Art Journaling – Reflecting on Self

I often use art journaling as a means of “working out” a painting before I start the messy work.  Art journaling itself, can be as messy as you want it to be, but it’s a smaller project, with a bit less commitment physically.

This started with a wash of Golden Fluid Hansa Yellow and Green Gold, streaking the colors on paper, giving me forest colors and shapes.  I used opaque markers to rough out the main image of the work (the antlers, the outline of the figure).  I gessoed around the figure, then markered in the trees within the antlers using watercolor markers.  The feathers and face form were done with opaque markers, as well as the circular shapes.

I am really liking opaque markers and well as the watercolor markers.  If you use a light acrylic wash over watercolor markers, they streak a bit, adding a really neat effect.

I used this piece for the painting, Reflecting on Self (painted a few days later).  I don’t know how true to color I was, and I certainly had to use more technique on the canvas – gesso to start, then a much richer green “forest” with more defined shapes that were eventually almost all but covered by gesso or Golden Iridescent Pearl (the best invention ever…. in my opinion!).

What do you think?  Would you or do you art journal to help you create your works?