Welcome to week 3 of the 2016 Art Journal Adventure.  I hope you’ve enjoyed working on the spreads for weeks one and two.  Please share the project with your art buddies and friends as it’s not too late to participate.  I’m always happy to help if someone needs a bit of advice or encouragement.  Joining in the fun is what’s important, not when someone begins.

The theme this time was to work with circles.  Simple enough, right?

Uh, no.  A lot of the time I felt as though I was working in circles, chasing my tail as I tried to decide where to go.  Despite my thinking I knew how I wanted the spread to be, the process of putting the idea into practice left something to be desired.  I started with a circle, drawn in pencil on the right page in the spread…

Then wondered where in the heck I was going.  After some deliberation…

Dictionary Pages seemed like a good choice instead of drawing circles directly on the page, so I cut out a bunch of varying sizes and placed them on the spread.  I like this.  (at freaking last)

Dina’s Gel Medium and a wide flat brush work well to adhere the circles to the pages.  I made sure to let some hang off the page to give the appearance of the design carrying on past it.  Once the Gel Medium dried I used scissors to trim the overhanging circles even with the edge of the page.

Now it’s time to begin to fill in the background.  I want a soft, blended look so began by using a baby wipe to lay down Dylusions White Paint around the circles of Dictionary Paper.  One of the reasons I chose Dylusions Paint is because the jars are wide mouth, making it easy to dip a baby wipe in and grab a dab of color.  Since I wanted the white paint to soften and blend into the other colors to come, I worked on roughly half of the spread at a time.  That way it wasn’t dried out by the time I came back with the other colors.

On to those other colors.  I decided to keep my palette warm, so chose Lemon Zest, Bubblegum Pink, and Postbox Red in the Dylusions line, and used a separate baby wipe for each to avoid mixing them.  If the white on the background has dried to the point of not blending with the color you’re adding, dip your baby wipe into some white paint and blend it with the color you’re adding by moving the baby wipe around in a circular motion on Nonstick Craft Sheet or palette.  Once it’s blended, begin to apply it in circles around the cut pieces of Dictionary Paper.  Use a light touch and plenty of white if you want a soft, pastel look.  For stronger colors, use less white and more of the color.

I like this look, but the colors around the paper circles have gotten a little darker than I wanted, so…

I added more white around them.  You can see that I laid it on reasonably heavily to soften the look.

Then I decided the off white background looked too stark.  Out comes a baby wipe and I picked up some White and a little Lemon Zest, blended them on the wipe, and then applied the color around the circles.  Better now with the soft yellow background.  Let it dry till every last bit has set.  (or you’ll have very unhappy markers, pencils, and pens)

Now it’s time to add something around the Dictionary Paper Circles so they stand out from the background.  A Charcoal Pencil drawn around the circle gives a dark line which was a bit too much (the large one in the center with the very dark black around it), so I smudged it with my finger…

And it looked better, so I did it to all of them.  Then I decided the black circles needed a bit of something more.

And in came the Sharpie Water Based Paint Pens, a white one with a medium tip, so I could dot around the circles.  I like this too, so dotted around all of the circles and added a second row in some cases.  I used a Superfine PITT Pen…

And drew a second round of small circles around a few of the Dictionary Paper Circles, then dotted inside of them with the White Sharpie Paint Pen.

The spread still needed something, so I brought out the Daler-Rowney FW Pearlescent Inks in Hot Cool Yellow and White Pearl.  With a round brush I mixed the two colors of Ink together, then with water (just a tiny bit) and swirled circles around each of the circles.  Yup, I like this much better now!

And then I didn’t, so I used pick Stickles to fill in some of the outer dots.  You’ll also notice that I’ve filled in the yellow background a bit, drawing small rounds, filling them in with white and tiny ones that I dotted a tiny bit of metallic Gelly Roll Pen in to fill them.  That’s better and this spread is finished.  (and I’m relieved, truth be told.  Some just are stubborn – this was one)

If you decide to place an order for items you need to create the spread – or other stuff – be aware that we currently have a discounted shipping promotion running if you spend at least $50, excluding Gift Certificates, shipping and any sales tax.  For orders shipping domestically to anywhere in the US, we’ll discount the cost to ship your order by 50%.  International folks who spend $50 will receive a 20% discount.  Express Mail (domestic or international) is excluded.  You will see the discount applied as you checkout.  The offer is valid until 11:59 pm ET this Friday, January 22, 2016.

We continue to look at options for everyone who is participating in the AJA to post their photos.  We’re getting close, I promise!  It’s just a matter of making a final decision and getting the software installed.

Barb