Mimi's Windows

Hello ..! :D

I’m Minerva aka Mimi, your guest blogger for the day! :)) On other days I’m a world travelling, coffee chugging tradigital artist and art journaler. I would love to say I religiously document my artistic escapades on my blog but that would be exaggerating. A lot. So I won’t say that. But come visit me anyway won’t you? :))

I was so blown away to have been asked by Maria to write a guest blog about the latest page I made in DLP/Journal51, I actually didn't think she was serious! So thank you Maria..! I’m gonna get to it before you change your mind haha :))

So without any more rambling here is my page for the prompt “Don’t stop till you get enough” & “Windows”. This year I’m combining the prompts for DLP and Journal52 and its combo’s like this that make you question your judgment. Haha :))

My initial idea was to do a semi-realistic sketch of a girl looking out the window. So I started with a sketch. I was not feeling the realistic way so I stylized her till I felt better about it.

Then I wanted to do my regular acrylic painting but I stumbled across this uber awesome video on youtube by artist Carrie Hilgert and that totally gave me the direction to play.

So I started shading the face with watercolors. I’ve never used watercolors for portraits so this was unknown territory. I decided it would be easier to keep it very stylized and loose so I didn’t do any blending at all.

Next I took a big flat brush loaded with watercolor and water and just splatted it where the hair would be and let the excess drip. I did the drips going both horizontally and vertically.

Once the page was dry I came in with my platinum carbon pen and outlined all the little pools of colors & filled them in with doodles. This was a very intuitive process so I didn’t control it at all. I just reflected back upon all the windows I’ve ever looked out of and the shapes I’ve seen and just added them wherever I felt like.

As the final step I took a white gelly roll pen and added in white highlights to make the doodles pop.
And that’s it! :)) Hope you enjoyed my little post and feel inspired to go play in your own journals! :)) Please let me know if you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer!

Maria, thanks again for having me! See you guys around soon!
{{xx}}

-Minerva

Jump In... Guest Post...Welcome Lisa!

                                

Hi, I'm Lisa Hayes and I run an Australia store called Lulu Art. Since I started my business in 2013 I've barely had a spare minute to work on my own art so this year I promised myself I would take time every week to do something creative and the Documented Life Project seemed like the perfect platform to work from!

The DLP prompt for Week 2 of DLP (Documented Life Project) had me excited right away. It was all about beginnings and I immediately saw this sunrise in my head and wanted to have a female figure jumping up in the air so I sat down right away and figured out how to get the image in my head on to my page!  We also had the challenge set to use gesso on the page as well.

I started with covering my entire page with white gesso which I do before every single journal page spread so it strengthens the page and less likely to have different products seeping through to the other side of the paper.  Then I put a couple of coats of black gesso in a strip at the bottom of the page.  I followed this with a background using Dina Wakley paints for the sunrise. I used Lemon, Tangerine, Ruby & Lapis to create the coloured background just painting them on in layers with a fairly dry brush. I used the lemon mixed with a little white gesso to create the sun coming up and brushed lines out gently around it to create the rays.  

Next I created the clouds by putting the brush into both the white gesso and lapis and dabbing up and down to get the fluffy effect. You can keep dabbing away adding a bit more white here and there for highlights until you are happy with the effect.

The grass is very easy and done simply with a rubber stamp.  You could use any stamp you have of grass or flowers and stamp it all along the horizon. I used the same stamp but just used it lower then higher, some close together, some further apart, so it wouldn't all look the same.

The writing was created using a very large white Molotow marker which has a chisel tip.  You could just as easily draw the lettering with a pencil then fill in with white gesso or white paint.  I then took a finer tip white pen, a Uni-ball Signo, and gently put some dotted lines around the wording.

                                           

The silhouetted lady was created by finding an online image I liked (got to love Google!) and printing it out. I cut around it then covered it completely with black gesso.  This gives it a great solid black coverage. When it was completely dry I stuck it onto the page with matte medium.  Then she was finished!

This was one of the quickest pages I have done. Quite simple and fast but still very striking. It's definitely my favourite so far out of the three I have completed.

Good luck with your journal adventures!

Lisa xx

Who's gonna come get you? The Journal Police?

One of my biggest disappointments(?) on the FB groups that I belong to is that people don't think they their work is "good enough" or that they aren't "doing it right".  It upsets me that people are so negative about their own work.  My theory is that if it makes you happy to do it then it is good and it is right!  I like people that don't march to the same drummer.  They make life interesting.

