Doodles

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.

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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.

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?

Adding Color to my Art Journal

For someone who loves color, my most recent art journal spreads have been very neutral. I decided to remedy that and purchased some Pitt Artists Pens in fun colors.

For this journal spread, I started by glueing in some phots of mirrors I found in a magazine.

Then I added lots of doodles.

And then the fun part: adding color. I chose orange to contrast with the blue in the photos and added yellow to create an analogous palette.

Orangutan & Doodles in my Art Journal

I found this orangutan photo in a magazine and had to add it to my art journal. Isn’t that facial expression great?

Adding a thought bubble to journal spread.

I added a thought bubble.

Adding more doodles to the art journal spread

Then, I added one of my favorite doodle patterns following the photo and thought bubble outline.

I added another concentric line pattern.

Then I added some lines in a ray-like pattern.

I embellished the ray lines with doodled shapes.

I colored in some of the shapes to create contrast. Oops, I forgot to add words to the thought bubble. What do you think the orangutan is thinking?

Flowing & Dotted Lines in my Art Journal

I love the colors and patterns of these leftover strips of paper.

I glued them into my art journal in a loose grid pattern.

Then I used my sepia and sanguine brush pens to color in three of the created shapes.

Next, I added some flowing lines coming from the corners of the grid.

I also used a white pen on the colored areas.

I added lines in the shapes created by the lines to add some texture and interest.

Then I added some dotted lines in the colored areas.

To finish the spread, I added some doodles to the small circles punched into some of the strips.

Exploring vs. Nesting in my Art Journal

My art journals are usually only about what looks good instead of recording my thoughts and feelings. But sometimes a photo will spark a thought process.

This photo of a road leading into the distance awakened my urge to travel and explore.

But I also have a competing urge to nest, to create a home that is a haven and a source of inspiration.

I cut the road and home decor photos into puzzle-like pieces that I could mix and match.

This is what I glued into my journal, a mixture of the open road and a beautiful home.

I decided to create a stylized landscape for the road to travel through. I started by adding these curving lines with a sepia pen.

Then I added some short lines to create a texture in the shapes formed by the lines.

I added more curving lines with a sanguine pen.

Next, I filled in the shapes created with lines in a variety of angles.

To finish the spread, I darkened the curving lines to create more contrast in the pattern.

This journal spread is now a reminder to find a balance between my urges to explore and nest.