Art Journal Pages: Drawing my Food

Everyone draws their food when they go 

to a restaurant, don't they?!  One of the

waitresses came over to see what I was 

working on, but I had barely started drawing

my red water glass.  I think she remembered

me from when I drew the turtle planter in 

their restaurant...

The table top presented difficulties.  It was

a carved surface with glass over it.  Glass is

always a challenge, with shadows, reflections,

and whatever is sitting on it...hopefully you

get the idea.  I really could have eaten that

whole basket of chips by myself!

Drawing in Sharpie pen, with watercolor

pencil and water applied after I returned home.

More pages in the 

"On Again~Off Again Journal...

I take along my art bag when we are taking

a road trip.  Hubby drives, and I happily 

paste scraps of paper and doodles into

whatever journal happens to fit into the

stuffed bag.  My watercolor pencils, water brush,

and Sharpie pen are necessities,

and a few highlighter markers wouldn't

go amiss either. They can brighten up

a page considerably!

Above, the atc I sent to Elizabeth,

made from some of my doodle-painted

paper, and a little tea cup that I drew

and glued onto the background.

It felt good to make some mini~art!

You may have noticed that I added a 

new page to this blog for Tutorials.

  To go to the Tutorials page, 

click on the tea cup at the top

of the side bar on the right.

There are only a few tutorials so far, but I 

hope to add more. Stay tuned!

Linking up for the T Tuesday

blog hop over at 

Bleubeard and Elizabeth's.

There's always time for tea!

Tutorial for Collage

How do you create a collage?

There is more than one way to

approach any art process...

but here I will share one of

the ways that I create collage

in my visual art journals.

1.) Apply watercolor to the page. Notice that for this particular background I did not blend the colors into one another, but left 'hard edges', (not blended) or even a little white space between colors.

2.) Collect/choose an assortment of papers and images that could be used in the collage. I usually use the background colors as a guideline.  Above: ledger paper, graph paper, stamped cardstock, my drawings with watercolor on cardstock, vintage game piece images, fabric, scrapbook paper, and a random ticket. Not all of them will end up in the final collage. Part of the fun for me is sorting through what I have on hand.

The possibilities for use of ephemera are pretty much endless!  From junk mail to vintage photos, the images you choose to use in your work will give the collage its own unique quality.

3.)  Arrange your chosen collage elements on the background.  This will take some trial and error. Move around the shapes and images, until satisfied with the arrangement.

Once I chose the bee image, that suggested the leaves and the flower. "Tea with honey" and the little tea cup drawing were chosen to go along with the T Tuesday theme over at The Altered Book Lover Blog. 

Various printed papers, like the ledger and graph paper give additional texture and color to the composition. I also like lined yellow or white writing paper. I've included a scrap of tissue-box-cardboard (blue behind the flower) and my own painted and drawn doodles. The British stamp was chosen simply for color and shape. Color is usually the dominant factor that helps me choose the collage elements.

4.) Add lines in pen to the background.  This helps unify the collage elements with the background.  (At this point, other mediums could also be added: pencil, pastel, acrylic paints, etc.  I chose to keep the number of layers to a minimum)

The overall flow of the shapes, spaces, lines and color should keep your eye moving over the surface of the collage. With collage, if something isn't quite working, you can remove it and replace it with something else, or just cover it up with paint or another piece of paper.

Here's a diagram of the shapes I've chosen and how the basic layout forms somewhat of an oval to guide your eye through the collage...

Since we read from left to right, our eye tends to also read the composition of an art work in the same way.  I keep that in mind and try to make an 'easy entry' point in the upper left hand corner of the work.  Of course, Eastern art and writing don't read from left to right, so it all depends on how you choose to work.  As we often are reminded, there is no 'right' or 'wrong' in art.

Linking up with 

Bleubeard and Elizabeth

for the T Tuesday link-up party.

All you have to do is include

a reference to a beverage to

join in.  Tea is good, but I am

a coffee lover too! Share a photo,

poem, art work, recipe or anything 

beverage related.  Maybe even

a tutorial?!

Enjoy your tea with honey...

and enjoy some art

with collage.

Coffee and Collage on T Tuesday~2015

After some digital 'digging', I think I've found

my first T Tuesday post...you can see it here.

It seemed appropriate to re-post this since

Elizabeth and Bleubeard are celebrating

the second anniversary of T Tuesday.

All you have to do is post something

drink-related and link up at the

Altered Book Lover Blog.

I have done a number of tea cups

and collages posted on Tuesdays, and

 thought it might be fun to revisit 

a few of them...

sometimes there is part of a tea bag...

and sometimes just a cup.

But there is always a friendly

visit with other bloggers.

My visitors will usually find some

art to go with your morning beverage,

or maybe even some stitching.

