Here’s this week’s Journal Friday. I’ve been contemplating a lot of changes that have been taking place lately, and this page is an extension of some of those thoughts.
Journal Friday #111: Inktense Layers
Here is last week’s Journal Friday time-lapse video! I decided to stick with just my Derwent Inktense pencils and build layers. Sometimes its good to get lost in the process.
Journal Friday #109: Layers of Memories
Journal Friday has been on hiatus for the past couple of weeks — first, because of getting ready for the Western Loudoun Artists Studio Tour that I participated in the weekend of June 1st and 2nd, and then last week, I was on vacation and didn’t have time to post anything.
I’m back now with a new time-lapse video, and the spread is all about something that has been floating around in my mind for the past couple of weeks.
I’ve been feeling a bit lost with my art lately — feeling like I didn’t have a direction, like I was floating a bit aimlessly, but during my vacation, I had a bit of an epiphany. Travel for me is always cathartic, and my wife and I spent a whirlwind of a week in England seeing a lot of different things. But what struck me the most was the history. I remember the same feeling 25 years ago when I first visited England, and I felt it even stronger this time, especially with how it relates to my art. As we went place to place in England — from York to Alnwick, from London to the Cotswold, from Bath to Alton, there’s a real sense of history, and I came to really understand how places and people are both a culmination of experiences and memories, and as time goes by, different structures are imposed on top of one another. Much gets buried and covered up, but it’s still there influencing the character of the place to the person. People and places are an amalgamation of experiences, ideas, people, events, memories, thoughts, and so much more.
So I began to explore those ideas in this weeks Journal Friday spread. I haven’t come to any steadfast conclusions, but I am looking forward to exploring the ideas in my journal and in my art
Journal Friday 108: Manifest
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been feeling a bit stuck lately, and today’s Journal Friday spread for my latest time-lapse video was all about this feeling. I began by layering a few different watercolor techniques to create a background, and then I divided the space with ink and water-soluble pencil. At that point, I decided to do a bit of writing, and focused on my feelings of uncertainty. I chose some words and phrases from the writing that seemed to have some punch to them, and I wrote them down the left side of the spread. All the while the word “manifest” was going through my head, so I decided to stencil it in the middle of the spread.
I’m not completely happy with the spread, and I would love to build up more contrast around the word “manifest”, as well as, add some embellishments, but one of the challenges with these time-lapse videos is keeping them to a minute in length. Both Instagram and Twitter only accept minute-long videos, and I want to be able to share them across platforms. So there is a unique challenge in confining them to that length. In real time, I spent about two and a half hours on this spread, and it’s interesting to see what develops in that time.
I hope that you enjoy!
Journal Friday #107: Spheres of Influence
I completely forgot to share last week’s Journal Friday time-lapse video. I approached this spread a bit differently, and stuck to some map like imagery as I built up layers. As I began it, I didn’t have a plan, but I quickly decided to not use any really recognizable objects like faces. I also decided not to use any collage and stuck with watercolor, water-soluble pencil and paint markers.
As I worked on the spread a theme of boundaries and borders came to mind, and I focused on creating a variety of lines, shapes, and symbols that signified a variety of ways that we separate ourselves from others. I decided to not use any words as well, and left it completely symbolic.
Journal Friday #106: Legacy
Today’s Journal Friday spread began with some collage, paint, and Inktense Pencils, but I quickly came to a point where I didn’t know what to do next. Then a line from a song that I was listening to hit me. “If I don’t know where I come from, how do I know where to go.” The song is Runaways by hip hop artist Sage Francis, and the line just resonated with me.
I’ve been feeling a bit stuck lately, dealing with some things from the past that seem to be holding me back, and I’m trying to find my feet and find a way forward. I love how journaling can help shine light into my thoughts and feelings.
Here’s to standing boldly and finding a way forward.
Journal Friday #105
With today’s Journal Friday, I tried to limit myself to just a few materials and a red and black color scheme. I decided to use just a Faber-Castell Graphite Aquarelle pencil, a Derwent Inktense pencil, a Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen, a uni-ball Vision pen, and a UHU Glue stick.
For the words, I looked up random pages in a small spelling dictionary that I have. I then selected a word that resonated with me. There’s something a bit poetic about the random juxtaposition of the words.
Journal Friday #104
I completely forgot to share last week’s Journal Friday here on the blog, but I did share it on social media. So today will be a double dose of Journal Friday. So, here’s a time-lapse video for Journal Friday #104.
Journal Friday #103
I keep forgetting to post Journal Friday on Fridays! I did share the video on social media this past Friday, but I completely forget to share it here on the blog. So here it is a few days late.
I’ve been trying to share different ideas with these videos, and not make them all the same, even though they use a lot of the same materials. I have been trying to push myself to approach each one in a slightly different way. With this spread, I began with a little reflective writing. Writing is a big component of my normal visual journaling, and I use it to clear my mind: reflect on life, events, and art: and to just figure things out. The initial writing in this spread dictated the direction for the pages, and I spent a lot of time working with letter stencils playing with the phrase, “The Universe Always Answers.”
I hope that you enjoy.
Journal Friday #102
I completely forgot to post the last Journal Friday here, so I’m catching up now. I’ve already posted the video to social media, but I wanted to post it here as well.
This spread really came out of nowhere, and I wasn’t of any of it when I started, except that I new that I wanted to start with collage. As I started the spread, I got a phone call from my brother saying that one of our uncles had passed away. It wasn’t unexpected. He had suffered a stroke a few months ago, and had been in the hospital ever since. He hadn’t really recovered, and I wasn’t surprised with the call. But still it was sad, and my heart hung heavy as I worked on the spread. The news did help dictate the direction of the page, and it became a way to process the feelings and emotions.
I did a variation on blackout poetry once I glued the book pages in, and I searched out rather heavy words as I began to string together phrases. But as I looked outside at the leaves beginning to bud on the bushes and trees, I knew I had to incorporate inspirations of spring despite the sad the news. As I worked through the page, I allowed my thoughts to churn and turn. Though the final spread seems to bear little to no semblance to the sad news, it was a great help in allowing me to process my feelings.