Today: Get Messy Thursdays | Serenity, Week 3

So I got a tiny bit brave today and made my first Periscope broadcast, doing a little flip-through of my sketchbooks and art journals.  You can watch it here… until it expires and vanishes… or whatever happens to Periscopes?  Clearly I have a lot to learn — most specifically about positioning my tripod and iPhone and sketchbooks and so on.  Oh, and about not rambling.

I got a few art journal pages done in response to this week’s Get Messy Art Journal Challenge, and since it’s Thursday… here’s a peek at what I’ve been working on.

Get Messy Thursdays | Serenity, Week 3

Materials used: Tissue paper (applied with matte gel medium), magazine cut-outs (letters and a lovely lady), black ink, Micron pens, gold ink spray.

I’ve learned so much from the rest of the Get Messy crew and love scrolling through their images on Instagram (check out the hashtag #getmessyartjournal) and on individual members’ blogs.  I was channeling the talented Julia when I drew on that magazine cut-out and love how the whole spread came together.

I was sort of thinking about divinity and an appreciation and value for self when working on these pages, and how those may lead to serenity.

Materials used: Watercolors (applied with a small round brush), magazine tear out, brush pen, black Micron (size XS, I think), glue stick

A sort of different approach to serenity (and one I think is critical), is bearing a sense of humor.  There’s so much we can’t control.  Big things and little things.  It helps to laugh.

I think I was having one of those days while working on this page.

Materials used: Magazine cut-out, black watercolor paint, white Sakura Gelly Roll pen, gel medium.

I like to think of these next two pages as sisters.  For the first, I dug into my stash of floral arrangement cut-outs (there is something oddly soothing about cutting out flowers, and I’ve quickly amassed quite the collection) and paired one with a really beautiful quote about the passage of time.  

Your days are short here; this is the last of your springs.  And now in the serenity and quiet of this lovely place, touch the depths of truth, feel the hem of Heaven.  You will go away with old, good friends.  And don’t forget when you leave why you came.

–Adlai E. Stevenson

Aren’t flowers the perfect reminder that life is fleeting and meant to be both beautiful and appreciated?

Materials used: Black Micron pen (XS), Sakura watercolors (applied with a detail brush), purple and yellow gouache

Using the magazine cut-out above for guidance, I quickly sketched an imperfect version of that same floral arrangement and pulled an excerpt from the Stevenson quote to practice a bit of lettering.  I really like working with watercolors and gouache on the same page — the finishes are so different.

I love how the pages look side by side. (If I do say so myself… yikes.)

Also On Tap for Today:

• Watching every tripod/video set up tutorial on the Internet
• Catching up on episodes of On Being (I especially loved this one with Rami Nashashibi)
• The 37 best websites to learn something new from Medium

What’s something you’re learning or working on this week?