Out of the Journal: Week One

Dina Wakely and Samantha Kira are two very accomplished art journalers living in Arizona.  And they have hatched a wonderful challenge.

You can read all about it here.  Essentially, they are challenging you to get out of your art journal and start playing on canvas!  The challenge is to complete two canvases (larger than 8x10) each week.  This week I got a good start, completing two 16x20 canvases.

I wanted to bring the same experimental feeling to canvas that I bring to my art journal, so I decided to try a whole bunch of things I've never tried before.

1. I collaged book pages to the canvas, but not in the concentrated way I normally do.  I left them scattered.  And I painted some large words with sumi-e ink and let it run down the canvas.
2. I added a figure with her arm up.  I don't normally include the body, just the face.  And I put her off to the side.  My usual composition is in the center.
3. I sketched in the face, worrying less about making it "pretty" and more about making it contemplative.  I also add some blue dots as body decoration.
4. I painted in some large flowers flying across the background, obscuring the text.
5. I added some more flowers -- but these onese are actually painted on book pages, which I cut out and adhered to the canvas.  I also fixed the angle of her shoulder with her arm up.  There wasn't enough space.  And I also added a variety of greens to create the background.
6. I added some clothing, rosy cheeks, a bit of lipstick, and some contouring.  And the final result...

Very interesting.  I'm not 100% sure that I love it, but I'm pleased with the experiment and I really enjoyed making it.  I can see lots of possibilities for future projects.  Ideas are bubbling.

Then I decided to try my hand at a real portrait.  I worked with a photo of my Mom.

It's not completely right.  There's something about the teeth that's wrong.  And I don't love the placement of some of the collage elements, but nevertheless it also has me excited about the possibilities.

I'm delighted that I'll have eight finished canvases at the end of the month!  Of course, where I'm going to put eight canvases in this tiny apartment is a totally separate question!  But this project also fulfills a personal goal of mine: to take more time for myself to try new things.  My friend Nat said it best when she said she needs to find some time for Nat Lab (i.e. Nathalie's Laboratory).  I'm so glad to have found some Julie Lab time this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

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P.S. A little birdie told me that Balzer Designs for TCW stencils are now available for buying here.