Every artist and writer has times when the Blank Page Monster takes over and they just can’t get started!
For me, I slay this monster by using a pencil, and drawing a border lightly around the page. Then I write, lightly, what I’m planning on doing on the page. That’s usually enough to get me going.
If I don’t really have a plan, and I just want to do something… I grab my watercolors and paint in the background.
I’m starting a new insert for a Chris.W micro Traveler's Notebook . I am using an insert that I made, rather than one that came with the book.
This time, I’ve chosen the theme of Monsters, in particular, the ones that I have vanquished. Everyone has “monsters” in their lives. They are both internal and external.
Some of them are the voices in our heads that try to tell us that we can’t do something.
The micro, case bound book I showed you yesterday was a great book, but I didn’t like that it was a bit bigger than my tiny book shelf.
I decided to make another, smaller book, this time with simpler, perfect binding. For the cover, I used a Gelli Plate print that I created with acrylic paint a while back. The print wasn’t great because the focal point got lost. But it is lovely paper for a book cover.
Right now, in the Micro Art Journaling group on Facebook, several of us are getting ready to do a “book swap” where we will be trading blank art journals that we have made with another person.
It’s been quite a while since I’ve made a book, of any size, let alone tiny! But I thought I would start with trying a basic codex. This is the most basic, standard form of a book.
When I got back from vacation, look what was in my mail!
I ordered this tiny Key-Per from Jot before I left. But because it was coming from Canada, it took a while to get here. Unfortunately, it didn’t arrive before I left.
But check it out! It is a little less than 2 inches high, and a bit less than 1-3/4 wide, when closed. To give you a sense of scale, the star paper clip is normal sized.
I’ve come to the end of my teeny, tiny, micro art journal. I made this out of materials I had on hand as a test to see if I like doing art this small. I tried all sorts of things in it, and it was a lot of fun.
I ended up making more than a weeks worth of layouts. There are a total of nine spreads in my little book.
The number of seeds in a dandelion are, like the number of stars in the sky… Beyond measure. It is the same with ideas. There is no knowing the number.
All of us are artists when we are born…filled with infinite ideas. When we grow up, we no longer trust our own creativity. We think we must be like someone else. We are not good, we are not talented, we cannot do this.
Sticking with the theme of seeds, here I’m showing someone peering fearfully through a tiny window and looking out on a garden. The garden is planted with all the things that make us happy.
So often, we push away the things that bring joy to our art. We are afraid to make mistakes, or worried about what someone will think about what we are doing.
It’s important to allow ourselves to be happy!
Jokes and puns about pie abound in this household. It’s a popular food item, and also a popular numerical value.
However, I set all of those aside, (perhaps to be revisited in their own tiny art journal,) so that I could use something that related better to the theme of the book I am working on.
If you will remember back, I did a page where the fruit was harvested .
Today, I can show you the covers that fit the insert booklets you saw yesterday!
I used the green leather you saw previously. I ended up using oatmeal colored elastic and I added some charms. I made two complete sets. The one on the right is for me, and the one on the left is a gift for a friend!
Here, you can see all four booklets in each cover.
The first step in figuring out how to make my micro art journal from the parts I showed you yesterday was to figure how to make the inserts, and what size they should be.
Next, I selected Canson Mixed Media paper to use as the pages. I chose this paper because I already know it handles wet media well. It is the paper that I use to make Gelli plate prints.
After working in my teeny, tiny, micro art journal for a week or so, I’ve decided on a size that I like, for the time being.
I figured out the sizes for everything and made myself a set of templates.
And after I decided what to use for the cover, I found paper that will look nice for the covers of the inserts!
Doing a happy dance!
Tandika*
#microart #microartjournal #miniatureartjournal #miniartjournal #miniatureart #tinyjournalnation #allthingstiny #allthingsminiature #microartjournaling #tinyartjournal
I’ve planted lots of “seeds”, tended the garden, and now it’s time to reap the rewards!
Another spread in the tiny Traveler’s Art Journal! I had drawn Pokeroot on the page, and there were a few gray marks. So I just went with it, incorporating it into the theme.
If you are interested in Tiny Art Journals, you might like Micro Art Journaling Facebook group!
Tandika*
#microart #microartjournal #miniatureartjournal #miniartjournal #miniatureart #tinyjournalnation #allthingstiny #allthingsminiature #microartjournaling #tinyartjournal
Again, working on pages with markings. And then I added more to the page on the left. I added a tiny stamp with two bees and then used my watercolors to paint them and the page, over the markings.
I had already drawn the flowers on the page on the right, but I added watercolor, micron and gel pen.
Finally, I added the words.
It is fun trying to scale down my normal art journal techniques to fit in this tiny book!
I loved my teeny, DIY, Traveler’s Notebook so much, that I decided to purchase a commercially made one with a leather cover from Amazon.
It arrive in a tiny box! I thought this was really adorable. When I opened it up, the book was inside.
The book itself is very nice, although I thought the cover was just a bit too thick in proportion to the size. However, I’m ok with it because it will probably last forever.
For the third set of pages in my teeny, tiny Traveler’s Notebook, I decided to create a two-page spread.
I decided to use Mooka shapes to indicate parts of a plant and create a “family.”
I wanted to illustrate that when you have a good idea for your artwork, you need to nurture it and protect it so it comes to fruition.
Tandika*
#microart #microartjournal #miniatureartjournal #miniartjournal #miniatureart #tinyjournalnation #allthingstiny #allthingsminiature #microartjournaling #tinyartjournal
Last week I made a tiny Traveler's Notebook . Then, I started using the first booklet insert as an art journal, and showed you the first two pages . Today, I’m showing you the next two pages.
When I made this book, I was thinking of it as a “test”. I wasn’t, originally planning on drawing in the booklets inside, so I used scrap paper. As a result, several of the pages already had various markings on them.
Yesterday, I showed you the tiny Traveler's Journal that I made. Yesterday, I started using the first insert booklet as a tiny art journal.
I chose the theme of “seeds”. So these are my first two pages. The first is inside the cover and the right side is the “title page”.
Working this small does take some rethinking about the techniques normally used in a standard-sized book. For example, the width of a mark made by a Copic marker is much larger, in proportion, than I was normally used to.
I’ve been totally obsessed with Traveler’s Notebooks since seeing a mini one turned into an art journal on Facebook!
So I decided to try my hand at making them. I’ve made several of various sizes. But today, I wanted to show you a little tiny, mini one. Above, you can see the front and the spine.
The flower design is continued on the back.
Here is the spine, showing how two elastics were strung, and with the closing loop undone.
Army of Squirrels.
This started out being a tile that was all about Crescent Moon for a FB challenge. But, when I was looking around my studio for ideas of what to do with CM, I found Aloha drawn on something. My squirrels decided that I should add that to the tile.
After that, I figured all was lost… with the squirrels being in charge and just went with the flow.