I know this group is just getting off the ground but if you will notice, the people I pick here to guest blog all do things a little differently.  I choose them because something about their work makes me want to stretch my wings and try something different too.  Usually that means I set off to Pinterest or You Tube and find videos that can help me learn those new techniques. Now of course, I invite them to guest blog and I can pick their brains personally!  LOL  To date everyone that I have asked has said yes.  I am learning and I hope you are too.

In that vein, in one of my groups someone posted pictures of bright colored backgrounds that are brilliant without being gaudy,,, I hope that makes sense.  They then stated they would love to make things with those colors but they always end up looking like a muddy mess.  Since I too would love to work with those colors,  I set off on a search and found Terri Kahrs' videos and her blog, Pringle Hill Studio.  I have only read a couple of posts so far but I have watched 2 videos and I am hooked. Just the music she starts with is enough to put you in a good mood!  She is so relaxed and genuine and free with her work that you learn without even knowing it.  I was laughing out loud as I watched.


So here is the first video I watched and it will lead to part 2 and more. Enjoy it.  As for me, I am heading to my art place and taking out my gelatoes and inktense blocks!

Oh and if you are so inclined, feel free to join my new Facebook group,  Spreading your artist wings.  I'd love to meet you!

Another Guest Blogger... our first for week two!

Welcome Sandra Hamlett!

This is my first year doing the document life project 2015. I am really enjoying the process of building pages and using different mediums, so much different from other crafts of my choice. The documented life project has really taken me to a different place in my life, basically showing my true self and talent.  When I saw the first challenges I was a bit intimidated but as the process went on I started to feel my way through it. It was not as bad as I thought it would be, me coming from being a dedicated scrapbook and elegant card maker this was totally different. As I got a hold of the first one the second one didn't seem as bad. With this challenge I took on a different approach, I am more of colorful girl using a lot if different colors with flowers lace and bows lol!!  Not for this challenge!! lol!!

For week 2: Art challenge: Gesso
Journal Prompt: "The beginning is always today" by Mary Shelley
I am using the Dylusions art journal by Dyan Reaveley, this is my first year with DLP and I am really enjoying it.  My page is titled "New Beginning" and is written as:
 This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, In its place is something that you have left behind.....let it be something good!

When I found this quote it just seemed to fit the life of myself and this week challenge as well. Here I was a bit over whelmed because this was a different approach as far as color, I never use black when creating a project, so here I gessoed my pages, painted it using black paint then while waiting for it to dry I got a bit concerned by all that black space and was wondering what was I going to do with it, really wanting to start over...... I decided to add doodling around the page, doodle in the corner which is something I never did before either, Lol!! Added my butterflies which I adhered down using my Golden matte medium!  I love this stuff!! 

I applied some Ranger glossy accent to some of the butterflies to give it just a little gloss to the page and there you have it.  Overall I think this page can out as a hit, and now I can honestly tell myself there's more colors out there in the world besides rainbow colors!!  I'm not afraid anymore!! Lol!

Beginnings

This week's prompt on DLP is about beginnings.  Then I saw this little Bob Ross video and thought you might appreciate the sentiment!  I haven't even started my page yet but the ideas are simmering!

Being your own goalkeeper

That is the theme for week 1 of the Documented Life Project.  They also showed us how to conquer the blank page using book pages as the  background fill.

I have trouble pulling apart books.  I know millions are thrown away each day but for me, books have always been a treasure. I certainly cannot pull apart one that is on my bookshelf!  So I went to plan B.  I went to the library and picked up magazines off their "help yourself" table.  Then I went through them and picked out words, and blocks of text etc that I liked and tore it all out and pasted it on the page.  I hated it.  Even though I knew I would be covering it in paint, I hated it.  So now we are onto plan C.

I went through some old boxes in the basement and found an old paperback that belonged to my FIL.  I started ripping out pages and laying them down.  I didn't like the sharp edges so I ripped around all 4 sides of the page.  Then I put them down with medium.  I laid them out in all different directions too.  I knew that the center piece of my page was going to be round so I didn't want the text going in  one direction.

 My "lady" was cut out of a magazine and covered with packing tape to make a mask.  I put her down on the gessoed page and drew around her lightly and then used a gold metallic paint to lightly fill in the outline.  I wasn't too worried about staying in the lines because I put the mask back down and lightly gessoed the entire page.  When I lifted the mask back up, there she was!

Then I got to play with my gelatos.  Oh I love them!  So much fun and so easy.   I put the background down and then lifted up some color to make clouds.    I put that lovely sun/moon stamp in the middle and then torn strips of paper to make sun rays.  Again, they were colored with Gelatos, just lightly. I them stamped the moon/sun again and embossed it, cut it out nicely and put it back in the center of the rays.  After everything dried overnight I put a coat of matte medium over everything and then let it sit again until the next day when I did my "journaling".  There are more rays there if I want to add more affirmations later.

