March 28 Challenge - The Original Documented Life Project™ 2015

March 28 Challenge - The Original Documented Life Project™ 2015

March Theme

Making Your Mark (Doodles & Mark Making)

March 28

Art Challenge: Make a Custom Element

Journal Prompt: "Ride the energy of your own unique spirit." - Gabrielle Roth

Spotlight Artist for DLP!

Hi Everyone! 

It's me, Martha, in my favorite hat. 

I just can't express my excitement for being a

Documented Life Project Spotlight Artist

for this week!

This month's theme has been "Making Your Mark"  (Doodles and Mark Making). Goodness, how can you not love that one!!

The art challenge this week is "Create a Custom Element" and the prompt is a great quote by Gabrielle Roth--
"Ride the Energy of your own unique spirit."

As I thought about making my custom element within the mark making month I got to thinking about what a custom mark or element could be. I first thought I would make a rubber stamp and go with that which would have been fun. I love making custom rubber stamps! Then I thought that I really wanted to try and make a unique mark that I hadn't done in a while.  So I rummaged through all my ancient supplies in search of this soda pop folded pen that I made at a calligraphy conference many many years ago.  I hadn't used it since then so I decided that the marks this pen would make would be my unique calligraphic marks.  By the way---ANY mark that YOU make whether made by a brush, a pencil, a marker or whatever is your own unique mark.

I love the quote so I decided I just had to make some word marks.

So I just started marking while still thinking about where my quote would go.

Sometimes trying to figure out the layout with lettering can be quite challenging.

I also added some water to make the ink flow and run a bit to add some unexpected excitement!

As you see in this one I did use a regular calligraphy pen and a Tombow marker brush pen.

I was thinking about what type of layout would go into my journal so I decided to try and find some interesting 3x3 squares to cut out that might work.

Pretty cool!

So I guess it's time to show you how I made the marks. I used different colors

of fountain pen ink. Did I mention that I LOVE fountain pens?

So, here goes!

Here is what finally came out. I had so many marks that I loved it was hard to choose so I did two layouts.  The one on the right was rather "energetic" so I decided to just write the quote

out on the left using the Italic calligraphy hand with a Speedball C-4 nib with red gouache.  

The paper has gesso on it to make for a better writing surface. 

It was so much fun to make my own unique marks for this week. 

Just remember--you are unique so every mark you make will be uniquely your own.

On your mark,

 get set,

GO!

(I just couldn't resist that one! :))

Making a Focal Point

 MAKING AS A FOCAL POINT

By Rae Missigman

March 21, 2015

Creating a focal point in a piece is something that is achieved differently for each artist. 

 I don't always sit down and think "focal point" when I start creating. Usually, if my journal page or canvas has one dominant area of focus, it morphed into the piece on it's own. On other occasions I add something in that will help bring the piece together, a large sketched element or a bold colorful word.

Mark making and focal points. It is an interesting concept.

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I am drawn to marks and the way they present themselves in art. I tend to "love" pieces of a piece, rather than entire work sometimes. These are usually the details drawing me in.

To help create a true focal point using marks I centered my art on the page and built up from there, not allowing the elements to stray too far from the original center. I think this helps illustrate to the viewer the intended heart of the art journal page.

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March Theme
Making Your Mark (Doodles & Mark Making)
March 21
Art Challenge:  As a Focal Point
Journal Prompt:  Coming into Focus

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SIMPLE STEPS I TOOK TO USE MARK MAKING AS A FOCAL POINT

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As I built on the center layers, paint and color played a big role. Because I did not want to extend too far beyond my original color block, I had to build with balance. I am used to taking things to the edge and working within these bounds was a challenge. The more detail marks I added along the way the more the center came into focus. At the same time, it became clear to me the importance of doing what you love. Exploring a new idea or technique is exciting and interesting but you have to love it in order to find yourself re-discovering it over and over. When it comes to creating, I  know I need to keep a clear mind about what works for me, because when I do, it all comes into focus.

Project Life Meeting Friday March 20th 12-3 and 6-9 PM

Our next group meeting is on  Next dates are Friday March 20th 12-3 and 6-9 PM You can join our group meetings at any time, but you do need to call us to get your name on the list.  I want to be sure we have room for everyone.   When you come to the group meetings, please bring your paper towels, heat guns, paint brushes, adhesives and color mediums of choice. Click here to go to the Art to the Fifth Blog Post  March Theme Making Your Mark (Doodles & Mark Making) March 7 Art Challenge:  As A Layer Element Journal Prompt:  Surviving the Elements March 14 Art Challenge:  Borders Journal Prompt:  "Borderline feels like I'm going to lose my mind." Here is Art to the 5th designer Rae's blog post. Leaving white space isn't always easy, but sometimes it helps define where a piece is going. It doesn't mean you will finish with the white space, but it is a great way to help you lay out where certain elements will go as you work through your journal page. Another trick that helps me is to turn my work as I go. I don't overwork one area this way. I used areas of white space to position where my border would go. Filling in the space inside first gave me insight as to where I wanted to go with my marked outer edge later in the process. I love marks and marking making. They are a great way to place meaning into a piece. Using them in, and as a border puts a new twist on fringing your piece too. A FEW SIMPLE WAYS TO CREATE A MARKED BORDER ON YOUR JOURNAL PAGE Building layers is a different process for each artist. Some like to save all of their mark making for those final top layers, while others, like myself, use marks to give all of my layers definition. As a layer element, marks and doodles can help give your piece a personality early on. I like to add journaling through out my layers as another form of mark making. This way, as I continue to work, not all of my words remain legible or visible. I like having only part of my story weather the art storm that occurs on these pages. Some of it survives the added layers, but not all. Maybe just enough to remind me to keep writing it down.