and now for something completely different!

I am one of those people who once they get an idea in their head and figure out how it works best for them, they run crazy with it until it burns them out. Lisa, meet gesso journaling.

 I can safely say that I am in love with this process! I didn't even really want to journal last night, but I sure did want to get some gesso down on to some paper! So I put on A Fistful of Dollars, and got to work.

 I thought I would share the "evolution of a page" here with you. The top photo shows what my pages look like with some gesso on, and nothing else. The photo above shows them splattered with spray ink. Pretty basic stuff. These will get more layers later, but so far so good eh?

 Next comes some more fun with spray ink. I love how the gesso keeps its integrity enough under the spray ink to show some extra texture! On the left I smeared the spray ink around (new Lindy's stuff), and on the right I did Chan's and mine new favourite POW! technique and then let it drip. When it runs through the gesso, you can see some of the texture again. Not a lot of colour here, but a great start.

 Here comes the colour! I grabbed some watercolor pencils (Faber Castell-Value Village) and started doodling. I am still learning about watercolours and how to manipulate them, but in my journals I am not worried about perfection, so this is the perfect place to play!

 And I like doodling (and I am good at it), so this is simply an extension of that! Get some colour and a pattern or a shape or a design on the page and add the words later!

I would so love to teach a class at TM about watercolour doodling, but I have a feeling that it would fall flat (as per the usual state of my classes). It is so simple and yet so fun and the results are quite wonderful! My repertoire of shapes is pretty small (leaves, circles, clouds, trees, hearts...), but it's a good start for a beginner art journaler!

later loves

p.s. I was having a little panic this morning when I saw the post below had gone live. I am trying to be more honest/open in life, and more honest/open on my blog, but there was still a huge leap between writing that post and publishing it for all the world to see. Scary, but kind of awesome as well. Thanks for putting up with me!