Blog: Art Journal

A Look Back – Cool Stuff You May Have Missed 18 – Inspired By Love

A Look Back – This time I’m looking at drawing inspiration from that universal emotion – Love. I like to use quotes for my art journaling because hey, sometimes a powerful quote exactly captures what I am feeling. Love is something that inspires me again and again and if you happen to look for quotes, you will see that there are plenty to choose from. I thought sharing some of my art journal pages through the years would be fun here.

A Look Back is a blog series to show you some projects and posts that you may have missed – sometimes going WAY back in the archive. I think it will be fun to revisit a few ideas that we haven’t seen for a while. I’m excited to see how a little look back might inspire something new in the future :)

“I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.” – Sarah Williams

In 2014 I created this page using my Crackle stencil and spray paint.

“Live, Laugh, Love”

In 2016 I played with my Versailles foam stamps, acrylic paint, and a big tag in this art journal spread.

“Courage, like love, circles back around and finds us again. Love, like courage, only blooms when there exists so many reasons to be afraid.” – Tyler Knott Gregson

In 2017 I created a big cityscape using my Stroll Through the Hood #1 and #2 rubber stamp sets, along with watercolors in this spread.

“Be in love with your life. Every minute of it.”

In this bold spread from Valentine’s Day in 2018 I used some transfers of a photo of my great-aunt Margot and my great-uncle Hans, along with my Love Tag, Tread, and Grannies rubber stamps.

“Love is love is love.”

In 2019 I created this rainbow flag in my art journal using a whole bunch of my rubber stamps (see supplies below) and Moonlight Duo ink pads.

I hope you enjoyed this look back and maybe it inspired you to give something new a try :)

Here are some of the supplies I used:

Nat

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Be Loud – Art Journal

“Be loud about the things that are important to you!” After all, they are the things that really matter, right?

I built up quite the background here with acrylic paint, a brayer, and my Mini Fan foam stamp set. I also used the black Moonlight Duo ink pad and stamped in both the black and white sides to get gray, and used my Triangle Love rubber stamps with that.

I also went back in and highlighted some of the shapes with Posca markers.

Here are some of the supplies I used:

Nat

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Certain – Art Journal

“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ― James Baldwin

I think we are seeing some of this terrible combination at work these days so I had to use this quote in my art journal.

Pretty simple to bring this page together with acrylic paint and my foam stamps. I used both of my Midtown sets for this page to show the size difference between Midtown and Midtown Minis.

And the quote in uni posca black with white signo overtop.

Here you can see the two stamp sets and how they compare.

Here are some of the supplies I used:

Nat

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Be the Change – Art Journal

“Everybody wants change but nobody wants to change. Be the change!” A good message I think when you feel powerless – you CAN make a difference and be the change!

I used acrylic paint and acrylic markers here for my building scene and background. I had fun focusing on some of the patterns in the architecture.

I added paint splatters to bring everything together.

Here are some of the supplies I used.

Nat

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Never Too Late – Art Journal

“It’s never too late to listen and learn!” – such a great thing to keep in mind as we strive for better days ahead.

It felt good to just play with stamps and stencils in my art journal while listening to podcasts. Here I used my Buenos Aires stencil and my Mini Motifs and Fanfare rubber stamps. I worked with spray paint and Moonlight Duo ink pads to build us some yummy layers.

Here are some of the supplies I used:

Nat

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Unheard – Art Journal

St. John’s church has played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement here in Jersey City and is a  historic landmark boarded up and falling apart. I couldn’t think of a better symbol to paint in my art journal while thinking about the events of the last week and present. 

I know that some of my readers will criticize the usage of  Martin Luther King jun. quote because they will point out, that the destroying of property has to stop. To those I would like to answer in anticipation of this reaction, that yes, it is sad and horrible that property is being destroyed – it is not right, but the killing of innocent black men and the systematic racism in the U.S. and the world has to stop. Let’s set the priorities right. 

I am – as hopefully a lot of you – still trying to listen and learn. I want to hear the voices …and this much is clear for me: I want change! 

Nat

Comments (3)

  • Debbie in AZ

    |

    I’m so glad you are speaking up/standing up for what is the ethical, moral, human thing to do. Thank you for amplifying our voices for justice, compassion and change!

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Nice page and quote. Seems hard for folks to hear that the rioting may be wrong, but the protesting is so right.
    I don’t have any easy answers, just hoping for some change.

    Reply

  • VIVIAN ZELLERS

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    THANK YOU for speaking out. We ALL need to consider the WHY not just the WHAT that is happening! We must
    demand the change that is needed. THANK YOU

    Reply

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Be Stubborn – Art Journal

“Be stubborn about your goals and flexible about your methods…”

For my background I used some bright colors of acrylic paint and gouache, my Wabi Sabi rubber stamp set, my Tokyo stencil, and spray paint. I think having the two scales of this pattern together with the Tokyo stencil and the Wabi Sabi stamps is a nice visual mix.

For the figure I used a bamboo sketching pen and I stamped the back of the deli paper and painted over it, then I pasted it down with gel medium.

I used one of my favorite calligraphy journaling pens and posca markers for a little color.

Here are some of the supplies I used:

Nat

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About Cities – Art Journal

“This is the lesson: great cities are like any other living things, being born and maturing and wearying and dying in their turn.” N.K. Jemisin

I used acrylic paint and my Wabi Sabi rubber stamps for my background, adding a few splatters here and there.

I also used a rainbow of acrylic markers for my building sketch and then went in with a signo pen for all the little details.

Here are some of the supplies I used:

Nat

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Solitude – Art Journal

“But your solitude will be a support and a home for you, even in the midst of very unfamiliar circumstances, and from it you will find all your paths.”   – Rainer Maria Rilke

For this art journal I’m using spraypaint, posca and liquitex markers, and Acrylic paint to make my colorful background and neighborhood scene. It was fun to go in and highlight different areas of the architecture with detail, and also knock some things back with solid areas of gray and black.

I also added some colorful touches to my quote to tie everything together.

Here are some of the supplies I used:

Nat

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