Visit Elizabeth's blog here

to join in.  There's even a

swap of ATC's to celebrate

the anniversary, so stop by!

♦ ♥ ♦

Green Tea Tuesday

I've mentioned before that

I tend to have several 

art journals in progress

at one time...

but when I come across

a journal that hasn't had 

an entry for three years,

and still isn't completed...

 I decided it's time to remedy the 

situation.  The first entry in

this journal is from 2006! 

The most recent drawings were 

dated 2012. So I've dubbed this journal 

"The On Again ~Off Again" journal...

there are several stops and

starts with gaps of a year or two

in between.  It is interesting to see

the changes/similarities in my work.

There are only about twelve more

'spreads' left to finish the pages, so

I've decided this little journal is 

'next up' to be completed.

I wonder if perhaps I've had

 too many "irons in the fire" at once?

Linking up with Elizabeth's

T Tuesday blog party, with

another wobbly tea cup drawing,

and a bit of collage. This green tea

with pomegranate, raspberry and

strawberry is quite enjoyable, and

of course colorful packaging is 

also a plus for collage fodder! 

Elizabeth's Tea Tuesday link party

will celebrate its second anniversary

next week, so do join us for

tea...

•  ♦  •

Travel Journaling ~ on T Tuesday

Travel Journaling is the theme for

The Documented Life Project for June 2015.

This week the challenge was 

illustrative journaling. Of course I chose

to draw, but there are many other ways of

illustrating your experiences while traveling.

Collaging illustrations from travel brochures,

 maps, and photos would all be great possibilities.

As usual, I did some sketching while hubby

drove the car.  It's kind of amazing the

 things you can see along the road

 to draw ~ when you are looking

for them!  The crumpled orange barrel

still makes me smile...a classic icon for

driver frustration.  Please do click on the image

to see the details, especially the

'Blasting Ahead' sign!

(There were no signs of actual 'blasting'

as we drove through the area, however,

thank goodness!)

We had a wonderful time in Tennessee for

a couple of days, just visiting our son's family

and spending time at the pool. 

I draw in my calendar/agenda...after 

participating in The

Documented Life Project 2014, I wasn't

ready to give up decorating an 

agenda-type journal.  This isn't

 nearly as complex as last 

year's, but has enough space to draw

and collage when the inspiration strikes.

Linking up with Bleubeard and Elizabeth

for the T Tuesday blog hop, in which

we share a beverage, and what we've

been 'up to.'  Visit the link to

join us for tea! (or coffee, or whatever)

Artist Trading Card: watercolor & pen

  I hope you are having

some summer fun, and 

enjoying each moment 

to the fullest!

Break Time

Sharing my clear glass coffee mug

with the gang over at Elizabeth's

T Tuesday blog hop...

Mickey looks like he's enjoying

his break with a doughnut!

This mug appeals to me

just because it's clear glass. Whatever

beverage you are drinking shows

through, which is kind of fun

...and of course you can't

go wrong with Mickey Mouse!

Again, the proportions of the mug 

aren't quite right, and trying to convey

the clear glass reflections

is always a challenge. But the more

you practice, the more it helps.

At least in theory...

Whether you're having something

cold to drink...

or a magic potion...

join us for a beverage and

a chat over at Elizabeth's blog.

You can even visit some classic

blog posts for the second time around

as a bonus. 

♦ ◘ ♦ 

Tea or Coffee?

"This is what we do."

"We have fun."

Life was so much simpler

in elementary school...

...a wonky drawing of a tall-ish

square-ish coffee mug...

and some fun quotes. It's

also an example of what happens

when you watercolor over a pen

drawing that you thought was

permanent, and then discover

that it's 'not quite permanent'

after all. But the fuzziness isn't

too unappealing...

...an observation about one

of my favorite British tv shows,

Midsomer Murders. (click on the

image for a larger view)

Linking up with the

T Tuesday gang over at

Altered Book Lover blog...

"We have fun."

Graduation

Congratulations to

all the graduates out there...

BE REMARKABLE!

○ ♥ ○

Fabric of Our Lives

The fabric of our lives 

is woven by those with whom

we choose to spend our time...

The Documented Life Project 2015-

The Journal,  Week 18.

The challenge was to use fabric

on the page...one of my favorite

things to add to a collage!

Of course there had to be stitching

and painted papers too...and

I'm enjoying finding diagrams

to add to the mix.

Linking up to Elizabeth's

T Tuesday blog party...

visit Altered Book Lover blog

to see what the group

is sharing today.

Collage for Quick Relief

When I don't have time to do a

detailed drawing, I can still find 

time to do a quick collage from

doodles, various papers,

and scraps.

It fulfills my need to create,

and can be done in stages or

when I have a short period

of time.

Making the time to make

art every day is important

to my happiness.