Tuesday, February 1, 2022

What's Your Style?

 Hi everyone. Happy February to you.

First of all I want to share a big thank you to everyone who joined in to my Let's Face It challenge at Art Journal Journey last month. There was some wonderful art and all kinds of faces. It was fun to see the variety. And of course, it means a lot to me that you shared your pieces.

Now that it is a new month, it is time for a new challenge. This month we actually have 2 hosts, the furry Bleubeard and the talented Elizabeth. You probably know them from their blog Altered Book Lover.

This month Bleubeard and Elizabeth have chosen the theme  What's Your Style?

When I think of style, I think of many things. There's my art style, my clothing style, the style(s) of music I enjoy. There's also the style I decorate my house, the style of food I enjoy, the teaching style I had when I was working, even the types of books I read could be considered a style.

Style:   noun: a manner of doing something or a distinctive appearance verb: design or make in a particular form or designate with particular name, description or title

We all have our own style (yes, even you Elizabeth-smile) because each of us creates work with its own distinctive appearance (even if you don't create strictly one type or style of art),  but the beauty about art journaling is we can try other styles and see if they work for us, because let's face it, style is not static but an ever changing and exciting thing. 

My first page is about my current art style. Color is probably the first thing I think about or get excited about in a page. I see color before I see other details. And right now, my style is messy, mainly because I work fairly fast and also because I happen to like a ripped page, a crooked line, a splatter or a partially stamped image. Coming from a science background, it is freeing for me to be messy. 

I started my page by using a paintbrush and a few bottles of acrylic paint. I randomly painted my page, mixing colors and trying to make the paint as messy as possible. And then to make it a little more interesting, but also messy, I sprayed some dark blue ink on it.

The paintbrush is hand drawn, colored, fussy cut and then a bit of paint is added. The paint tube is stamped and fussy cut, the artist set stamp is partially stamped, and the jar with the paint brushes is stamped and colored as is the water color set. I added the crown because sometimes I feel like the queen of messy, but also because I liked it there. Even though I am messy, my page needs to be cohesive and (using my more logical science brain) follow some basic design "rules".

And speaking of rules, remember Art Journal Journey is an art journaling challenge. Art journal pages of any size or form can be used, whether they are in a journal, loose paper, cloth or digital pages, but please, no cards, tags or or dimensional art.

This should be a fun challenge. Thanks Elizabeth for choosing this theme. And to those of you who read this post, I can't wait to see what your style is.

And Happy February to you also.









13 comments:

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

You are going to be a hard act to follow, Erika. You certainly set the bar high with your January theme.

I love your take on Style. I am sure I'll see a lot of those styles come out of your art this month. I wish I worked fast like you. Now I know how you can create so many pages at a time. This is really NOT that messy, but well conceived and beautifully decorated. Thanks for this first entry for my theme at Art Journal Journey.

Neet said...

Well, certainly your love of colour is evident here and I just love this page. You have used colour to its full advantage but I don't see 'messy' here, I say 'artistry' and I think it is simply beautiful.
Hugs, Neet xx

David M. Gascoigne, said...

That's a great little discourse on the meaning of style, Erika. I think that all of you crafters have style, with verve and panache thrown in. It amazes me that I see a piece of cardboard and that's what it is, a piece of cardboard, but your creative minds immediately spring into high gear and see the corrugation as a contoured surface for something, to be painted, shaped perhaps, have things stuck to it, lacquered, varnished, sprayed. In no time at all an interesting piece of art is on your table, while I'm still stuffing my piece of cardboard in the recycling bin. C'est la vie. Hugs from your pedestrian birder friend, David.

Valerie-Jael said...

Hi Erika, I love our beautiful page with my fave colours, great idea! You always have a distinctive style, and I like it! Have a great day, hugs, Valerie

Sharon Fritchman said...

Erika, this is simply amazing! I really love how you literally depicted your beautiful style! So clever and creative!! And thanks for hosting last month's theme - I enjoyed playing along!!! HUGS, Sharon

R's Rue said...

I love the use of color.

pearshapedcrafting said...

A fabulous messy’ page with such wonderful colours! Hugs, Chrisx

Iris Flavia said...

Good thoughts on various styles, thank you for the thoughts, I really was stuck in art!
I need to learn to open my mind more.
Love your work and just "my style", I have no patience...
To a happy February full of different styles too learn from!

Jeanie said...

I love your style -- messy and color! You DO have some of the most wonderful use of color I see regularly! You'll have to convince me on the messy! Love this page.

Tracey@Hotchpotchcreations said...

Your so right in your explanation of style it certainly makes us unique soles. I love how you started with colour and the freedom we have when using it, when i'm stressed Hubby often tells me to *Just go and Paint* hee hee..
Fab little hand drawn paint brush and colour swatch.
Happy February Hugs Tracey xx

sirkkis said...

You created a beautiful page in your own style, which is great,Erika. I think it's not too messy, it's perfect.
Happy creative February
❤️🎨❤️

nwilliams6 said...

Love, love, love your hand drawn brush, use of color, and fun focus on messy (the fun part of AJ to me). Your page came out really well, and I loved what you said about style - very true. Hugz

craftytrog said...

Definitely my kind of page Erika! I love the colours you used on this beauty!