Art journaling explorations with portion control
I believe that part of something is more interesting than the whole. It creates a sense of mystery, an engagement of the viewer to try to figure out what they are looking at.
Michelle Ward
January’s art journaling crusade was called shape up which I did with hearts, using a favorite shape in your Art Journal and repeating it. Now in February the theme of the crusade is called Portion control. You can use portion of a image or shape and make it more interesting by tearing it apart, hiding it in paint or disguising it anyway you like. Use both negative and positive space, several colors in one shape etc. etc. As always the theme is huge and open to your own interpretations I guess.
My Art Journal spread has a pretty obvious theme, one that kind of emerged while I was working on a few other art pieces. I wanted to experiment with it more consciously, play with it and use it, but I think it worked better when I wasn’t trying so hard. The theme, as you might have guessed, is circles, most of them half hidden in many other layers of circles and round shapes. And even though it’s a rather obvious theme I don’t think you could count all the circles in these pages because there are so many and some are totally hidden beneath other circles…
I think this is an interesting concept to explore and I think it is where my art is heading. From the more obvious and straight forward collage to the more mysterious and abstract. A few years back I didn’t even know the word abstract and now I’m in love with it…
I will post the art pieces I’ve finished as soon as I scan them, and I promise to continue to explore this in my art.
And now that you have seen small portions of the art journal spread all though this post maybe you’re curious about the whole?
Voila- the whole page! Scanned from my altered book in its entirety, but admittedly, the portion parts above are much more fun, don’t you agree? :-)
Posted to Crusade no 28: portion control at GPP Street Team. Please go check out what the others have done, and do add your comment if you enjoy what you see! Thanks!
the portions are fun I agree, yet the whole is magnificent, so much to see. I especially like the tag which has 2009 on it, (can’t read it all)
hanna – i’m swooning over your circles! i agree with karen, the whole is magnificent, but i loved seeing portion of your portions. it’s interesting that you are drawn to abstract too – it’s something that intrigues me and i realized that portion control is a way to get to un-controlled, random looking work. i like that you observed “not trying so hard” got you there. perfect! or, more like “imperfect on purpose”. thanks for sharing with the crusaders!!
These circles remind of of bubbles, layers upon layers, like in a bubble bath. I love how the glimpses previewed the whole which I think is also spectacular. Very nice portion control Hanna, bot in the wonderfully rich page and in this post!
Cheers, Crusader, and thanks for sharing your magic bubbles !
Karen!
Thanks for the nice comment! The printed tag says;
I am a poet too. February 2009.
Simple as that! :-)
Michelle!
thanks for your lovely comments and fast visit, hehe, I don’t know but I’m wondering if you live by the computer? I’m going through the crusaders right now commenting and swooning too! I’m thinking that maybe some people could think this to be “junk”, the background paper behind real art? I think one can get beauty from those serendipitous papers, but most likely in the end they will be a ugly mess. To me, this take practice and patience and the right mindset to create! If you know what I mean? :-)
whoa…..this is a tough call….your portion control pieces are interesting…sure….but this spread is magnificent!! really… it’s really really good!!
Julie,
thank you!! I want to say “you’re kidding right?” but I won’t. I’m just going to go back and look at the page again and ponder your comment! :-)
Hi! I think I’m drawn more to the portions, but the entire page is just wonderful, too. It reminds me of a comfy old crazy quilt.
The colors are inviting.
Hi sweetie!
First, thanks for stopping by the junkin’ yaya and leaving such a sweet comment!
As an abstract artist (since 1979) I am so glad to hear that you love abstract! You will totally enjoy it….I love your circles and then the bits and pieces of the fish! Very creative….keep up the great work!
xo…deb (the junkin’ yaya)
Hi Hanna,
Lovely, your spread. Indeed so much to see and to kind of explore. When I saw the third picture my first thought was: yes, what a beauty. This one would do fantastic as a separate peace of art, imo that is, I like sunny colours. Oh, and abstracts are my passion too!
Great work!
Regina, St. Maarten, DWI
Wow! So much to explore. I just kept looking & looking. I love the colors too.
Hanna, your circles are fabulous. I like the portion photos, but the whole page is pretty cool! thanks for stopping by my blog and your kind comments.
Great collage! So many details to explore, so many interesting combinations of colour and structure. Very inspiring!
Hi Hanna
I am in love with circles (and dots) too! And for others it may seem junk, i think it is WONDERFULL! I specially like the red/white little dot paper. The piece makes me linger for SPRING!
Hedwig
Your circles are great! So much complexity and mystery. I never get tired of circles-they are one of my faves.
-Jane
Hi Hanna,
Your piece is really awesome! Like so many others have written, I like the portions, but the entire piece is really beautiful. You really did a nice job!
Hanna, This is incredibly fun, one of the coolest pages I have seen in quite awhile. Your creativity is amazing!
Fabulous piece of work. I love it…portions or whole…just really cool!
Oh my – the colours are just lovely; so bright and uplifting. Great job!
oh this is wonderful! you’ve done a fabulous job with the circles…complex & vivid colors and images…lovely!
Dianne
Well done on winning this months crusade Hanna…it was my favourite piece too! Oh and btw I just got my prize from Michelle for winning in January and she really rocks when it comes to gifts…on my blog if you wanna peak :lol:
Well done again!