Puddles of Inspiration

Hi there.

I have a new journal page to show you.  

It rained here in Southern California all day on Sunday, which inspired me to paint the rain.

First I painted the clouds and added the rain and puddles with my white Sakura Souffle pen that I think I'm now re-addicted to!  I love the sheen of it against the matte background.  I wanted to add a quote about rain, but I couldn't find one that I liked, so as I was adding more rain and puddles I came up with this phrase...

"Fresh ideas

 Pour down like rain

Leaving behind 

Puddles of Inspiration"

But what good are puddles if you don't have galoshes? 

 Don't worry, I added some fun red ones that you can use!

So what are you waiting for?  Go ahead... put these on and jump on into your own "puddles of inspiration"!

Journal Pages : Doodles and Inspiring Things

Hi there.  It's me again.  

I have a couple more art journal pages to show you.  We'll start with the left side.  

This is how it started out (below).  I really liked it and I thought "Oh, I'll just doodle a bit more and be done with the page after a few washes of color, but...

Turns out my trusty, water-proof Micron pen isn't so trusty or water-proof like it says!!  Grrrr!!

So after it turned into a muddy, faded mess (below) I held back a few choice words and instead decided to try to turn it into a happy accident... 

I'm gonna be stuck on the couch for a while longer until my foot heals and I'm going stir crazy right now!  In an effort to try to make the best of it, I figured I might as well take an online art class so I can enjoy myself a bit.  So I signed up for the awesome Sketchbook Delight class by Alisa Burke.  I already have the supplies on hand and I can work on most of the class "homework"on the couch.  Yay!

So.... in one of the class videos I had just watched she used a white pen to pop out some highlights...

Oh yeah!!!  I have EIGHT (I just counted) different white pens!  I forgot all about them and how I love them for taking a boring journal page and bringing life to it.  Out came one of my favs, "Souffle" by Sakura.  It goes on clear but dries opaque, shiny, and kinda puffy.  I tried to take a photo at an angle so you can kinda see it in the light (below).  It's a great effect against the muddy background!!  I love happy accidents!

So that's how Alisa Burke and my trusty white Souffle pen saved the day.

 And my journal.  

And kept me from saying bad words.

Moving on... one of the things Alisa said to do is identify the things that inspire you to draw.  I hadn't really thought about this too much lately so I decided to write them down in my art journal as a "go to" for when I need inspiration.

My new favorite journal page!

I wanted to just draw out a few of the items on the list to spice up the page...

but then I got a wee bit carried away and drew out everything on the list... and then some!!  Turns out everything on the list is there for a reason.  You know... because they inspire me to draw.  Yup.  So as I tried to choose a few of them to draw I kept wanting to draw the next one, and the next one, and... you get it.

I learned a lot by doing this page.  First, I do still enjoy drawing after all.  I thought I hated it and would suddenly suck since I've been concentrating on painting... but hey, if I could draw a tiny Taj Majal then I guess I'm not doing too bad.  

Second thing I learned is architecture is a HUGE inspiration for me... especially if it's old and involves stonework.  Yup, it's good stuff.  Many of the things on my list are a form of it.  Hmm... do I have a secret desire to be an architect?  Nah... too much work.  I'll just admire it and hopefully make some cool art inspired by it.  And I'm so glad that I now have this page to remind me of this.  Thanks Alisa Burke!  Can't wait to do more "class stuff" and see what else comes of it!

I'm just wondering... how many picture are too many pictures?  Is this too many?

What about now?  Too many?  I like a lot of photos.  Just wondering if you're feeling it.  Or not.

How about now?