Another Guest post all the way from Australia this time!

Hello everyone! Please welcome Morgan Faie from Morganised Chaos.  I found her Beacon of Light on the DLP FB page and asked her to share with us.

It is my favourite time of the year!   Life Book 2015 has just begun and I still have eight weeks before semester starts so I get to relax and enjoy creating.  This is my third year joining Tamara Laporte for her year long art journalling course.  It is by far the best value art course available, 52 lessons throughout the year at less than $3.00 a week.
This year I am using a Dylusions journal as I am incorporating the art journalling prompts from The Documented Life Project 2015.  I really enjoyed their original idea of combining an art journal with a planner/smash book.  This year marks my 45th birthday and I wanted to do something significant, something I could look back on and treasure.

The first lesson from LB2015 is to create a 'beacon of light', an artistic/spiritual guide for the year. The first artistic challenge from DLP2015 was to use book paper and the suggested theme was 'goal keeper'.  What a happy marriage these two themes have made!  I used dictionary paper to create the dress on my girl and my intention for the year is to let go of the need to be perfect.  This is embodied by the heart on the dress which is featured on the cover of the Brene Brown book "The Gifts Of Imperfection".After creating the pencil sketch the page was primed with clear gesso and then painted using a combination of Neocolor II watercolour crayons, acrylic paints and Tim Holtz Distress Inks and Markers.  A little sprinkle of pixie dust (aka glitter) and she really came to life!

Giving New Meaning to Use Your Words! -Guest Blog!

My name is Jennifer Marie. I felt honored to be asked to Guest Post on Paint Under My Nail's blog and to share my story.

Last year I started completing the Documented Life Project 2014, but life got in the way. My fiance and I got married, moved into a house, my brother graduated high school, my sister-in-law had a baby, and more. I just kept putting it to the side. My goal this year is to complete every week on time. 
I am 24 years old, and don't truly consider myself an artist, I always gave that label to my sister who is also doing this project. I considered myself a reader and a scrapbooker. I have re-considered what the word "artist" means and anyone can really be an artist if you have the courage to play around and experiment! During the day I am an educator which is extremely rewarding, but it comes with the price of stress. Crafting is something I like to do because it is fun and a stress-reliever. 
When I got the challenge of being your own goal keeper, and to involve book paper my brain went blank. Book paper? Goal keeper? I had no idea where I would go with this. Then I thought... I love books, and writing! Then my brain thought, TREE! I had two copies of one of my favorite books from middle school (The Hound of Baskervilles) and started ripping pages out. When I thought of what I wanted to do I drew on a piece of scrap paper my idea. Shown below.

Then I knew since I am my own goal keeper. I needed to be sitting under the tree, and with what better than a book!
Then I wanted to use both, so I made a shadow version of me and then tinted the paper around the tree and me with antique spray. 

The page looked empty and I knew I didn't want to add paper on top to take away from the antique look so I started cutting pieces of the book out and arranging them on the page. Then I added a fence and filled in the fence with parts of the book as well.

After the first picture was completed I sat there, texted it to my mom, and thought "Eh.. something is missing." So then I added leaves, and white squiggles. I wanted to add to it, without overpowering. In keeping with my cover theme, I added a "G" and a "&" and then I thought, YES!

Jennifer Marie (Fairfield, Ohio)

Nobody Tells This To Beginners

I found this on Facebook this morning and is so perfect for me and maybe for you too.  It is the reason I started this blog and the reason I will continue to look for guest bloggers.  I choose people who speak to me.  Who do things differently, Who see thing differently. Who I can learn from.

I am so grateful to Debra Eck.  Even though she tells me I flatter her, I am in awe of her work and the fact that she would take the time to share on a fledgling blog with someone who never thought to call herself an artist until recently.  She remembers that everyone has to start somewhere... and it takes time.

So watch this video and take it to heart. Now go create, However you do it.

thanks to Creavite who created the video (which in itself is pretty amazing!) and of course Ira Glass!

Meditating on the Filled Page - Guest blog!

Hello all! MY name is Debra Eck and I am so excited to be here as a guest blogger - what an honor, and a wonderful opportunity to share my work and process with a new group of friends. I want to thank our hostess Maria for her invitation.

I'll give you a little background about me, I am an internationally exhibited artist and my practice focuses around paper and books. I create everything from gallery sized installations to miniature books. If you are interested in seeing my whole body of work you can take a look at my blog or my website. I teach studio classes and art history at a community college, I teach workshops all over and I am also a curator for a gallery close to where I live. As you can probably tell making art and building art communities are the major focus of my life. In between I manage to sneak in time with my long-suffering hubby of 27 years and our three grown children!

