Like most of my art journal pages, this one came about with very little actual planning.

I found a quirky magazine picture of a woman with bright purple paint on her hands, and for some reason it “spoke to me” so I tore it out.  Later< I found the words “Would You Wear Mixed Brights?” in another magazine, and again tore it out.  Somehow, I wanted to use both of these elements in an art journal page.

The background of this page was made using overspray on an alphabet stencil.  (I had sprayed ink through the stencil for another project, and captured the “leftover” ink on this page).  I used a blending tool and red Distress Ink across the center of the page, letting it fade into the yellow at the top and bottom.

I glued the lady onto the page but didn’t like her brown hair — so I used a combination of purple acrylic paint and a purple Sharpie to make new hair, and then repeated the purple paint on the left side of the page (sponging it through punchinella, also called “sequin waste”).  I used coloured Sharpies to darken her lips and intensify her eyes, and adhered some red washi tape above and below the words on the left side.  At this point, I stopped.  Normally, I would incorporate the collage elements into the page by shading or doodling around them, but I liked the sharp contrast of the edges just as they were, so I left them alone.  (Sometimes the tricky part is knowing when to STOP!)

Often, I make “backgrounds” on one day, and then finish them into completed pages days, weeks, or even months later (as was the case with this page)!  Seldom do I start and finish a page in one sitting.  Giving myself permission to start but not finish opens up new possibilities.  After all, art journaling isn’t about “playing by the rules” — it’s about having fun along the way!