Black Art Journal Pages as Banners
I want my Black Friday campaigns to be inspiring for art-making, and this year my theme is “Black Berry Friday.” It means juicy art journal pages on black paper. I am pretty sure you have one like my black and square Dylusions Creative Journal (affiliate link).

I use my black art journal for using up old supplies that don’t inspire me anymore. And if I have leftover paint on a palette, I make a few brush strokes on a page rather than toss the paint away. This floral page was born from those kinds of careless strokes and now, much later, I finished it with paint markers.
Edges and Banners
Usually, the center of the page is the most important area, but for banners, the edges need to draw attention. Here, the circular floral design, enhances the center text area beautifully.

I made the banner in Photoshop, and boosted the colors a bit.

I also drew a long rectangle of cherries that not only makes a great banner but also looks great on the journal. I think we treat art journal pages too often as one unit when a page could be divided in sections and thus bring more variation to the journal.

My banner wasn’t long enough for all the purposes, so I made it longer by duplicating the design in Photoshop.

Colored Pencils on Black Art Journal Pages
I like to use colored pencils with paint markers. Marker pens produce thick and opaque shapes but colored pencils are softer and more translucent. Colored pencils are great for backgrounds. Look at these stripes!

I also used gel pens to add thin lines.

Again, I became more interested in the background than the center. The center is not very elegant, but here, in the banner you mostly see the edges.

Doodling on Black Art Journal Pages
My Black Friday offer is simple: All classes are 20% OFF. So I wanted the banners have some simplicity too. Doodling circles is easy and doesn’t require much thinking.

I got a bit carried away though!

I was talking on the phone and watching a movie while doodling, and once I stopped, I thought that I doodled too much. But the banner looks great and of course, there can’t be too much of anything in art!

Designs for Fabric
I got so inspired making these pages, that I had to play with Photoshop a bit more than necessary. I combined many pages into one design and I think something like this would make a great fabric.

Black Over Painted Background
I have been contemplating whether I should use both sides of the pages on my black art journal. Using only one side would give a blank page to protect the art on the opposite page. But the journal looks much more inspiring when both pages are covered!

Here’s one more idea for an art journal page, and this works on any journal. When you have painted backgrounds, use dark marker or paint on top to make shapes from the background.

I wanted to make one banner that has fall and thanksgiving themes with berries. The page became a bit busy, but again, the banner is ok, I think!

And now: it’s time to shop the sale!
The Black Berry Friday sale ends on Dec 2, 2024, at midnight PST.
Using White as a Color in Painting and Drawing
In this post, we explore the color white and find ideas on how we could change the way we use it in art-making.

I posted this painting about a month ago, but I still had to fix it! You might not notice the difference, but it matters to me. I have changed the center of the painting so that it is more abstract.

A long time ago I thought that it doesn’t matter if I don’t like some detail of my work or if I don’t like some of my work in general. I thought there would always be someone who would like it.
But the longer I’ve been painting, the more important it has become that I have to be a fan of my own work. When you are a beginner, quantity is more important than quality. But I’ve been working for a long time and the equation has thus turned the other way.

I know some would prefer the more realistic flowers, but I don’t! I have too much reality around me, especially now when the weather has been too cold to be spring.
Living in a White Country
This painting is also special because it has so much color that is difficult for me – white! There is far too much white here in Finland. Even if now is the end of April, we got a lot of snow a couple of days ago!

I think white is a terrible color because it is full of emptiness.

Finnish people usually have white walls and white furniture, but our home is full of colors. I love to display my paintings on this yellow wall.
Not One White But Many Whites
In the recent painting, I wanted to play with pastels and show the side of white that is often not talked about.

For an artist, there is not just one white. There is a warm white that holds the promise of the sun. There is a purple-toned white that falls in love when it sees a deep cold red. There is a white that allures you with a hint of sweet mint. So, many whites, not just one Finnish white!
It’s exciting to mix various whites and then see how the pastel colors slowly begin to appear. You need a lot of white and just a little bit of color to get the toned whites and pale pastels.
Titanium or Zinc White?
The most common white in paint tubes are Titanium White and Zinc White. In oils, you have to be careful with zinc white because it can cause crackles. I mostly use only Titanium White. I would love to use Zinc White because it’s more transparent. In this painting, I have tried my best to bring the soft transparent effects mostly with Titanium White, but it’s not easy!

In acrylics and gouache paints, you can use Zinc White more freely.
When White is Not Needed
Beginners think that adding white on top can fix everything. Ten years ago, I was madly doodling with a white gel pen. What went wrong, got covered with white circles. But white also can make the piece busy and destroy depth. Here’s a quick example of the small collage piece that I made in 2014 (here’s the old blog post with the video too). The first is the old piece and the second is a photoshopped version showing how I would fix it now.

When I tone down the white, the image gets clearer and the depth grows. The highlights in the central parts get more attention and it’s easier to know where to look. I wish someone would have pointed this out to me back then. It took a lot of time to realize this!
If White Were a Person …
I am pretty sure that if White were a person she would say: “I have much more potential than you think. Stop seeing me as a blank background or a quick fix to a piece that lacks contrasts!”

What’s your relationship with White?
12 Spring Art Ideas from Over the Years
This week, I share spring-themed art from the past 10 years and give ideas for creating spring art.

There’s a variety of ideas and I hope everyone can find some that inspire to get creating!
#1 – For Beginners and Dull Moments
Doodle spring flowers with the mindset “more is more”!

