Step into Hundertwasser’s Ecstasy!
An Austrian architect and artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser inspired me to create this art journaling mini-course. Painter’s Ecstasy has just been released as a part of Imagine Monthly.
Getting into Hundertwasser’s Head
Creating the mini-course took a lot of time. I didn’t want to just paint something in Hundertwasser’s style. I wanted to find the elements in his style that support intuitive painting. I wanted to discover the essentials that allow anyone to produce their own work, not just copies. I also wanted to point out the most important nuances that make his paintings so appealing.
Even if Hundertwasser’s paintings (go check my Pinterest board: “Hundertwasser Hunger”) are so clearly shaped and striking, getting into his head wasn’t easy! I made a lot of sketches and experimented with various art supplies. These art journaling pages are some of the sketches:
Structures from Buildings and Maps
Hundertwasser’s education in architecture affected the way he painted. He used structures from buildings and maps to express himself. His paintings tell stories about how humans relate to their environment. It made me think how my desire to paint glassware and ceramics is due to my studies in industrial design. However, I truly enjoyed the techniques discovered from Hundertwasser’s paintings! I am definitely going to continue using those! It’s mostly just watercolor, isn’t it amazing?!
3 Months, 3 Artists
Each of the mini-course has now presented an artist. I must admit that I have been a bit selfish here, picking out artists that truly inspire myself. Luckily I have been blogging for a long time. It hasn’t probably been any surprise that January’s artist was Alphonse Mucha and February’s William Morris. But my love for Hundertwasser’s paintings might have been a bit hidden. Now when I have found out how he created his paintings, it won’t be a secret anymore!
Have Some Hundertwasser in Your Art Journal!
You can still hop on Imagine Monthly and get all the 3 mini-courses right after the purchase. There are three more mini-courses to come and the community is just wonderful to be in! It is so delightful to see everybody’s unique versions of the techniques shown in the class. Purchase here!
Create Doodled Luxury!
Happy New Year everyone! With the new year, a new class has started. Imagine Monthly is a series of 6 mini-courses, released one by one from January to June. Imagine Monthly is a bit different than my other online workshops. It has a slower pace and you can sign up even if the class is already running. January’s mini-course “Doodled Luxury” has just been released. You will get it right away after signing up!
Why This Course?
I wanted to start the series of 6 mini-courses by showing the potential of free hand drawing. For many, drawing is about being able to copy something realistic but there’s so much more that you can do with flowing lines. I think drawing should be redefined and enabled for everyone. It’s my mission to enable you to enjoy drawing and have a great time with your growing imagination! (Want to ponder more about the ability to draw? Read this blog post: “Can You Draw?”)
Creating with Luxury in Mind
When developing “Doodled Luxury”, I spent a lot of time thinking about the concept of luxury. I think it’s not just something to buy, it’s more about creating something unapologetic and self-sufficient. Something which makes you feel rich in a way that has very little to do with money.
While experimenting with the techniques used in “Doodled Luxury”, I created an art journal spread that summarizes the ideas that I had in my head: bringing a clear focal point, getting inspired by the many layers of luxurious clothes, letting quantity increase the quality.
The spread above is just a background study for the course, but I wanted to show it as an example of how your art journal can contain “idea boxes” which in turn can lead to more advanced ideas like this one:
This Alphonse Mucha inspired collage has influences from Marie Antoinette’s period. Can there be anything more luxurious than art nouveau combined with rococo, expressed by hand-drawn elements? Doodling truly can produce luxury when there’s more than enough of it!
Experience the power of simple handdrawing and other easy techniques
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Force Yourself to Experiment!
One day at the local library, I browsed the latest issue of International Artist magazine. I must confess that I had to force myself to do that as the magazine showcases a lot of traditional and realistic art, landscapes, and portraits. Especially in the recent ten years, I have been more interested in examining what is seen inside my head, reflected from outside world, than to illustrate the exact images of the outside world. But now and then I like to force myself to examine things that I don’t feel drawn. It makes me more open and allows me to pick ideas that are hidden behind processes that I am unlikely to obey.
So I gave myself a task: pick any photo and draw one element from it! After drawing and coloring the element I was allowed to fill the rest of the art journal page freely. So if I followed the boring routine, I was able to treat myself in the end.
