Well, the June 2020 Joyful Art Journaling Challenge has come to an end… but it certainly won’t be the last art journal challenge I host! In fact, I’ll probably do one every January and June, if all goes as planned. I think you’ll see by the images below, I had a lot of fun with the prompts, and I hope you did, too!
Day 16: Vintage
It’s funny, I have so much vintage ephemera, yet I used all new materials for this prompt. But what I tried to do was use a palette and vintage inspired ephemera to create the feeling of vintage.
Day 17: Layers
I used a print of one of my old illustrations (the girl), as well as vintage and new ephemera for this spread. And I actually made even more layers (check them out on Instagram… swipe over to watch the short video.)
Day 18: ART + WORDS
Art is often political, though I personally usually try to stay away from that in my own art, I just could no longer ignore my own feelings. As a HUMAN and the mother of a black daughter, I had to add my (albeit small) voice and support to the #BlackLivesMatter movement with my art.
Day 19: What Makes You Happy
The water definitely makes me happy! The ocean, a lake, river, stream, pool, shoot… even a nice bath or shower can uplift my mood. And “Meet Me by the Water” is a song by Rachael Yamagata, and it also happens to be my wedding song! (Of course.🥰)
Day 20: Bird
This was a fun spread to make… are these birds courting? Fighting? Dancing? It’s up to you to decide.
Day 21: Dots + Stripes
I did a series like this for the 100 Day Challenge one year. I think of them as color studies in a way, but I also love to look closer and see all the little weird things going on (literal or implied.)
Day 22: Flowers
I love flowers so much, and this image from a early 1900’s book about them in particular… This illustration was so precious to me I didn’t want to “mess it up” by cutting or manipulating it too much, but in the end, I think by “saving” it, I didn’t really do it justice. It became one of my least favorite pages from this challenge.
And I mean, with 30 spreads, you’re bound to have favorites as well as pages you’d rather forget. But I still love the original flower illustration and quote!
Day 23: Animals
“Stan was the snappiest dresser among his herd of friends.” In contrast to the previous day’s spread, this one, though super simple, was SO fun, and he still brings a huge smile to my face!
I’ve made anthropomorphic collages for a long time (I probably made my first one in 2005ish?!) but this one was definitely inspired by day 28 of this CreativeBug “Daily Creativity at Home” class!
Day 24: Monochromatic
I definitely bent the rules a bit for this prompt, but that’s what artists do, right? Besides, I love this collage! And I really want that car IRL.
Day 25: Rainbow
I made some little pride flags and then cut them into rainbow shapes. I’m definitely a #straightally and was happy to see there’s a flag for that, too! (If you want to know which flag represents what, check out my Instagram post and swipe over to see the labels.)
Day 27: 3D
I made a teeny tiny art journal and decorated a match box to store it in for the 3-D prompt. You can watch a video about it right here on Instagram.
Day 28: Abstract
Another little color study type collage for day 28.
Day 29: Minimalism
I used the idea of minimalism to show that you can create a simple, but beautiful and/or meaningful art journal spread very simply and quickly! I used gouache paint for the base (it dries quickly), some magazine/collage elements, and a sticker… viola! Done!
Day 30: Transparent
I wish I could have taken a better picture for the “transparent” prompt, because I actually really like how this turned out! I cut the square hole in 2 pages of my art journal, and used two sheets of (very vintage!) velum-type paper (it was in a cabinet photograph) on either side of this vintage peach illustration I cut out.
In the photo below I had a candle on the other side of the page, but it still doesn;t quite convey the transparency. But hopefully you get the idea! 😉
So there you have it! Days 16-30 of the June Joyful Art Journaling Challenge! I hope you’re looking forward to the next one as much as I am!