Monochromatic Green Page

The Green spread is the last of the monochromatic pages that I have made so far. Making a monochromatic page is like doing a little colour investigation.

My Green Pen Collection - photo copyright Hanna Andersson

I picked up all the green pens from my pen box and it was obvious that green is a colour that I am drawn to, though of course I already knew that. Pink and green is one of my favorite combinations, and green itself is so rich and luscious to me.

Exploring the colour Green - art journaling by @ihanna
Here is the whole monochromatic green spread.

Monochromatic is great for beginners

In the comment section we’ve been discussing that monochromatic colour pages are great for beginners. If you are new to Art Journaling and don’t know what to put on your page why not start with a few pages of monochromatic. You could start with any colour and just experiment with it, why not ruby red (the colour that got me started)?

Mix red colours and use pens, crayons, watercolours and acrylics in red, look for matching papers, find words that makes you think of red or describe how you feel about the colour. I think you will be inspired to continue once you get your materials out.

Mixing green

To create a green colour you mix together yellow and blue. If you already have a bottle of dark forest green colour you can mix in white to make it lighter. Green with white will create a cold green, if you mix green with more yellow instead you get a light green that feels warm and spring like. Yellow green makes me think of leaves moving in the wind and meadows of grass under a bright sun.

Exploring green threads

I have a whole folder of yarn samples from a Swedish weaving company that I bought at a thrift store once. Each yarn brand is a row of similar coloured fringe in a nice row. I cut them out and incorporate them into my art journals in different ways. When I bought the folder I had no idea what I would do with the samples but I am a firm believer that you can use anything flat in your art journal, sooner or later you will find a way. A row of only green hues was perfect for the green page. I like to glue a row close to the edge so the yarns stick out of the book when it closes, like a soft book fringe that you can touch.

Exploring green
Little pieces of green papers glued together during my colour investigation.

As an artist I am continuously exploring colour. I think I will do it in one form or other for the rest of my life. It is a topic with no end. The range of colours are endless and we can probably not even see all the colours that exists.

14 Responses

  1. I so agree that exploring color is a topic with no end, there is something so soothing about the monochromatic pages that makes you want to just dive in and stay awhile. xox Corrine

  2. Hanna, I thought to your monochromatic pages last Saturday, when I discovered in our local library a little book written by Michel Pastoureau about colors and their symbolism. I noticed that there are “monochromatic books” (same author): Black: The History of a Color and Blue: The History of a Color.
    Probably they don’t interest you, but I thought it would be funny to communicate it to you during your monochromatic adventures :))
    Bye!
    (sorry, I’m tired, english is difficult for me tonight)

  3. Thanks for commenting!

    Corrine, yes, once you start making a monochromatic page you’re kind of drawn into the making. And it opens your eyes to that colour – you see it everywhere. :-)

    Thanks for the links Silvia! I love the look of the blue book and how it at amazon says that it describes how “the rarest of all colors became the commonest“! Colours are interesting and of course they have a history too, I didn’t even think about that before! :-) Black is a page I haven’t done, but maybe my previous post on text could do… hehe, lots of black typography there. Sleep well!

  4. I love this green page the most of all of your monochromatic pages, probably because green is my favourite colour. Just looking at that first photo of all your green pens lined up makes me want to start making some of my own pages.

    I have made some monochromatic pages in the past, which were really fun, and I would definitely agree with you that they would be great for beginners. It makes the selection of collage, paint, etc. so much easier. I’ll have to make some more of these pages someday soon, and I can’t wait to see some more of your pages!

  5. Forgive me for not commenting on your last few postings, but believe me I have been LOVING your monochromatic pages! So inspirational for someone like me that still doesn’t have a lot of confidence in the way my pages turn out. I have simply been journaling lately (just writing), but your pages are making want to get back into the visual part so much! — Monochromatic looks fun and un-intimidating! Thank you for all your beautiful art and that take the time to take pictures of it, upload it and share it with the world! It is appreciated more than you know.

  6. Thanks for stopping by my site today Hanna. I clearly came on a good day since green is my favorite colour. I love the idea of the monochromatic pages. My daughter adores your pink page. Will be back to visit again!

  7. I love this so much, and your color pages are so inspiring! I’m not a beginning art journaler but sometimes I get “journal block” and this would be a great way to break out of a funk, I think.

    I love the little yarn sample too – it was the first thing my eye was drawn to when I saw this post. What a great find!

  8. Love green too ! My Fav I think ! Do you know that it is the color that the human eye sees the most different shades of ? Makes sense, when you think of all the different greens in nature…
    Monochromatic is fun but the green page makes me want to put a pink or purple or orange or something beside it. Interesting…
    Happy Colorful Palying, Brilliant One !

  9. thanks for sharing all the links…love your journal pages…and the fabric beads several posts ago are amazing!

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