Two More from Lesson 1: Learning Composition

Two more attempts from lesson 1 of The Keys to Dynamic Composition, Jane Davies' downloadable workshop.

None of them look quite the same in the photos.  I'm sure knowing how to translate pieces into truer photos is a skill in itself.

I like the yellow one the best of them all, and it is the one in which I deviated most from the instruction -- or perhaps just stretched the instruction the most.  This is good learning for me about what I rely on for visual interest and what I am less adept at.

An enjoyable process of learning so far.  I also really like that it gives me a use for my Gelli prints (bits of which are incorporated into both).

I'm looking forward to lesson 2.

Learning Composition

I know very little about composition and so I often get stuck when trying to do collage.  As a result, I rarely do collages even though I really love them.  So I decided to try the workshop from the Jane Davies Studios called The Keys to Dynamic Composition.  She's got a bunch of downloadable workshops on the page, and you can find this one if you scroll down a bit.

So these are my first clumsy efforts from lesson 1.  Without giving too much away, one instruction from this first lesson is to work with a limited range of one colour.  My first two involve working with warm reds:

My next two efforts involved working with cool greens:

By the time I got to that last one, I had run out of ideas.  In fact, this photo is an upside-down version of it, which looks better to my eye than the original, right-side-up version.

So far, I really like the approach; it combines: 1) reading content (in a downloaded pdf), 2) short video demonstrations, 3) doing the exercise(s), and then 4) considering some reflective questions.  

In fact, I intend to do one or two more having written a bit (on a different journal page) based on the reflective questions.

It also feels really good to be using my art journal to experiment, learn, practice, reflect and just enjoy playing with shapes and colour.  There's something particularly freeing about the very focused approach and not needing it to be a little masterpiece (which isn't really realistic for me anyway).

Gelliprinted Envelopes Using Leaves

It's autumn where I am and I'm inspired by the leaves turning colours.  These large envelopes are the perfect medium for leaf prints on the Gelliplate.

I've got this one addressed and about ready to go...

Last Cards from First Masterboard

My intention with this first masterboard was to stick with it until I made cards from all of the pieces.  Too often, my attention is drawn to something else before I really learn what I've set out to learn from the current project or technique.

I played with pieces of paper, card and masterboard and got stuck for awhile (my normal pattern).  Got unstuck today and put these last three together:

I'm still debating whether or not to add anything else to the one below.  Maybe the textures and colours can stand alone...

Not really keen on how this last one (below) turned out.  I tried a variety of things, and nothing really seemed to work.  Still, happy to have completed the exercise.

And the last three together. I've not made envelopes yet, and I actually don't have any gelli prints from my overflowing folder that would work.  So...must get out the gelliplate!

All in all, I like the masterboard approach.  I'll definitely be doing it again.

Card 4 from First Masterboard

Card 4 has involved stamping and painting over the top.  I received a Tim Holtz Stamping Platform as a belated birthday gift a few days ago, and it made this effort possible. 

I did learn something from my first attempt, which I'll pass along.  The stamp stuck to the paper, possibly from the amount of pressure I applied combined with the multiple layers of paint on the base page (from all that masterboard activity).  This resulted in pulling the paper out of its original position and the second stamping wasn't perfect (which is the point of the platform).  For the flower's stem (a separate stamp), I applied more ink to the stamp and less pressure, which meant I had to do a couple of pressings, but that was fine.

So I'm in the zone of using up old Gelli prints.  The size of this card required a larger size of envelop than could be made with a single piece of standard size paper (A4 here), and so I had to extend the top a little bit.  The brown is a little warmer than it looks, on my screen anyway, and the little butterflies are more visible.

And here are the two together.  The brown on the envelope is the same hue as the base of the card (the lovely colour of dark chocolate).  The two will be winging their way to the bearer of the stamp-platform gift.

The flower and stem stamps are from PaperArtsy -- JOFY Stamp Set 51 (also a birthday gift 😊).