Step #5: Seeing Beauty

Today I'd like to talk about seeing beauty. A sort of continuation of yesterday's post. But not. Basically once you get into the habit of it, you can see beauty even in ugly things. Take for instance the page I shared yesterday. I didn't like it. Yet I still went to the trouble of continuing on with it. I could have just covered it up with white paint and started again. But I did see potential in it - something that you will find to be very true once you just start. Explore different techniques and colors to cover up things that you don't like. Practice making it look like it's meant to be there and not just a cover-up. Even though that might sound a little hard at first, you'll get the hang of it. Now take a look at the above picture. I promise that it is the same page as yesterday. I know that it looks really different, but that's the point. I saw the beauty in the page. I added hot pink and orange and that changed the entire look. I stamped with bubble wrap using paint. Collage underneath the layers of paint just barely show through. And that gives the page interest. I stamped with both ink and paint. Hand carved stamps give it a very unique style. The chipboard letters spelling out the word 'magic' add dimension. I also stamped with commercial brand stamps. As you can see, I added a ton of layers on top of the initial paint layer shown in the last post. The collage is made of paper, ephemera and bits and pieces of everything in between. So today I challenge you to go ahead and look for the beauty in certain supposedly 'ugly' pages. It doesn't have to be hard if you don't make it. It's only as hard as you make it. Any and every page has a certain inner beauty to it. You just need to find it.

Step #3: Layer Upon Layer

Layers. They aren't something to be afraid of. They add so much to anything you create, making your time worthwhile in and of themselves. Seriously though. If you don't have much time to work on being creative, then I suggest working in layers. Why? Well, with layers, you get instant gratification. One layer in my art journals often times don't take longer than a couple of minutes. But they change the look. Entirely. If your page was entirely blue and you add a layer of red or orange - the page becomes very different in a matter of seconds. And those seconds are the time it takes you to spread some paint. Simple. It really is. Believe me. I know. A layer a day keeps the doctor away in my book. Two is always better than one. And even more if you can find the time. That works well. Really well. Most of my layers include paint and stamps as you know already. But if you're a sketcher, a doodler, or a drawer [I'm not sure that's a word] then use this suggestion. Layers are better. I think so. If you like to draw, then try layering drawings and doodles on top of each other along with sketches, and decorative words. I've done this several times before and it always turns out well. It doesn't take much effort either. So, what are my layers made up of? Well, I normally start with some inking. And some paint. Then I start stamping. One of my more recent art journaling endeavors is hand carved stamps that I create using some cheap erasers and a craft knife. Very simple, but it makes your piece of art that much more unique. After the first layer of stamping I add more paint. Then some collage elements. A lot of times I use papers; lined filler paper, dictionary paper, book paper, scrapbook paper, music note paper, phone book paper, zendoodles I've drawn with a sharpie, and my favorite that I've just started experimenting with is tissue paper. Tissue paper comes in a million different shades. It's beautiful. It comes in patterns. Themes. It's thin. Translucent. Simply gorgeous. Also in the collage layer is several different pieces of ephemera. I use lots of different things in my art journal, but, to put it simply, ephemera pieces are things that have meaning to you. Your life. Art journaling explains it. Layers. They're easy to do. Fun to do. Healing even. The more layers you put on, the more beautiful your page becomes. Sometimes the page may be ugly to you. That's ok. Trust me. I know. Add more layers. Cover up the ugly. Add new, beautiful layers. And believe me. You're your own worst critic. If you feel comfortable doing so, post some pages online. Like I'm doing now. There are people out there. They know. They remember how they felt about their first few pages. And then they tell you good yours are. Let me tell you, there are tons of times that people have said they hated their first pages. They attached photos. I looked. And then I told them how good they really are. So don't worry. I have another assignment for you today. Take one of the pages that you did. The ones from yesterday, or from the day before. And add layers. Just do it. Trust me. I know.