DIY Art Prompt Cards - Ideal Tool for Artists

Hi everyone!

I've had this idea to create my own art prompt cards for the longest time - not least out of necessity, as I've been struck with the dreaded "art block" a few times these last couple of years and it is not a good feeling. As it so happens, I've had this set of blank postcards in my stash for a while, which came in handy for this project. Obviously, I was in quite a creative mood when I made these, as I completed the whole card deck (30 pcs) in a weekend!

I'm sharing my process for how I made these cards, however, feel free to tweak and substitute anything to your liking! This is why I love mixed media so much, is that the possibilities are endless.

When I'm working in a series, I often like to tape the cards together with a bit of low-tack masking tape and view the surface as a whole piece. As in the example above, I simply used a brayer to roll on some bright, contrasting colors as a first layer. Another way to start is by adding a light wash in pale colors and stamp something bright on top - see below.

The cards I'm working on are 200 gsm. They did curl a little when I put down the wash, but this is easily fixed by lightly spraying the back with water and then putting several heavy books on top with a paper towel in between to soak up the moisture. 

Let's continue with the bright colored cards...

Step One

I like to add texture with my text stamp and a black stamp pad. I stamp the image to random areas.

Step Two

I make some marks and add some handwritten text with a fat acrylic paint pen.

Step Three

I adhere tissue paper collage that has graphic elements on it.

Step Four

I add a layer of stencilling.

Step Five

I make more marks with an old plastic lid and indigo ink.

Step Six

Finally, I add focal points to my cards. This can be anything from stamped images, ephemera, cutouts, stickers etc.

Above is a selection of cards from my deck. As you can see, it's the layering process that gives them interest and depth. Besides, it's fun!

All thirty cards have individual art prompts on the reverse side. I came up with general art prompts, that can be used for all types of art, not just mixed media. You can watch me create an art card in the video below. The list of prompts is in the description box directly below the video on You Tube. So, when next I'm stuck in my art, I grab my art card deck, give the cards a good shuffle, spread them out on my work table and randomly pick three cards. I sometimes do this with my eyes closed to avoid picking the same ones I tend to gravitate to. The prompts on the back are my starting points. I grant myself the freedom to use any substrates and any tools that I wish - from brushes, to brayers to sponges! I also gently remind myself, that these prompts are simply suggestions.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today and if you happen to watch the video below on YouTube a thumbs up would be very much appreciated ♥ Have a lovely day, wherever you may be.

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Hydrangea Love

Hello lovelies!

Hydrangeas are the quintessential summer flower! I simply love their large, showy blooms that come in a variety of pretty colors. My recent walk in this garden inspired me to create this art journal spread. There are lots of yummy layers including washi tapes, inks and texture paste. Here is a step-by-step plus if you scroll down you can check out the full video.

Step One:

Cover the page with assorted washi tapes and painter's tape. You can find the latter at hardware stores.

I added a light coat of clear gesso on top and let it dry.

Step Two:

Pick up three different shades of green acrylic paint* with a brayer and quickly roll it onto the page making sure to leave some areas for the washi tapes to show through. Let dry. *I use them sparingly.

Step Three:

Add texture paste through a stencil and let dry completely. This takes several hours better yet overnight, so patience is required. Add dark green ink to the stenciled areas.

Step Four:

Stamp various hydrangea images onto white drawing paper and use watersoluble crayons to color them in. You can get stamp sets online and at craft stores. I used a black stamp pad and let the images dry for a bit before coloring them in.

Step Five:

Once dry I fussy cut all the images out. Again, patience is required.

Step Six:

Arrange the images as you would like and glue them down with a glue stick. Add a title or sentiment if you wish.

Scroll down for video tutorial.

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Favorite Art Supply: Acrylic Gouache

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First off, this is not a paid blog post. All of the supplies in this post are bought and paid for by me.

Hi everyone!

