Tuesday, 13 February 2018

A Bird Does Not Sing: An Art Journal Page

For once I simply created an art journal page for myself; not in response to a challenge or a prompt, but simply the result of playing with new media. In fact I got so engrossed in the process that I forgot to take photos of the stages towards the end.
I recently treated myself to some tubes of Gouache colours and decided to see how they would work creating a background in my Strathmore Visual Journal.  I added (from bottom to top) Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, Ochre Yellow, Lemon Yellow and Deep Red directly from the tube onto the page and used a wide flat brush and plenty of water to blend the colours out working across the page.
I thought it created the most amazing wood like effect, so added stamping over the top in Sepia archival ink, using the Pine stamp from the Birch & Pine set (designed by Tim Holtz for Stamper's Anonymous).
On a separate piece of mixed media card, I stamped two of the Scribbly Birds (Dina Wakley) using Jet Black Archival ink.  These were coloured using Royal Talens Ecoline brush pens scribbled onto my glass mat and a water brush.  They were then fussy cut.  Before adding them, I stamped the same birds directly onto the page in Jet Black archival.  I also added one of the sentiments which came with the same stamp set.
It was from this point that I forgot to take further pictures until I had finished the page.  First I added music to the background (Jet Black Archival through the TCW Mini Sheet Music stencil).  I then watered down some more of the Burnt Umber Gouache colour and used it to add shading around the birds and the edge of the page.
I shall definitely be playing some more with these Gouache colours!

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