Art Journal Journeys

by Miriam Schulman
art journal
This question makes a great art journal prompt!
 ( you can collect this inspirational art!)

When I take time to art journal

In 2013,  I could never have imagined myself art journaling and now I can't imagine not doing it. Whether using markers or gel pens in a waiting room or pasting down collage pieces while keeping my son company while he does his homework. (Who am I kidding? I am not keeping him company-- I am sitting on him to make sure he does it and doesn't get distracted by electronics) keeping an art journal is now one of my favorite pastimes.

Adding  quotes

I started these two pages while he did his homework. I was so in love with the background I didn't want to move forward and put any writing on top. Usually, I do traditional journal writing over my background and then "hide" the writing by adding bubble text. For this page, I really wanted to see the text so I decided to add mixed media mantras and I used rub-ons. You can see some of my inspirational art on etsy

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

For the first "quote" I put a question posed by minister Robert H. Schuller: "What would you do if you knew you could not fail?" I had also seen this question posed by bloggers. The idea is to think about what you should be doing but may be held back by fear. I consider myself fairly fearless. Partly the result of stubbornly working hard to not just "make it" but make it big as an artist. I make art that may or may not get sold. I write blog posts that may or may not get read.

Success is about trying even if you know you may fail  (tweet this)


Part of what I do that I think makes me successful is that I try many things that may fail but then I do succeed in others. Many successful people are willing to try things that they know may or may not succeed. Last year I decided I wanted to teach online art classes, which I think was the most successful project of last year ( and continues to be~ you can check out my art classes at The Inspiration Place) I don't worry about failing. I just do it. (Yes, not everything works out but I don't know until I try)

 Believe in the beauty of  your dreams (tweet this)

art journal by SchulmanArt on schulmanArt.blogspot.com

Art Journal Technique:

  1. Apply pieces of washi tape.
  2. Rip up pieces from an art magazine- (about 2" in size).
  3. Rip up piano music or other book pages and vintage papers.
  4. Rip up pieces from any gelli prints you may have in your stash.
  5. Rip up pieces of decorative scrapbook papers.
  6. Paste pieces in a pleasing manner using your favorite adhesive.
  7. Unify the collage using acrylic paint. I used Yellow & Buff.
  8. Add a border around the edge of the page with a black pen.
  9. Add drips with Ranger black ink.
  10. Use one butterfly wing & make a second wing to match shape.
  11. Add details to butterfly with gel pens.
  12. Add chevron stamp for texture.
  13. Add bubble wrap from more texture.
  14. The words were added using Rub-ons.
  15. Click here to discover all of my favorite art journal supplies.

Copyright issues with collage art

For this art journal spread I ripped up pages from a Somerset Studio Art magazine. The artworks come from several different artists but each piece is small enough that it is no longer derivative. The eyes peeking out are either from Misty Mawn or Pam Carriker-- no longer sure which, and those two artists look so much the same to me anyway. There is a piece of a butterfly from a Kelly Rae Roberts artwork, who herself took the butterfly from a vintage book on butterflies.

transformative


If you are wondering if you are breaking copyright law when making a collage such as using pattern papers or magazines you have to consider the use and the result. Prominent copyright lawyer Jeanne Hamberg says that in order for it to be legal the art must be transformative. In these two spreads it is clear that the parts used to make up the whole were used in a transformative manner. 

However, if you have any questions about copyright use in your own work that is for sale, it is best not to trust what anyone else says on the internet and consult a lawyer. Clearly, for private art journal making, just about anything goes. 
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"If you steal from one author it's plagiarism; if you steal from many it's research."~Wilson Mizner (tweet this)

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Other blog posts you might like:

 

https://schulmanart.leadpages.net/freeartjournalclass/
CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE ART JOURNAL CLASS!

So in the end, the only thing I can think of that I would do if I knew I could not fail is sky dive. Not going to do that. Nope. Not anytime soon. After all, some fears are healthy.

How about you? What would you do if you knew you could not fail??

Back to Art Blog for The Inspiration Place