Route 66 in Texas...

More borders. This is a border I use a lot in my journals. Mindless and fun to do while watching the political debates.

Now I have to decide what these panels are about...yes, I work pretty spontaneously on these.  I like to do it that way, because the idea is to have the same feel as my travel journals, which are very much "on the spot" and contain drawings and journaling that is all freehand...usually straight to ink with no penciling in. It makes for wonky, fun drawings. I've decided to make this panel with Texas sights.

In my job as an antique dealer I have access to lots of old books, maps, and print items to use! Sometimes I use a bit of gesso to knock the print farther into the background. 

I love the old neon signs and unusual advertising gimmicks on Route 66. They often show up in my drawings.

India Ink and Spray Ink..

One of the panels started looking appealing, so I added some green ink sprayed on, and then picked up my India ink pens and started a little border like I use on many of my journal pages.

Playing around with adding some color. I use a brush, and I also use my fingers alot...like a toddler :D

 I like the print peeking though. These are all relatively small pieces, so details that you experience up close become important.

I do these very much like I do the backgrounds in some of my sketchbooks. It's basically art journaling, but done on a base that's easier to display.

In the beginning...

I'm starting some new pieces today. I primed and then gathered together some vintage papers to use as  a base.

I glued some on the artist panel. Eventually, I'll paint over these papers, and add more vintage paper, but bits of this print will still peek though. It adds a nice bit of depth. In these I've got vintage checks, trading stamps books, play money, foreign phone book pages, ledger pages, and pages from an old stamp collectors book. I like to do several at a time while I've got my brush full of glue.

Now to let them dry, and get out the paints! Some of these will have a Route 66 theme, and I've included papers from Dwight since it's along the old road, Others are a mystery, even to me. Sometimes I get ideas about what the subject will be after I see how the colors turn out.