.

Flower and objects sketches

And also some objects.

More flower sketches

I’ve been paying attention to how I arrange my sketches on the page to make an attractive composition.

Sketch collage

Here I placed the drawings in a more collage-like arrangement and even added a patterned background.

Filed Under: Create Tagged With: Art Journal, Art Journal Tips, Sketching

Improving an Art Journal Spread

Improving an Art Journal Spread

My art journal is my place to play and experiment. Unfortunately, not all of these experiments are successful. Lately, I’ve been seeing what I can do to improve the less successful spreads.

This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click on the link and buy certain items, I will receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you) to help keep the lights on in the studio.

Before

I’ve been experimenting with using more color in my art journal. While I like the paper weaving area of this spread, I wasn’t happy with the doodles. It’s too busy, doesn’t have enough contrast, and the colors I chose are too bright.

After

I decided to color in some of the areas with a sanguine brush pen. This new version is much more successful. It’s less busy and has more contrast. And the sanguine color blends in better with the paper. I even like how the original pattern is partly visible through the pen. Maybe this will become a new technique?

Filed Under: Create Tagged With: Art Journal, Art Journal Tips, Before and After, Collage, Doodles

Turning a Mistake into a Feature

Turning a Mistake into a Feature

I was so annoyed with myself when I made a mistake while creating this art journal spread. But I decided to make lemonade out of lemons and made the mistake a feature.

Getting Started

I started out by choosing a magazine page with colors I liked, 2 flower punches, and a wavy grid on the spread.

Punching and gluing flower shapes

Then I punched out flower shapes and glued them onto the intersections of the grid.

Adding concentric shapes

Next I drew concentric shapes inside the grid.

Oops, made a mistake

I then colored in every other space in each grid with a black marker. Can you see where I made my mistake?

Adding white doodles

Next, I added white dots and lines to the black areas.

Turning a mistake into a feature

Now it was time for some lemonade. I colored in the shapes in the area with the mistake and added some black dots. I turned my mistake into a feature!

Supplies used in this journal spread (These are affiliate links. This means that if you click on the link and buy certain items, I will receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you) to help keep the lights on in the studio.)

  • Moleskine Sketchbook, Large
  • Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen – Black, Super Fine Nib
  • Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen – Black, Brush Nib
  • Sakura Gelly Roll Pen – White, Medium
  • Elmer’s Extra Strength Glue Stick
  • Tombow Dual Brush Pens
  • Paper Punches

Filed Under: Create Tagged With: Art Journal, Art Journal Tips, Step-by-Step

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