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Solving a Mystery by Art Journaling

I'm sharing my process and thought in my head as I art journal with spray painted papers

The secret of a mystery was revealed to me by my muse while I was art journaling.  Or perhaps she was having fun reminding of something I need to be reminded of every now and then.  Let’s just say the secret isn’t rocket science…  In this video, you’ll see how I deal with not being able to get my hand to do what my brain wants, as well as how I get rid of white space with white paint.

Watch  Solving a Mystery by Art Journaling on YouTube.

Supplies Used:

After reading another post I had on spray painted papers, I was asked how these papers will react with paints and such since they are now so shiny and glossy because of using spray paints that were oil based.  I picked one of the papers for some art play in my journal to show how it behaves.  In the video, you’ll see this homemade patterned paper, made with my Linked stencil, that was the starting place for my play.

I'm sharing my process and thought in my head as I art journal with spray painted papers

The paper just didn’t fit in my journal. Crazy how it was too big and too small all at the same time so I just cut it up to fit exactly what I needed.

I'm sharing my process and thought in my head as I art journal with spray painted papers

All that white space had to go, so out came the paints.  In the video, you see how I used white paint to get rid of white space.  Yes, you read that correctly!

I'm sharing my process and thought in my head as I art journal with spray painted papers

I added a feeling of ancient mystery with the stencils Earth Song Symbols 1 and 2.  I didn’t have a feel where this was going until I added those symbols.  Ancient art mysteries kept running around in my head.  It was pretty busy so some dark blue acrylic ink knocked it back a bit.

I'm sharing my process and thought in my head as I art journal with spray painted papers

Once it was completely dry…okay mostly dry…I wasn’t willing to wait…I added some journaling with a white pen.  This is where my muse revealed the message in this art journal page…the secret to the mystery of art lies in doing.  Not thinking but doing, taking action.  Makes me think of that famous quote from Picasso, “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.”

I'm sharing my process and thought in my head as I art journal with spray painted papers

Now, if you’ve watched the video, you know what all transpired here….in the end I decided to use some spray ink with a brush on the symbols.

I'm sharing my process and thought in my head as I art journal with spray painted papers

Final details for the symbols came from these adorably short fountain pens.  I ruin all sorts of pens writing in journals and bit by bit I am turning to fountain pens as I can get a fine line and usually can keep them from being ruined by paint that isn’t completely dry.

I'm sharing my process and thought in my head as I art journal with spray painted papers

The finished pages.  If you’ve enjoyed this post, I’d love it if you’d pin it or share it!  Thanks for being a part of this colorful journey!I'm sharing my process and thought in my head as I art journal with spray painted papers

{ 11 comments… add one }

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  • alice June 21, 2015, 2:53 pm

    i love your colorful work! so bright and full of fun and life! thank you for sharing so much of yourself with us. i pinned this post so i could give it a go 🙂

    • Carolyn Dube June 21, 2015, 3:01 pm

      Glad you enjoyed it! Hope you’ll share what you make Alice!

  • Denise Spillane June 21, 2015, 6:22 pm

    Love how you did this. Cool result and what no pink, turquoise?

    • Carolyn Dube June 21, 2015, 7:21 pm

      Weird isn’t it? I kept waiting for the urge to rainbow it to hit…and it just never did Dee!

  • Corrine June 22, 2015, 7:49 am

    I like what you did with your sprayed paper and your gridded journal pages. Always good to solve the mystery in your creative process. xox

  • Mary Beth Shaw June 22, 2015, 10:41 am

    wow, working with greens on the grid, where did Carolyn go, hehehe? Love the result.

  • Caroline Duncan June 22, 2015, 10:41 am

    Gorgeous pages!! Thank you for sharing your process. So fun to see what you did with one of the spray paint pages… love how you collaged it and it could easily be a gelli print too. Thanks for the idea!

  • PatGLex June 22, 2015, 10:46 am

    I’m always working the other way — “decorating” the background then waiting for something inspirational to strike to go on top! Now I have to rethink those experimental papers and the blank journal page!

  • SusanJane June 22, 2015, 2:03 pm

    I love that you forge ahead and keep trying… and have the incredible courage to blog about it!!! People get so ashamed diddling, twaddling, tweaking, erasing, smudging as if “real” artists don’t do that. Art is about all the stop/starts/testing/etc. On a 5×7 journal page I used 21 different supplies once (including the four different colors of grey pencils). Picasso and all the rest worked, reworked, tweaked, tried, scrubbed for months on a single canvas… YouTube lies, everyone! It’s never perfect in 3 minutes. Carolyn has it right.

  • Tracie June 22, 2015, 2:17 pm

    I so needed this video today. I’m having a huge block when it’s comes to just showing up to play. Thanks as always!!

  • Maria McGuire June 22, 2015, 2:23 pm

    Your right about the mystery….just DO IT! Something I need to remind myself. LOTS of inspiration in this one!!