See the blog post: Subconscious Art
Course recommendation: Collageland
#2 – For Self-Explorers
Express your spring energy by following this step-by-step exercise: Bursting Circle

See the blog post: Bursting Circle
Course recommendation: Inspirational Drawing
#3 – For Free Spirits
Splash color and let everything grow from there!

See the blog post: Art is Freedom
#4 – For Those Who Want to be Freer
When you want to be freer, the art of seeing is as important as the art of creating.
See the video of making “March Still Life”: Painting in Liberated Style

See the blog post: Painting in Liberated Style
Course recommendations: Liberated Artist Revisited and Freely Grown
#5 – For Minimalists
Pick a small piece of watercolor paper, moisten your watercolor pans, and let water do the trick.

See the blog post: Easter Still Lifes in Watercolor – Video Included!
#6 – For Travelers
Paint a spring panorama. More examples: Watercolor Panoramas to Express Travel Memories

See the blog post: Watercolor panoramas to Express Travel Memories
Course recommendation: Watercolor Journey
#7 – For Beautiful Mess-Makers
Beautify the mess by adjusting the details: paint frilly edges and draw fine lines!

See the blog post: Freely Born Watercolor Florals
Course recommendations: Floral Fantasies and Freely Grown
#8 – For Journalers
Decorate a journal cover with your original art! See more instructions in this blog post: Painted Paper Collage

See the blog post: Painted Paper Collage – 6 Tips for Intricate and Fun Art
Course recommendations: Collageland and Decodashery
#9 – For Bird Watchers
Take this challenge to move from illustration to fine art:
Step out of your comfort zone and think about a bird shape as a canvas for expressing its surroundings.

See the blog post: Pros and Cons of Becoming an Artist
Course recommendation: Floral Freedom
#10 – For Art Lovers Who Procrastinate
Reduce watching those photo-realistic colored pencil videos and start coloring freely. One heart shape can lead to many and start your flight to the world of imagination!

See the blog post: 5 Reasons Why I Love Colored Pencils
Course recommendations: Intuitive Coloring and Fun Botanicum
#11 – For Wannabe Fantasy Artists
Find the story first, then its surroundings! A character is not only described by his face.

See the blog post: Wonderland Art – Inspiration from Alice in Wonderland
Course recommendations: Magical Forest and Magical Inkdom
#12 For Artists at Heart
Our creativity has winter and spring too. We need each other to keep the inspiration going – to turn the winter into spring.
A challenge for you: How can you make a new start – create a new spring for your art?

See the blog post: New Beginnings in Art-Making
Course recommendations: Liberated Artist Revisited
Bonus Idea #1: Spring Art Display
Gather your art on a side table for display! Make a collection of all kinds of pieces – even the smallest drawings and collage pieces can look fun this way.

I have a plastic plate that is the same size as my table.
It protects my art, and it also protects the tabletop when painting in watercolor.
Bonus Idea #2: Listen to This!
I also have a music recommendation: “Kevät”
Kevät is spring in Finnish and the song was presented by a Finnish girl band Tavaramarkkinat in 1985. Here’s an English translation of the lyrics. The tone of the song is melancholic. This kind of controversy between melancholy and joy is one of the most inspiring things in spring, I think!
P.S. PostScript for Spring Art Ideas
We still have a lot of snow in Finland, and I miss spring so much! In these spring art ideas, I wanted to combine my yearning for spring and the celebration of being a full-time artist for ten years. The actual anniversary is in September, but I want to celebrate this life span the whole year of 2024.
One part of the celebration has been making the course Liberated Artist Revisited where I invite you to paint with me – to follow directions from Paivi many years ago, and then create more with the current Paivi. At the same time, you can ponder, how your art-making has changed and will change.

Because of the 10-year celebration and the nature of personal stories, Liberated Artist Revisited is a limited edition – only available for purchase until the end of March 2024! >> Buy Now!
Enrich Your Art – Play with Shapes!
This week it’s time to get inspired by shapes and start playing with them!

My dear reader, I guess you follow my blog because you love colors. And yes, isn’t it wonderful to choose, for example, a colored pencil from among several different colors: “Should I pick pink or red, hmm?“

I have a degree in industrial design and maybe that has influenced me to think like this:
A color is a child. A form is a mother.
Colors take spurts freely on the paper while forms set limits. But you can play with form too!

See more about making this in this blog post!
There is no need to turn the mother into an old woman who only sees the reality.
The soul of any shape is abstract and yet, even a simple shape has an expression. It’s fun to draw random shapes and then carefully alter them.

See more about making this in this blog post!
Shapes form a design language that you can constantly enrich. Don’t just draw isolated geometric shapes, but combine them to get more interesting ones!

More about making this in this blog post!
When you have a shape on paper, give your full attention to it.
Art Play with Shapes
Talk to the shape! Interview it!
Don’t ask what she represents, but what kind of world she would like to create around herself.

See more about making this in this blog post!
Ask where she belongs, and what kind of shapes she would like to meet.

See more about making this in this blog post!
Shapes can take you to imaginative places where realistic and abstract meet. Once you have been traveling for some time, you will notice that the delicacy of art is in the form, and the color – the child – is there only as a spice.

See more about making this in this blog post! – See more pics on the Finnish Art Store Taiko!
Art play with shapes – What are your thoughts? Tell us in the comments!