Journaling In the Sun

I have joined up with scores of other art journalers to participate in Natalie Malik’s free online art journaling class called “In the Sun.” We started this adventure on Monday, and have been receiving daily prompts to get our summer art journals going.

{Introduction page}

I decided to participate to see how I would manage responding to specific prompts related to topics and techniques, and also to be a part of the community of participants. So far, it’s been a lot of fun!

{Second Introduction Page}

This journal for me is going to be “simple,” by which I mean clean lines, minimal pages requiring paint drying time, quick execution. For the most part, a page has taken me 15 or 20 minutes, from reading the prompt, to selecting my images, to creating the page. It feels so freeing not to labor for hours on different days just to see a journal page to completion!

I have admired how Natty uses magazine images on her journal pages, as well as washi tapes, so that too is going to be a goal and focus for me in this book.

{Self-portrait page:  Photo of myself from Pogo

printer, adhered to catalog image!}

I am using a 6”x8” Strathmore drawing notebook, and it has proven to be the perfect size to accommodate the images I have wanted to use, while not requiring as much time to fill the page.

{Technique page:  Tissue paper and gel medium.  Ooh, I resisted this one. 

I have a hate/hate relationship with gel medium and its wrinkles. 

But I actually had fun laying down the tissue paper layers, and saying,

"Hey, I have to do this.  It's my ASSIGNMENT.  Embrace the wrinkles. 

Call them texture.  Prentend you MEANT to do that!"}

{Here are some things I want my summer to be full of.

I found this amazing photo in a catalog, added the masking paper strips

and wrote down some of my ideas for the summer. 

I love how simple it was to put together!}

For two or three days, I kept running around collecting the very same supplies to do my pages.  So I got smart, and collected them all in a tote bag from Michaels.  Now I can grab the bag, check the computer for the prompt, and make the page at the breakfast table while my girls are watching a morning cartoon. 

{Supplies at the ready}

It’s not too late to get started! We are only one week in… If you want to participate, check out the In the Sun web site to see all the prompts.

You can see the participants’ journal pages on Flickr!

Also check out Natty’s creative blog, Awkward and Beautiful (one of the BEST blog names I’ve seen!).