... exploring in my creativity further in 2022



21 February 2014

Paint Party Friday and more Art Journal Birds

Hi! 

It's been a while since I have been to the Party... (except for working in the background with Kristin, that is.) I have 4 canvases, gessoed and sitting on my table - ready to paint but have I? Oh no... Well at least I have been playing and painting in my art journal though, so I finally have something to join in with!

For some unknown reason, birds are inspiring to me a lot these days. First a little blue jay - usually I see a few during the winter but this year it has been so brutal that very few feathered friends have been around. There has been the occasional chickadee and yesterday morning a gorgeous cardinal, singing his little heart out ☺ - no blue jays yet though...

Blue Jay flitting 

Blue Jay and Oscar Wilde quote

One technique a lot of people seem to use in their art journals is to pre-paint pages. I did that here and for me it was harder to figure out what to do with this darn page than had it stayed blank. I had seen a technique in paintings where an animal or face was painted using circles or black marks as shading, so I thought I would try that here. (Not sure I am even describing it well... or if it has a name... Anyone know?)

Great Blue Heron spread with van Gogh quote

Great Blue Heron (up close - double click to enlarge)

I am very intrigued by this technique/effect. I think I will try more!

After pasting a few thing into the journal, I was left with an odd space, so I decided to fill it by painting this quirky guy...

Virginia Rail

And then there were another couple of pages that weren't bird inspired but designed more to inspire me (or push me) to take action...

Next Step

50 Coffees Project

Looking forward to seeing your painting and/or art journaling efforts! Have a lovely week.