Choosing the Photo
My husband has an aquarium, and I love it. Just recently he bought five new discus fish. I happened to take a photo once they were released to the tank. I thought that this image would be just perfect for the purpose. The more I art journal, the more I think of it as a diary. It’s mainly a diary of my inner world, but this fish is so beautiful that I could happily let it swim to my imaginary world as well.
Realistic Drawing – Sketching the Fish
I don’t usually use a pencil as I like every stroke to be visible. However, this time, I followed the artists from International Artist magazine: they all seem to use pencil or charcoal for sketching. I drew a simple sketch of the fish taking care of proportions more than the details.
Coloring the Fish
I followed the photo in color choices as well. I just made each of the color more vibrant. While coloring, I also added more details to the fish.
After the fish had been finished, I gave myself the freedom to doodle my heart out.
Finishing
Coloring the fish with colored pencils did not feel particularly inspirational. But when I began adding colors to the mess I had made around the fish, all the fun began! I was able to do anything – yes anything! I thought about water flowing and bubbling freely, and everything started to look more loose and alive, even the fish.
Lessons Learned
After finishing the page, I asked myself, could I create more pages this way: combine realistic drawing with more imaginary elements. Yes, I could. But I think that it would be more fun to create it all freely: drawing the central element first with extra care and then adding surrounding elements. Or pick elements from various photos and construct a scene that way or … All in all, I got few new ideas, and this was a good experiment!
However, I know now why I love drawing that is liberated from all the expectations. It is much more fun and exciting! I also believe that it is good for us to both see and process what we think and feel. It is so liberating to let it all come out on the paper.
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Art Journal about Love for Home!
I am honored to be the featured artist in Documented Life Project this week! The theme is Hometown inspiration: “There is no place like home”. This, if any, is suitable for me and for my art journal! I had a stay-at-home mother and we did not travel much as a family. Probably because of that, I have always loved being at home. When I worked away from home, I missed it all the time. Nowadays, especially every morning when I wake up, I am extremely grateful to be able to work from home!
Let’s create an art journal page to celebrate home!
1) Background – Outside from Home
How do your surroundings look like when you are not at home?
Bring those things to the background of your page!
I thought about the situations when arriving home is most appealing. The house, and the living room couch, looks the most welcoming after walking the dogs on a bad weather.
Being a dog owner and living in Finland, I have been in the middle of snow storms, pouring rain and everything between.
2) Focal Point – Inside Your Home
Pick some of the items from your home which represent your love for home!
I wanted to express the experience of staying inside, feeling happy, warm and safe from the blowing winds. A couch and house plants are good symbols for that.
3) Location, Location!
Create the page where you feel most at home!
We, visual people, are often very easily affected by the environment where we create. To make sure that the page would express of a warm and comfortable place, I created the page by sitting on the living room couch.
4) Start by Drawing Freely
Draw and doodle on the page. Don’t worry too much about the end result!
5) Add Color (+ 3 new ideas)
To make sure that your page expresses an experience and is not only a static illustration, add few new thoughts and ideas when coloring the page.
1st: For me, the first idea was the green color. Namely, living in Finland is not only enduring snow and rain. Now in summer, we have daylight almost through the night. Actually, if you read this on 20th June, we Finnish will be celebrating Midsummer, one of our biggest holidays.
This photo was taken just a week ago when walking the dogs 11 pm in the evening.
2nd: My second new idea was that home is not only a house or an apartment. It is a mental state. When I feel at home, my cup gets filled, I become peaceful and energetic at the same time.
The combination of peace and energy looks yellow to me. So I made sure that the focal point has a lot of yellow. I also cut a yellow heart and glued it to the page with a gel medium.
3rd: Where ever we go, we always carry a piece of home with us. My third idea was to add some red spots to the background to express that.
Boosted Expression
When you bring new ideas and thoughts on the theme while you are creating, you are not only making the page look more lively and expressive. You are also allowing your thoughts to move forward with creating.
Supplies Used
A black drawing pen (Micron 0.8 mm), colored pencils, a piece of scrap paper and some gel medium were the only supplies used on this page.
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