Whew, finally! I finished up with the Jenniebelli challenge (7 art journal pages in 7 days) one day early. It turns out there was almost nothing left to do after I selected my sixth and final technique, which was Doodling with Pens/Markers. So doodle I did and shading I did and fix-up I did and journal I did (with those self-same pens and markers.)
And here are my finished seven art journal pages. Over-done, under-done, but done!
If I had gone any further on this one it would have definitely been overdone. But I like it as it is. I like the colors, the shapes, the doodles, and the decorative napkins framing the figure.
This one makes me smile. 🙂 I did a lot of circle doodles in the ‘tunnels’ around the open stenciled areas and I doodled the words “Dinner and a movie with you tonight” in the open white areas of the stencil. I also journaled a bit on the dog next to the menu. Mission accomplished.
This one is way over-done in my opinion. I just didn’t know what to do with it. I stamped the quote in step 2, I think, and now it seems dwarfed by everything around it. The message gets lost because the eye really doesn’t have a place to land. I did have fun doodling and playing with all of those circles, though.
Well, this might just be my favorite, after all is said and done. I did very little doodling on it since it was so busy to begin with. I shaded everything and then I merely journaled in very tiny hand-lettering along the tops of the low building. Everything is crooked but I love the art-deco colors and shapes and feel to this.
This one had been my favorite during Steps 3 and 4 (collage and paint) but it lost some of its allure for me when I added the ephemera to it. I do like the flower doodles on the background, the white journaling in her hair, and the words “Life is a Journey” but I do not care for the Destination ephemera at the top or the hand-written words at the bottom. I am very proud of this one though since drawing (and especially painting) faces has been my nemesis for years.
What can I say about this? I like it best during Steps 1 and 2 (focal image and stencils). Everything I added after that made it look silly or too busy or something. This is now my least favorite. There was no room left on this after doodling to do any journaling but that’s okay since I wouldn’t know what the message for this page would be. The word right below her face reads “INNOCENT” but is sloppy and unreadable. I give this one to the Universe to reflect back the challenges faced in this challenge.
At one point in this page, I thought I had ruined it. But I rather like it now. The big orange/mauve snowflakes and that shabby ‘fence’ and the words ‘Deer Santa,” now make me smile.
Whoa, was this challenge challenging! It opened my eyes a little. I can (DID) successfully do things in an order I would not normally do. It was difficult for me not knowing where the page would have to go in order to fulfill the current required product/technique. I had to just let go and let the page speak for itself. Art is all about intuition and letting go, I think, so in that I was successful.
Would I do this again? I don’t know, but probably not any time soon. I got rather sick of those pages after 6 days so I lopped a whole day off the challenge. But it’s nice to know that it’s okay to break larger projects down into baby steps. I can do that. 🙂
I hope you found some creativity in your day too. Things will get crazy from here on out so I (and you?) will keep my art down to easy things from here on out during this month. Thanks for stopping by!
Ain't No Ninny 
November 23, 2014 at 3:10 pm
I am glad you found you learned something about your creative process by being forced to do something in an unfamiliar order. Even if it only served to reinforce that your usual approach works then it served a purpose. Your favourites are the ones I would agree are most successful overall but I think there are little bits of triumph in every single one of your pages. Over-working is something I can be guilty of because I tend to work fast. It was particularly evident in life drawing class so I had to train myself to just sit at peace while everyone else finished up their drawings so as to not wreck a drawing by over-doing it. I am sure you would have known when enough was enough had you not been following this challenge and felt you had to add more than was perhaps necessary. Thank you for sharing this whole challenge process.
November 23, 2014 at 3:13 pm
And thanks for your encouragement through this process, Laura! It is appreciated.
November 24, 2014 at 11:03 pm
The dog is my favorite – something about him licking his chops right above the menu – and I love how the text kind of disappears and reappears.
November 24, 2014 at 11:58 pm
Thanks, Eris! I love that one to.