Good bye paint brush

Fire background
I made this background in my art journal recently. Nice huh?

I did it by spreading the paint with a plastic card, as learned by Nancy in her post Easy as pie background that she wrote in June! I’m not fast, but I have a good memory and when I see something I like I kind of add to my virtual list of ‘To Try’s. I didn’t use as many colours as Nancy, and I kind of smeared all the colours together into a fire ocean of red, orange and yellow. But oh, how I love this method! And the surface is so smooth – great for writing on! Love it, and will use it a lot more!

Good bye paint brush!

The universe is waiting for your greatness
This is how the final page look.

The fire background is still visable, but I’ve added a lot of images and text to this spread. I’m learining how to add more and more text to my spreads and I really like it. I’ve complained about how difficult I’ve found this before. I’m still having some problem with the actuall writing of words and sentences even though I now find I have the space in my layout. But I’m working on that too. Maybe I should try some poetry instead of trying to be too smart? Maybe I should not think about who will read it but more about what I need to say…

What do you write in your notebooks?

21 Responses

  1. Hanna, this is so inspiring! I love the idea of spreading paint across journal pages – I’m going to try this soon, I just have to!

  2. Thanks for sharing your process and your ups ‘n downs of doing an art journal. I keep more of a scrapbook than a journal; it’s notes from art classes, ideas (mostly images from magazines or printed off the web and glued in), color schemes (again, images glued in), some quotes from various sources, and whatever I find inspiring.
    I’m going to Ireland in the spring, and I will be keeping a regular written/photography/scrapbook journal, but it might be really fun to do an art journal too. But hmm, maybe I should do one about AK too… now to find the time…
    thanks again for sharing!

  3. I love the background and the divine text you wrote. Very cool. I have a hard time with some paper holding up to paint without falling apart but if you glue stuff on top that helps I think. Thanks for sharing your spread!

  4. This is fabulous! I so need to try the credit card painting technique … I have a huge stack of them waiting to try it, but just haven’t done it yet. I will have to pull one out and try it asap … you’ve thrown down the gauntlet LOL! And I love how you filled the page … it’s so full of movement and energy. Your use of several different colors of ink for the various bits of journaling and doodling really add to it. Just wonderful!

    I will try it soon … I will try it soon …

  5. Wow, I think this is one of the best pages I’ve seen you do. It’s lovely. I don’t use a brush at all, I use a sponge, the same as we use for dish washing. I learned that from Celine Navarro, and it’s great. I also don’t clean it, because it absorbs the colors, so I can just use it for a whole page, and clean only when I’m done. I like the plastic card technique, Lisa Volrath also uses it. I have to try.

  6. This page turned out beautifully. I’ve been wanting to try art journaling myself, and have also found it difficult to decide what to write. I guess it really is better to just write what comes to you because, well, it’s a journal.

  7. S? vackert, Hanna! H?rligt eldig och varm! Det ser ut som att skriva ?r hur l?tt som helst f?r dig – har du n?gra tips p? hur man b?r sig ?t? Jag tycker definitivt du ska skriva vad du beh?ver uttrycka, det ?r v?l d?rf?r man skapar? (skrift, papper, “konst”, textilt och annat!)

  8. Hey, Hanna! I love this page! But don’t worry about what you write on your pages. You don’t have to record deep thoughts. No one is going to read it and say, Gee, you don’t write the right things in your journal! There’s no right or wrong. Anything goes in your journal…it’s what you want it to be. Write lists, random thoughts, song lyrics, or nothing at all. I’ve seen a lot of journal pages with no writing. There are no rules!

  9. This journal page is so alive with your color and images! I don’t keep a journal consitantly but we are taking a trip soon and I am preparing my journal pages (and will try this! color technique) so I hope to fill it up!

  10. love love love the colour :)

    i write poetry bits, scattered thoughts, quotes i love, words to inspire and sometimes little messages to myself :)

  11. I LOVE your art work .
    Colorful , great !
    Rini from the Netherlands
    Can I give you a place on my favorites ???
    I hear from you ???
    Love RINI

  12. The plastic card trick is a great idea. I spent a bunch of money on palette knives … but who needs them? Your background looks amazing. :)

  13. I love these pages! The pictures you chose are outstanding and the fire colors really brings them to life. I feel your pain about writing over paint. I’ve vowed myself to actually JOURNAL in my journal.

    Now I have another excuse to avoid my homework tonight…I have to try that credit card technique!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Post comment