In this journal I try to do some "raw" artjournaling. Not trying to make "pretty" pages, but just let the paint guide me, experiment, paint what I see and feel without trying to make it look good. Which is not easy for me.
I always look for figures in my backgrounds. It doesn't have to be much, sometimes it's just an eye or a part of a shoulder that I can see, but once I see something I take it from there.
With this face I saw the right eye and the mouth right away.
And oh, how I struggled to keep it like this. It bothered me that the mouth was so far on the side, but at the same time I couldn't bring myself to "fix" it. If that's the place the mouth showed up it should just stay there. Fixing it would mean trying to make it "pretty" again, and that's exactly what I don't want in this journal. So I left it, although I still need time to get used to it....
Here's the whole spread:
No sketch this week, which doesn't mean I didn't sketch. I am preparing 2 small canvases for a commission, and since I don't know if the people I'm making it for read my blog, I better not show it here in order not to spoil the surprise....
I can't believe it's December already! Time flies, we almost need to go looking for a Christmastree .... It feels strange to have a "real" Christmas again, in Australia we never got used to celebrating Christmas while it was blazing hot outside and putting a Christmastree in an airconditioned room somehow doesn't feel the same ;-) But here it's cold, (which I hate btw), but it sure makes Christmas feel more "real".
Just in case you don't have a calendar for the new year yet: there's still time to get my new calendar in time before 2015 starts! I'm working hard on finishing my yearplanner too, although I'm not sure I'll manage to finish it in time. But I'll try. This is the painting for December.
If you click on the link to my Lulushop, and then on preview, you can see all the months.
Thanks for coming to visit me! I hope you're having a great day so far, and that the weekend will be without hassles and stress. Linking this to Paint Party Friday, the weekly blog party. And finishing with another funny picture, from Pinterest of course ;-)
Haha, love it! Take care and see you next week ♥ ♥ ♥
Love your colourful and lively journal pages! Valerie
ReplyDeleteLoving your wonderful spread Denthe. Its very cold here as well. Happy PPF, Annette x
ReplyDeletehttp://nettysartadventures.blogspot.co.uk/
Oh wat lekker kleurrijk weer. Dat hebben we echt nodig op deze koude dagen. Fijn dat je weer aan wat kunst toekomt! xxx Marianne
ReplyDeletei always wanted to experience Christmas in another climate...a warm one, i mean. maybe someday. if it were up to me, it would snow ONLY on Christmas, then be gone for the rest of the year!!
ReplyDeleteI love how you pull out all these subjects from the background. Wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing, love what you have "found" here. I think it is very amusing about the lady's mouth, I know what you mean - when I have done this "found images" thing, I can't allow myself to create anything new, it has to be already there "hiding" although it can be enhanced and defined of course.
ReplyDeleteYour first photo could stand alone as a picture and make a nice card, love the bird and his friend the fish.
Good for you! It's so important and fun to let colors lead your way or like in writing, when a story begins to live its own life! Creation at its best!
ReplyDeleteLayers of beauty and joy in your work!
Ha Dente, je kunst heeft niet geleden ik vind het weer super mooi zo mooie kleuren ik hou daar van.
ReplyDeleteJa het is koud hé,dat is wel wennen hé maar heeft ook iets met de sfeer straks met de kerst.......
Groetjes Christiene.
Your journal spread is just awesome! Love the bold colours and how you have been brave about it :) I can see 'you' there and yet 'you appear' different :)
ReplyDeleteThe last cat pic & quote is sooooooo cute!
All of your journal spreads are filled with wonderful color and whimsy-I LOVE them! Thanks for the giggle at the end of the post too:)
ReplyDeleteI enjoy seeing your journal pages. I think the woman's expression is interesting with the mouth to the side...I think I might make that face myself once in awhile! :-) I have been away from the blogging world for about a month now, which has given me an opportunity to paint and play without thinking about showing off the results. Now, of course, that I'm back to blogging, I'll be sharing some of my fun, but it was nice to take a break for awhile! It can be hard to art journal without wanting the end result being something "pretty" to show. (Though I have to say, your pages came out pretty anyway!)
ReplyDeleteWow... I LOVE your pages!!!
ReplyDeleteSmiles, Saskia :)
Your art journal spread is fantastic, Denise! I always enjoy the colors since I'm a color person myself. Your birds are lovely, and so are the faces. The mouth didn't bother me at all. But I can see how it would bug you - I compliment you on not trying to "fix" it. Raw journaling, right?
ReplyDeleteDenthe, fine journal page, so colourful. I agree, time flies and it is not easy to think it is allready soon Christmas time.
