In His Own Words

I drew this several days ago and added lots of quotes from President Trump since the virus came to the USA. Or at least since we've known it's here. I try to always listen to him whenever he speaks, hard as it is with his rambling style, because I can decide what I think instead of relying on a recap by the news.  As much as he complains about the press, all of the press actually makes him sound more concise in their effort to distill the main points of his speech.

When I draw political or religious or social leaders, I like to put their words around them rather than my opinion, though on some pages when I'm trying to sort something out, I might journal in written form about what's going on in the news.

This is not a political blog, but journaling is about recording life, and politics is part of that, for better and for worse. So, even if you don't agree with my take on something, it's no matter....do pages with your take. That's what journaling is all about.

This is the day the Lord has made....

This is a little project I started a while back:

I painted the bike, and then was searching for a verse that would fit, and also fit with a bike. Since riding my bike IS a way to rejoice in the day, I thought this one was perfect. It has my hand done wonky lettering, and I embrace that these days. In this day and age, most everything is computer generated, so I think it's rather refreshing to see something that is hand lettered and hand painted. As you can see, this is the same style sketch that I often do in my journals.

Color Wheel...Documented Life Project

 This prompt was "The Color Wheel" and the suggest quote by Georgia O'Keeffe. I started with a large ledger page and a stencil, and sprayed yellow, red, and blue inks through the stencil so that they overlapped to form secondary colors. Then I glued it down with some pieces of book paper, under paper, and some tissues printed with the gelli plate.

 The little flowers are pieces of napkins glued down. Then I had fun with some fun doodling with the white and black pens.

 By now, my background was so busy that my quote would have a hard time standing out, so I swiped on some pretty magenta paint.

I've also been drawing some Route 66 signs and scenes in Illinois. I'm working on some projects for the shop with these little drawings.

Words with Friends ...Documented Life Project

The prompt was "Words With Friends" and it reminded me of this Bible verse: Proverbs 16:24.

Here it is while I was working on it. I was away from home when I started these pages, so I had a limited selection of supplies. I have a great honeycomb stencil, but of course it was at home, so I tried to draw the comb. I love the verse, but I was not overly excited about this page. I like it better after doing a bit of lettering and doodling on it though.

Be the Change...

 This page was for Thanksgiving week. With the self portrait, I fulfilled the prompt to make a page about gratitude.

On the inside, I decided to do the next week's prompt to trace a hand. I've been watching the news about Ferguson, MO, and I decided to document this. I traced my hand on to a map that included Missouri and Illinois. This week's news filled me with sadness in so many ways, and the only thing I  know to do, is to do my own little part to be kind, and to love others. I can see pain on all around this issue, and so many things that need change.

Crazy little thing called love...

 The challenge from The Documented Life Project was to use a crossword or other puzzle. The background is a beautiful envelope I received in happy mail. The words about love also came in a separate happy mail. 

I filled in words about love in the crossword (blacking out extra squares where necessary), and added Queen's great song title and a bit of the lyrics.

Hearts ...art journal page

The prompt for week 25 was to use hearts on your page. I used some gelli printed paper and freehand cut some hearts out. The background is Inktense Pencils. I'm adding Bible verses that are important to me here and there in my planner.

The wonder is......trees in my art journal.

Who doesn't love trees? Incredibly, I've actually known a few who don't, but to me trees are a wonder. I did another 15 minute background for this one, but using entirely different colors from the last one. It made me think of the woods. I seem to have a lot of quotes going in this journal, and I think I'll just keep adding more of my favorites.

Warhol, Price, and Gregory...all in one little post.

This is a little drawing I made on a note ordering Moonlight Chronicles from Dan Price. I just blurred out my address and such. Dan Price and Danny Gregory are two artists whose writing encouraged me to start drawing again. 

And here is a cool quote that I want to be able to find again, so I'm posting it here:

"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art."  ~Andy Warhol

Mark Twain Quote

I've been playing around illustrating quotes on old Bingo Cards. Here is the first one. This one is marker, Indian Ink, and collage. The little kids are from an old envelope that license plates came back in the 50s. Things get slow at the shop in the winter, and I sometimes work on small art projects in  my office.