Excess & Openness.

Weekthree_circlesOne of the aspects I am loving about this art journal challenge is the opportunity for excess. To get carried away and go overboard and go outside the lines and just put stuff where ever seems cool at the moment.


Maybe this will be my style, or maybe eventually it will pare down on its own to reveal a more traditionally-me graphic look. Who knows? And you know what? That is totally part of the adventure and fun for me. Accepting it for what it is right now. Being open to whatever comes from within me. Creating it and then being done. Closing the book and moving on until the next inspiration hits (or the next week's challenge comes in my email box).


So often we get caught up in the "correctness" rathering than just trusting your internal voice. Trusting that it will lead you to a place of expression. A place that tells the story that needs to be told. It is finding that balance between heart and mind...and allowing it to come through to your hands as you create.


There are no wrong answers.


A bit about this art journal page: I have been wanting to work
with a cool butterfly image that is in the current issue of Real Simple
magazine. I scanned it in, removed the text, changed it to black and
white, applied the charcoal filter, upped the contrast, and then changed
it to a duotone using a dark green before printing. 


Lots of layering. Matte medium
for adhesive and over top of the images. After that was dry I stamped
and wrote around the edges. I am using a Pen-Touch white fine tip paint
pen
from Sakura for my white writing. The large white writing in around
the butterfly is a font I created for Two Peas called “enjoy life
(actually comes in the circle format with an initial in the middle).


At
first I imagined this page to be about the circle of life – using the
butterflies as representation of that theme. But as I played I kept
thinking of the saying, “what goes around comes around.” And that is
pretty much where I ended up.


And a note about contact sheets from digital photos: My pal Tracy gave me this great tip recently for creating contact sheets in Photoshop. Simply open the program, select File, Automate, Contact Sheet II and choose the file of photos from your computer you want to print. In the Contact Sheet dialog box you have the option to select how many photos you want on each page, the size, and dpi. Then hit "ok" and it will spool them for you. AWESOME.

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33 thoughts

  1. Amy says…
    05/16/2005

    Wow. Way too cool.

    Reply 0 Replies
  2. KimP says…
    05/16/2005

    Way cool! Thanks for the link for a white marker - just what I've been searching for. Do you know how to do a contact sheet in PSE too?

    Reply 0 Replies
  3. Angie says…
    05/16/2005

    Cool page Ali! Who knew a piece from an ad from Real Simple could be turned into this! Awesome!

    Reply 0 Replies
  4. Rachel says…
    05/16/2005

    Cool page girl :)

    Reply 0 Replies
  5. kah-mei says…
    05/16/2005

    glad you're enjoying your foray into the dark side, A!! Looks great.

    Reply 0 Replies
  6. Felecia says…
    05/16/2005

    This is very cool. Just a note from an observer...I find it so intereseting that your comments about this work juxtapose your love for the opportunity of excess in creating the work and the works actual theme of "what goes around comes around". From a viewer's stand-point, the dichotomy of theme against technique is intriguing considering that it is generally believed that the simpler one's life, the easier it is to maintain good karma.

    Reply 0 Replies
  7. Angi B says…
    05/16/2005

    Ali, great page,girl. Love all the techniques here. you just INSPIRE me to no end. i ditto your sentiment on letting your creativeness take flight and accepting wherever it leads. i think as we continue to explore in the coming weeks we will eventually come full circle and find that balance you speak of.

    Reply 0 Replies
  8. kristi says…
    05/16/2005

    I like your thoughts on this... just allowing the creative process to unfold, and letting it exist in and of itself. Very cool perspective. I wonder how our work will look at the end of the 20 weeks...

    Reply 0 Replies
  9. Shelley Rankin says…
    05/16/2005

    Love how you used the scan image! Care to share how you changed it to white! I am still lamo with PS. Working on learning. Great page! So not you but so you. Glad you are enjoying the process!

    Reply 0 Replies
  10. Rita says…
    05/16/2005

    fabulous, fabulous, fab-u-lous!
    {r}

    Reply 0 Replies
  11. Jenny says…
    05/16/2005

    Mmmmm i am obsessed with matte medium! i never have enough of that stuff! i truly love this style of art~collaging is so freeing and like you described, with no rules or incorrectness.

    Reply 0 Replies
  12. lisa says…
    05/16/2005

    Loving these art journal pages, Ali - there's so many cool details to absorb! One question - where do you buy matte medium???
    Hey and thanks (Tracy, too) for the Contact Sheet tip - that rocks!
    -L-

    Reply 0 Replies
  13. Amber says…
    05/16/2005

    Thanks for the tip on the PS contact sheet. I was just thinking to myself last night when organizing my studio how I could go about doing them. :) Also loving the bluish - greenish -yellowish colors on the header these days! Bootiful!
    Amber

    Reply 0 Replies
  14. Chris says…
    05/16/2005

    Your "place of expression" is a TON cooler than mine. What I lack in talent, I make up for in enthusiasm. Thanks for inspiring me to take this class and for sharing the mechanics of art journaling. Without you I wouldn't be breaking new ground. I'm so glad Carrie brought you into my world! SAC

    Reply 0 Replies
  15. Carolyne says…
    05/16/2005

    ali - I am enjoying your creative blowout here, just amazing work and love how you play around with stuff to get such fantastic images. this journal is going to be such a treasure when finished. can't wait to see more.

    Reply 0 Replies
  16. Lee says…
    05/16/2005

    WOW A this is super cool! Just how do you find the time to do all this?

    Reply 0 Replies
  17. denise says…
    05/16/2005

    Gorgeous. Sometimes it is so awesome to color outside the lines!!
    (Can't wait to see ya next week, woman!) :)

    Reply 0 Replies
  18. joy madison says…
    05/16/2005

    thanks for the contact sheet info!!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  19. shelley says…
    05/16/2005

    awesome contact sheet tip! thanks :)
    love how your are exploring your more free side...and enjoying it!

    Reply 0 Replies
  20. Kelli S. says…
    05/16/2005

    Lovin' the art--such a departure from your regular style! Thanks for posting your techniques...wondering if this new path will translate into book ideas??? Also digging the new look and additions to your aliedwardsdesign.com site!

    Reply 0 Replies
  21. Renee says…
    05/16/2005

    Go with the flow :-) I need to start doing that more!
    Super page, Ali!

    Reply 0 Replies
  22. Jamie says…
    05/16/2005

    Contact sheet tip ROCKS! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply 0 Replies
  23. MarilynH says…
    05/16/2005

    Soooo cool!!! Love what you did. The layering and the text - handwritten text. I want to go work in mine now! I still haven't finished the Risk one. grrr
    Need more hours in the day.
    can't wait to see what you do next!

    Reply 0 Replies
  24. MarilynH says…
    05/16/2005

    oh yeah, and the VIEW MASTER 'thingie'. WOW!!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  25. {Michele*D} says…
    05/16/2005

    Amazing page....love your work. One question - how do you get your images large in typepad. I have just started my own BLOG site and I can't get them any bigger than a thumbnail? What am i doing wrong?? Any help appreciated...

    Reply 0 Replies

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