ReplyDeleteUm, Denthe, this page is FABULOUS!!!! SO so amazing - I love that side mouth - and the black and all the really organic shapes. It IS so different from your norm, but is still so YOU. I really like where you are headed - I say keep it up! - I'm getting (for lack of a better word) a bit "messier" in my stuff lately too and find that it has really helped to loosen me up. Bravo, xoxo Oh, and a day planner! GREAT idea! xoxo
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kristin this page is fabulous. The mouth on the side suites the quirkiness of the birds and colours. It is so hard to stay away from perfection isn't it?. I was once accused by an art tutor that I made everything beautiful! I think that is why my girls have odd perspective. But both are okay and even better when they are both on the same page, which you have managed to do so well. Beautiful and quirky well done I say!
ReplyDeleteThese journal pages are full of freedom and beauty, your work really is something, filled with so much creativity and life, it's bursting! Enjoy this season even in the cold, I couldn't imagine having Christmas in Australia, it wouldn't feel like Christmas at all!
ReplyDeleteJust awesome... I so enjoy this pages!
ReplyDeleteYou intuitive paintings are a wonder to me...I can't even imagine. May I ask what acrylic brand you use? I just started an acrylic class and the colors seem "dead" compared to yours. I love your journal pages and just discovered you on Society6, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Gloria! For this I used really cheap acrylics from a nondescript brand. But to my delight the colours are really vibrant. I love Golden paints as well as Amsterdam, but in my journal I tend to use the cheap brands, so I can play as much as I want without having to think about the cost. I always tend to buy the bright colours though.
DeleteI have learned a few things using acrylics. Firstly I keep the cold (blue, green, purple) colours separate from the warm (red, yellow, orange) as long as they are wet. When they're dry it doesn't matter, but when they're wet and mixed together they tend to make mud. Second thing I learned it that when you put white paint or gesso first and when that's dry put a transparant red or pink on top, the colours are really vibrant. The nice thing about cheap paints is that they're often transparant because the pigment is not so strong. But in combination with the white paint they look great. In this page I didn't use much white, the red and blue are just very vibrant. But using white in the background first is a way of making colours appear less dull/dead. It comes down to a lot of experimenting I guess :-)
Really love your journal pages ♥ So bright and colorful... I envy your chance to art with a friend. The only time I get to do that is at family gatherings or when I visit with my daughter. Even then there isn't always a chance to work on art.
ReplyDeleteLovely colourful pages!
ReplyDeleteThese pages are fantastic.
ReplyDeleteDenise, you are amazing the way you find faces and figures in your work. This turned out so pretty. Who cares where the gal's mouth is? Everything looks like it belongs.
ReplyDeleteWow I love these journal pages...The lips and eyes give her a completely new expression! I love it... Very fun and interesting!! Sorry about the cold but hope you enjoy the Christmas decor as much as I do! One of Beardos brothers is in Australia right now and arrives home Christmas day!! Should be more of a climate shock than jet lag!
ReplyDeleteHugs Giggles
Your journal is so creative, colorful and FUN! I enjoyed the post. Blessings, Janet PPF
ReplyDeleteLove thes pages and the freedom of your journals. xox
ReplyDeleteSo glad you kept the mouth where it was- it needed to be there!! What a great spread!!Love your happy colors Denise- I always feel like I am in a artly world when I look at your pieces! xo
ReplyDeleteps..my dil adores the tote I ordered her for her birthday! She says she is proud to be the owner of such a beautiful piece of art! ")
Good for you for leaving the mouth be! Imperfection and asymmetry are interesting! And I have right beside me this quotation: "There is no exquisite beauty without some strangeness of proportion." I think keeping it "raw" is good for you, and me, and all of us!
ReplyDeleteThere are a gajillion great figures in this. I adore the red woman with the blue blindfold (or maybe that's just makeup?) and the bird on the quasi-human legs. You serve up visual feasts, my dear, and the colors are glorious!!
I really like these journal pages. They're very clearly you but somehow darker than your usual work. I spent 1 Christmas in a hot climate in Tunisia and i just found it weird. I think there needs to be cold and preferably snow!
ReplyDeleteThe colors, the magic. Your art is funky and I like the rawness. I see it's intuitive painting and it's inspiring because it takes you to great places!
ReplyDeleteLOVE this art journal spread so much! You are one crazy talented lady!! Kudos for you for resisting the urge to "pretty" up your girl!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous art journal pages!
ReplyDeleteI can clearly see that your art journal pages are so different from your canvases. You are doing more experiments and i feel you are more excited.I hope you will carry this courage onto your future work, too. Happy PPF...
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