When I re-ignited my art practice several years ago I experimented with all types of paints and tools and finally settled for traditional acrylic paints, as these are reasonably priced for the amount you get plus they come in a huge color range. I painted mostly on stretched canvas at the time and when thinned down with medium, a little of these acrylics can go a long way. I keep my paint tubes in these stackable bins sorted by cool and warm colors, so that I can easily grab what I am looking for.

However, I quickly found that I did not have enough wall space to keep going with these large paintings - and selling the odd piece now and then sadly did not free up enough to justify painting on a large scale. 

So, I figured I would switch to creating small art. Various papers as well as art journals seemed like good options. Intuitively I felt my small art works required  a different type of paint. Paint that did not require a lot of mixing, priming, thinning or thickening, as is usual when painting on canvas. Early on I was gifted a set of watercolors and although the colors are pretty, I never quite got the hang of adding just the right amount of water to build up the layers to create depth. Frankly, my preferred art style is a little messy, a little wild with saturated colors and visible brush strokes. Obviously, watercolors do not lend themselves to this type of painting! Below is my attempt at painting watercolor roses.

After my unsuccessful watercolor experiment, not for want of trying, I read about gouache paints. I hadn't tried these thus far, so I bought just a few colors that I liked. Gouaches can be thinned down like watercolors, but I prefer to add just a drop of water to activate them. This way they are opaque and light colors can be overlayed on dark colors and vice versa. They dry matte, but they are not waterproof. Below is one of my practice floral paintings with gouache. Gouache, btw, is a French term and sounds similar to "squash" without the S.

After practicing with gouache paints in my sketch pad for a bit I ventured to go bigger on a good quality substrate. Below are two simple and somewhat "nordic" floral paintings I made and had framed for our guest room. These are behind glass - please ignore the reflection of me.

While I liked painting with gouaches, it did bother me that they were not waterproof like acrylics. To my delight I discovered acrylic gouaches! These are relatively new and not easily found in craft stores in my area, but luckily I did find some online. As I always do when trying new supplies, I initially only purchase a few of my favorite colors. Besides, acrylic gouaches are on the upper end of the price scale.

There are two brands (that I know of) that carry acrylic gouache paints. One is Liquitex, the other is Holbein. Both are imported brands, hence the price :(

However, most online art stores have big sales once or twice a year, so it does pay to wait until these are reduced. As soon as they were I stocked up on colors that I knew I would be using throughout my work!

I love painting with acrylic gouaches! They have a creamy consistency and are highly pigmented. Just a pea size dollop plus one or two drops of water goes a long way. Just like regular gouaches they are opaque and can be overlapped light over dark and dark over light. They also have the properties of acrylics, the main one being they are waterproof when dry! They dry smooth and matte. For variety and a more "textured" look I sometimes mix acrylic gouaches with my regular acrylics. I hope the store I bought them from continues to stock them, as they are currently my absolute favorite art supply!

 Thank you for stopping by and reading along! Have a lovely day wherever you may be.

Colorful Mixed Media Play in my Art Journal

Hello there lovelies!

I did it again - I was so absorbed in creating these two art spreads, that I completely forgot to take process photos with my camera, even though my camera was sitting on my work table! Luckily, I filmed one of the spreads. Scroll down to view the full video.

I enjoy making these kinds of mixed media spreads, as I get to utilize all types of materials and layer them creatively. This adds texture, interest and depth to the artwork. Some time ago I typed a whole bunch of quotes, words and expressions on my computer and printed it out. I now have titles ready for use. I simply cut them out and sometimes I color them in, as I did with these two spreads.

Since I'm working in my A6 journal (I have several of these), it didn't take long to complete the pages. A lovely way to wind down after a busy day and also part of my self-care routine. This is a beginner-friendly project. I love sharing - you can find the video tutorial below.

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Art Play in my handmade Junk Journal

Hi everyone!

Once in a while I share a video tutorial specially for my lovely blog readers! Check out the video by following this link:

https://youtu.be/tbxGXtZ1irM

I've created a fun page in my handmade junk journal and I'm working with a set of creamy watersoluble crayons to make the background and also to color in the focal image. This art page uses limited supplies - I've listed them in the video description box. This is a beginner-friendly page.