Each year I try to jump start my studio practice with some art journaling, although to be honest it usually tapers off as the year goes on and lots of new work begins frothing up in my brain. This year I am also taking part in the Documented Life Project after seeing it featured on many other blogs I read last year. I am hoping a weekly prompt will keep my journal plodding along into the end of the year.

Maria asked me if I would share my technique for my first spread with her readers - and I am happy to do that! So without further rambling, here we go!

I keep my art journals in old discarded library books which I usually get for free from my large network of friendly librarians (in addition to academic research I am also an avid reader, so I spend a LOT of time hanging out with librarians). The first month of the DLP focuses on overcoming the blank page, and their first suggestion was book pages. I was immediately in my comfort zone because I love to alter book pages. I decimate a lot of books in my "regular" art life, so there are always lots of book pages laying around to play with.

First I started out by cutting out a beautiful ornate border from an old piece of sheet music and laying it over my journal spread. Because my journal is one that is in process it is very fluffy, so I cut the border in half, I was afraid it would tear if I tried to run it across the gutter. Next I lightly penciled in the areas of text that would remain exposed after I glued it down. The last planning stage was to highlight any words that seemed interesting or appropriate to the first spread of the new year, I tried to pick active words. So my pages looked like this...

Next I blacked out the remaining unwanted text with a sharpie, I used a metal ruler and a Bic Z
marker to draw some straight lines down the sides of the text block to make it nice and tidy looking. I left the open spaces in the text blank (uncolored) so that I could use them as additional journaling areas once the border was glued down. Again I used a fine line marker with a ruler to make straight lines. Finally I used a glue stick to glue the border down to the journal, like this...

Now it was time to start actually journaling on this prepped page. I used the Bic Z pen and a white jelly pen, along with a set of cheap Studio G letter stamps and a distress ink pad in fired brick.

I also doodled a design using the white gel pen to mimic the etched pattern on the border I selected at the beginning to tie it all together. I thought the blank gutter looked a bit too stark, so I added a final stamped design in the center. I have had that little stamp so long I have no idea who makes it or where I even got it from originally! So the final spread looks like this.

Not your typical mixed media maybe, but I am happy with it. As I said at the beginning of the post I love to alter pages, so here are a couple more examples of similar work

And this one which is a little different - the same idea, but sewn by hand using cotton thread

Thanks again for the invite Maria! I hope this was useful to someone out there!! Looking forward to following this blog as it grows and seeing all the great mixed media posted here. Happy Art-ing all!

Welcome

Welcome to Paint Under My Nails.

I have been a blogger for a while but this one is a new one for me.  I have been playing with Mixed Media for a while but rarely do I show by work.  Then I joined the  Documented Life Project and started seeing the wonderful work others were doing and I decided it was time to come out of the basement so to speak.  In addition to showing my own work, I hope to also showcase some of the other artwork that I see in this and other projects that I am involved with including the folks at Embrace Your Art Daily which is run by Tiare Smith. (who also sponsors Art Party Wednesday which is a lot of fun!)

I am also a Pinterest troller and will probably find things to share from there as well.  So bare with me and as soon as I hear back from some of the folks I have contacted, I will be sharing more.

Using Texture

One of the facebook groups I belong to has all kinds of exchanges. Some are happy mail where you mail to your partner things that fit the monthly theme and some we make specific things to send like ATC's, journals, journal pages or in this case tags.. One of the upcoming exchanges is for textured tags. I have never really played around with texture much. I never really THOUGHT about it. So I went and got myself some modeling paste, dug out some stencils, chip board, matte medium and other assorted items and got to it. How hard could it be right? I am here to tell you that it is highly addictive. Like chips, you can't have just one.

The best thing that I discovered about texture is how you can manipulate color! ;I had Gelatos ( I just adore the Faber Castell Gelatos BTW ), iridescent medium, acrylics, stamp dyes you name it and I probably tried it. Here is a sampling of the final products.

This on had chipboard hearts and jewels.  The background texture was made by layering modeling paste on the tag and pressing another tag on top and then pulling them apart.

The texture on this one was made using a circular piece of plastic canvas. and the images are from some napkins I had

napkins again over top of corrugated cardboard and a chipboard butterfly

Stenciled modeling paste with inkagold highlighting the raised parts.

napkins again this is the "other side" of the two I pressed together.  I added more modeling paste and pressed corrugated cardboard into it.

that circular plastic canvas again and a jar lid

napkins and stenciled paste background

I don't think the pictures actually do this much justice. I am really pleased.I am listing some of the products that I used below. Have fun!