Last Days of Summer

 

 

The Last Days are winding down to a close...

 

 

All I wanted was a day to be creative without being around anyone. 

 

I bought this sketch book and pens and didn't really have a plan. So I started to draw some figures of animals, and as the pictures show, it became a Zentangle book...

 

 

 

 

 

Then more were created throughout the past few weeks:

 

 

 

More to come later...

 

 

Affirmation Cards

I am an art therapist and mental health counselor. I work with many clients who are depressed and had major trauma.  One of the art tasks that is most helpful, that combines positive thoughts and art, are affirmation cards.  It is really simple, though it can appear to be difficult or may think you need to be an artist to make these.  But really, it is simple.

Materials needed:
card stock, or playing cards
paint
markers-thin and thick
oil pastels
stamps-different ones
ink pads in various colors for stamps
paper-various colors
tissue paper
glue glitter
glue
ribbon
gesso

 

Playing cards is a deck of 52, you can make one a week for the entire year.

 

Paint gesso over the cards, as a primer for the materials that are added to it.

 

If you don't want to add paint or oil pastel but instead want to use card stock, glue the card with the numbers towards the color of the paper and cut it out once it dries. (this paper is green on both sides)

 

After the back ground color(s) are chosen, then either write in handwriting the affirmation or cut out words from a magazine, also print out affirmations off of the computer and paste onto the card.

 

 

 

 Here are the results:

 These are made on card stock which is bigger than a playing card.

 

 

 

Give it a try, you will be amazed by the results!

Painting Journal Entry

This week the art journal consists of painting on journal pages.  The only items needed are:

Art journal
acrylic paint
brushes or anything that resembles something that can be used as a "brush"

Each evening I painted onto a white page of the journal, using colors to express my day or just the mood I was experiencing at that time. instead of a typical paint brush, I used an old plastic card to swipe the paint across the paper.  It adds a cool color mixture when the paint blends together.

 

This is the final entry. After the entry dried, I used marker and crayon to add detail over the acrylic paint.

The entries below will be done with that same process, however, I have been busy with "life" that this was pushed to the side this week.  Between seeing clients and maintaining my own balance, my days were long at work, with many clients coming in, which is a positive thing, but it was just one of those weeks as a mental health therapist! Some clients used art therapy in the session, which was a nice change to the typical talk therapy session.

Anyway, in time, I will show you the final of these acrylic painting journal entries:

 

 

Until next time...

Pasting Colors

Art from a journal. 

Supplies: magazine pages, tissue paper, oil pastel, crayon and marker, glue

 

 

Used a black marker and closed my eyes and drew onto the paper in a scribble.  Colored in the shapes with oil pastels. then took a magazine picture and cut it up to finish this entry. 

 

 

Magazine pasted and used gesso over the magazine page, then took glue and traced some of the lines that was shown through the paint. Let it dry then used crayon, and marker to draw onto it.

Magazine pasted and gesso painted over it, let it dry, then marker and crayon.

 

Tissue paper pasted over the page

 

magazine pasted and gesso over paper, crayon and marker over it.

 

magazine pasted and gesso over, used crayon and marker.

 

 

A Week of an Art Journal

 

 

This is the first full week of dedicating time to an art journal. Unfortunately because of my work schedule, I did not have the mental energy to make any art on a few days.

 

Below, this was done using a scribble drawing in crayon, then watercolor over it.  I went back on it to add more detail.

 

 

 

This one began with a magazine page that was painted with gesso, I dried it before I worked on.  Then took markers and followed the shapes that was left after the gesso dried.  Then used watercolor to paint in the areas.

 

Do you see an elephant?  It must be my love of elephants, coming out externally! Such spiritual animals.

 

"Venus with Men" I guess this is about the Roman Goddess, who encompassed love, beauty, sex, fertility, prosperity and desire. 

 

Whatever or wherever my head was while making this art journal entry, I really like it. 

 

 

 This art journal page was used with a fabric that can be painted on.  I pasted it on the journal page, then took gesso pages of a magazine and pasted it over the fabric. After that was dried, I used a marker and scribbled shapes. Then splattered colors of acrylic paint onto the page and smeared it with a blank paper.

 

 

Below are the smeared markings of the above painting.

 

 

 

I have been busy lately, keeping up with every day tasks.  I will return to the art journal, possibly tonight. stay tuned.