Image courtesy of InMyHeadStudios

Adding textures.

Layering is key to the visual journal, but so is texture. It creates a much more interesting product.

One way to add textures is to use found objects and print them on your pages. Whether they're already printed or whether you will be painting over some of your stamped textures, it's another layer and another point of interest for the viewer.

THESE PAGES:

Use whatever you have around the house to create textures. Found object printing can be done as simply as with paint and fingertips! Experiment with different objects and what their prints look like. 

Just a few ideas you probably already have: cups, bubble wrap, stamps from an art supply store, plastic bags, wax paper, rope, twine, good ol' potato printing, coins, leaves, fabrics, spices, utensils, combs, jewelry, paper towel...

You can use a traditional stamp pad, relief printing ink, acrylic paint, tempera paint, even washes of watercolor or ink, gesso, even pastel dust... many things will create a stamped image.

Image courtesy of InMyHeadStudios

Image courtesy of Ro Bruhn

Nerdy Robots

Today's prompt is to design a robot, write like a robot, or otherwise be influenced by robots.

This Etsy Treasury is so cute with nerdy things, robots included.

Also, if you're in to robots, tomorrow is Nerd Nite in Philly... lectures, comedy, and music of the geeky variety, all for $5 at the Fieldhouse in Center City.


THIS PAGE:
Design a robot, write like a robot, or otherwise be influenced by robots.

Making up for the past few days!

Something's been going on with the internet here lately... hopefully now we're back in action.

This idea comes directly from these amazing, hilarious, smart infographics by Jessica Hagy. Let's hope that during this Visual Learning/Journaling process your curiosity does not follow the same downward slope of this graph. Stay in wonderment, friends.

THIS PAGE:
Create a graph measuring something in your life. Serious, silly, personal, pie chart, bar graph, Venn diagram...

Oh So Symbolic

I'm listening to the Prince Pandora radio station, and not only has it made my day, but I've been dancing and singing while journaling today. Sheila E., MJ, Prince and friends... awesome.
So what's the Prince connection? Today's about creating a symbol to represent YOU.

THIS PAGE:

Create a symbol for yourself.  Hopefully you won't really change your name to this symbol, so we have to start referring to you as "the artist formerly known as..." But there are infinite possibilities for what symbol will represent you.

Some ideas my students came up with...
... a tag-style version of his name
... a ginger flower for a red-haired darling
... the symbol she always doodles on foggy windows
... the tattoo she'll one day get

Save me!

As the same fire assumes different shapes

When it consumes objects differing in shape,

So does the one Self take the shape

Of every creature in whom he is present. Marcus Aurelius

Fire alarms in my dorm at 3:30 a.m. and me in a robe and bare feet is as close to a fire in my home as I have been. Thankfully, it was a false alarm, because I didn't even remember to grab slippers [or pants for that matter!]... but that's beside the point.

The question today is what things do you surround yourself with that have the most meaning? What in your life absolutely cannot be replaced?

What would you grab (and don't answer pants!) if you had to leave your home at the drop of a hat? Some people live with this possibility (due to social unrest, government issues) on a daily basis. Be thankful for what you have, but do think about what you couldn't live without.

THIS PAGE:

What 3 things would you save from your burning home? [3 objects-- let's pray family members and pets are OK]



Life's Topography

Have you heard that you can tell a great deal about a person based on their hands? I imagine that certain hands can tell you everything from a person's job to socioeconomic status to marriage status to pets owned. What do your hands say about you?

THIS PAGE:

Draw your hand-- all of the lines, creases, and wrinkles.
Turn it into a map of your life.

In progress...

Day 3

It is layers that make things interesting. From outfits, to people, to cakes, to houses, and yes, to journals-- it's being able to see the foundation as a jumping-off point, and the endless possibilities that foundation can start.

When it comes to your visual journal pages, there should be some sort of foundation--whether it's a texture, a color, a mood, a feeling, or an image-- to add depth and interest to the page.
Also, the foundation can serve a real purpose, such as adding a little strength to an otherwise flimsy page. You wouldn't build sheetrock walls right on the grassy lot you purchased, you need to clear the lot, lay the foundation, put up some supports... you get the idea!

Foundation ideas:

• An image you want to cover all or part of
• Scrap paper
• Gesso [primer for canvasses, available in most art supply stores] (white acrylic paint works pretty well, too), tinted with acrylic paint or bright white.
• Tapes (masking, packing, duct)

And those are just a couple.

THESE PAGES:
 Lay the foundation for several pages. Try to do this for most pages in your book. Not only will it make the paper a little heartier, it will add that layer of interest to your designs.

TIPS:

• keep wet pages from sticking together by placing little cardboard tents between the pages.
• use a scrap paper under your page to protect your table surface and the rest of your journal from your paint or glue. Especially when using [permanent] gesso!
• when gluing things together, think thick to thin. It's much easier to glue tissue paper TO cardboard than vice versa.
• keep textures in mind. packing tape's slick surface is going to mean you won't be able to draw directly on it without a permanent marker or gessoing the surface first.

Days 1 and 2

I'm a little behind. We're figuring this out as we go along here in D-201. So far, we've spent time with what I think are the 5 most important things to keep in mind as you work in your journal.
They are:

• Play
• Experiment
• Perfection
• Mess
• Feel

You have to have an understanding of what these words mean to YOU, and be willing to at least give them a try.
Experimentation (flying blindly!) can be wildly uncomfortable for some people... but hopefully you can find a freedom and a judgement-free place in those experiments. Maybe you haven't "played" since you were 12. Allow yourself to laugh, to smile, to pretend, to imagine, and to do what feels good, just because it feels good!

• THIS PAGE:

Take one of those 5 words and create a page around it.
Say the word, live with the word, write the word.
Express your feelings about this word on this page, with writing, with images, with colors, with marks.