My First Brown Paper Bag Art Journal

A big hello to all of you! It's been a relatively busy Christmas break for me so I haven't had much time for artsy stuff. Well, I did a lot of background pages in my art journal two days ago. And, I worked on a portrait study yesterday afternoon (while my tween girl looked on and got some painting tips along the way). OKAY, maybe I've done much during the holidays after all. I was probably just exaggerating or lacking that sense of normalcy in terms of art-making. Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!

Anyway, I'm sharing with you this time my first ever hand-stitched brown paper bag art journal. Wait .... did I say BROWN PAPER BAG!?!?! Yes, you and I got it right. Brown paper shopping bags! I made an art journal out of brown paper bags from National Bookstore, a popular chain of bookshop and school supplies store here in the Philippines. I guess it's not surprising that I have lots of these bags. It's just hard to walk out of that store without any purchase. I mean, admittedly, I really am a heavy stationery/office/school/art supplies consumer. And so are my little girls. NBS is our favorite store and we make it a point to visit a branch every time we go to a mall. So, yes, I do get these brown paper bags every so often. I realize it's not enough that I just use them as mats when I paint; I thought it's time I glorify them with some upcycling movement.

 

Thanks to Cristina of CreativeMag.ro for the lovely idea. I made my own brown paper bag journal in less than a hour. Seriously. I cut up the brown paper into small sheets without following exact measurements but made sure that they would all end up in approximately similar sizes. I trimmed a few uneven edges before I stitched everything pamphlet-style. Then I secured the binding with wide washi tapes. I've gessoed a few pages in this journal for mixed-media artwork and have done a portrait study. I'll share with you my progress in the next few days ... or weeks! 

Blogging resumes in January 2016. Today is going to be a busy day 'cause we're all preparing for New Year's Eve. Happy New Year to all of you! May you always find the Beautiful and the Sacred in the Ordinary.

Canvas Art: See The World, Travel Travel

I haven't had the chance to do canvas work since the Christmas break commenced. But that's not because I don't have the time; it's because I ran out of gesso! Well, I finally got a new tube of gesso yesterday, so I'm hoping to begin a few mixed media canvas projects during the holiday break. In the meantime, let me share with you this collage painting that I made sometime in November, about a week before my birthday.

I did this one on an 8" x 10" canvas board panel. I love doing collage on canvas boards because the surface is sturdier and more flat than a stretched canvas. I don't get a lot of unwanted warped parts. (It's not the kind of texture that I like.) Plus, canvas panels are cheaper than stretched canvas. I'm still a practising artist so I try to avoid experimenting on costly substrates.

I used various art supplies and mediums to create this collage painting: acrylics, Inktense pencils, archival ink, gelatos, drawing pens, gel medium, rub-ons, designer papers, and embellishments. To be honest, this is one work I'm really proud of. I learned so much in the process and I believe I was able to make real the vision that was in my head. It really means a lot to me.

Sketching With A Charcoal Pencil

Sometimes the only thing I want to do at my art desk is sketch with a pencil. Most days I make do with watercolor pencils. I like to mix and match different colors for study. In some cases, a simple charcoal pencil would suffice. And when I do a charcoal sketch, I usually just leave it as it is. No other color to go with it. Just a plain sketch. This one, however, is an exception: It's a preliminary sketch for a short art journal series that used quotes from the Jane Eyre novel.

 

This drawing of a young girl was done in my A5 Artist's Loft sketchbook. The pages are all white; I just glued a blue tissue wrap on the page for texture and then drew on it. As you can see in the photo, I used a Derwent charcoal pencil to sketch. I prefer the Light pencil because it seems to have a softer and smoother glide than the Medium or the Dark. 

Do you like to sketch with a charcoal pencil?

A Warm Hello From My Art Desk

It's been a while since I started a niche blog, much less maintain one and update it regularly. But since I've officially begun a new phase in my life and we're about to enter a new year, I thought it would now be timely and fitting to make something new even in an old, familiar platform. Yes,  I'm back here in Blogger and I'm hoping to start anew with this exciting niche that is very close to my heart:  Art Journaling and Mixed-Media Painting 

 

My renewed passion for art is currently undergoing a revolution. And I can't go through it all without some documentation and reflection. This is why I'm here. This blog will keep up with my journey. And I hope that along the way, I will be able to inspire others to pick up their brushes and paints and embark on their own creative journeys.

Here's to a meaningful art journey in 2016 and beyond! :o)