Enjoy!

A trip to Castle Moyland

Hello lovelies!

Summer is here and longtime readers will know this is my favorite season - although, lately the weather has been all over the place - from steaming hot to rainy and quite chilly! On this particular occasion it was overcast and very windy, but we decided to tour the Castle Moyland anyway. Some of you might remember that I live in an area that has plenty of castles of all sizes and some even privately owned, however, we hadn't visited this particular one yet, which is quite close to Xanten, one of the oldest towns in Germany and famous for its Archaelogical Park, a place we visited some time ago. 

Schloss Moyland, as it's called, dates back to 1365. The estate changed owners several times until  WWII, when it was almost completely destroyed and plundered. It lay in ruins for many years until 1986, when it was decided to have it rebuilt. Under the direction of the architect Karl Ebbers, the exterior was restored to the state of the Zwirner neo-Gothic reconstruction. The interior was reorganized into galleries, cabinets and halls for use as an art museum, based on the historical room layout.

The historic and well-tended gardens comprise baroque and geometric elements, a herb garden with over 300 varieties, a sculpture park and impressive hydrangeas, for which this particular garden is well known. For those with strong legs there is the opportunity to climb up a hundred steps to the viewing deck at the top of the North Tower!

Adjacent to the castle there is a little café where we had coffee and cake after our tour.

Below, I'm sharing a few impressions from our trip to the castle. We went inside to view the current art exhibition as well, however, taking photos inside was not allowed. I hope you enjoy these photos from the gardens!

Art Journal Spread with handmade Collage Fodder

Hello artsy friends!

On most days I like to make some art, even if it's just 20 minutes of enjoyable art play in my handmade junk journal. One such session resulted in this colorful and messy page! The papers in my junk journal already have some color on them, so this gave me a nice starting point to create a background. I did some mark making with my creamy crayons and added a few bits of collage. I stamped my text stamp in a few places for interest and texture. As a finishing touch I adhered some colorful leaves as a focal point on each page as well as a title.

Here's a step-by-step:

Step 1 - There were already some blue marks on the pages, so I spread some more blue - a bright sky blue - on both pages. 

Step 2 - I used my fingers to spread the color on the pages to get a unique "messy" look.

Step 3 - Next, I added acrylic ink in burnt sienna and used a small brayer to spread it around.

Step 4 - I spread some more ink around - in bright pink. I also grabbed my creamy crayons and made some random marks. Colors used: black, light orange.

Step 5 - I grabbed some paper scraps and collaged them in some areas on the spread.

Step 6 - using my text stamp to make marks in some areas for interest.

If you would like to know how I made this junk journal, check out this video:

Finishing touches: I glued down colorful leaves and a title to each page.

The point of this mixed media art play is not to create a masterpiece. It's to simply enjoy putting down colors, making random marks, using your favorite tools - yes even your fingers - and since it's done in a junk journal there's no need to be precious about it. Just make art the way that pleases you. I guarantee you will feel re-energized afterwards :)

Here's a quick video on how I made my collage fodder:

I hope you enjoyed this post. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

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Mixed Media ATC's Tutorial

Hello lovely creatives!

What are ATCs? The abbreviation stands for Artist Trading Cards. These are small artworks that measure 2.5 x 3 inches (64 mm x 89 mm) which are typically traded between artists, either online or exchanged at trading sessions. Each ATC is a unique piece of art signed by the artist usually on the back of the card. Artists can use multiple techniques to create them. Here I used blank white cards as my base and covered them in handmade collage. I worked with black gesso to get a grungy look and added more layers, such as stamping and mark making on top. Final touches include a piece of thread for texture, a stamped motif and a title. 

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures  of the process again. I need to remind myself to grab my camera and place it on the work table right in front of me :)

If you are short on time, you can watch the quick version below or scroll down further and watch the full-length tutorial:

I hope you enjoyed watching the video. And if so, a "thumbs up" would be very much appreciated! You can also use the above picture to pin to your pinterest board for future reference and share with other ATC artists out there. Have a great week!