June 2022 - Week 2 Monthly Muse Challenge

Hi guys and welcome to week 2 of our monthly muse challenge which is all about using mixed media ABSTRACT ART in art journaling.

Firstly, I need to say how much I loved the layouts you created last week using Laly Mille's artistry for inspiration, just wow, you all created such stunning and fabulous layouts!!

Secondly, apologies for not posting this on Monday, it was my birthday so I spent a lot of time sitting in the sun and not doing anything! Didn't even do any housework!

Abstract art is another form of art that can be included in our art journaling layouts, it's a fun and very expressive way of including some colour, mark making and patterns into our work.

I really like this explanation when I googled the meaning of Abstract art: "Abstract art is art that does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction of a visual reality but instead use shapes, colours, forms and gestural marks to achieve its effect."

Some fave abstract artists of mine include Susanne Rose Art, Cathy Mevik and Red Queen Art Creations. I have a heap more but I had to narrow it down a bit. Below you will find an inspiration board for each artist plus the link to their Youtube channels.

Take a look at each board/artist and see if anything inspires you. Also take a look at their channels to see their other works of art if none of these below are calling to you.


Susanne Rose Art
https://www.youtube.com/c/SusanneRose/featured

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Cathy Mevik
https://www.youtube.com/c/CathyMevik

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Red Queen Art Creations
https://www.youtube.com/c/RedQueenArtCreations

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Challenge rule for this week:
So this week's challenge is to create a photo-less abstract layout using various shapes (circles, squares, etc); colours, mark making in a mixed media form of some sort, be it watercolours, acrylic or impasto paints. You also need to use one of the artist's shown above as your muse this week, so whether it is a particular piece of art that speaks to you or simple the colour palette they used, let that be your guide. Please let me know in this thread which artist you chose to go with and how they/or what inspired you to create your own layout.

My layout:
This is my layout which was inspired by Susanne Rose Art, especially the very first pic in her board above. While I didn't use the same colours, I loved her page design and her sketched botanical forms as well as the marking making she did.

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Credits are in the gallery.

I hope that you will have fun with this week's challenge and I am truly looking forward to seeing what you all come up with!

You may create any style of layout (ie. clean and simple, artsy, pocket style etc.) you wish but it needs to be a photo-less layout in an abstract form. Create any size page you wish. This is for everyone, so have fun and see where the inspiration takes you.

Please post your layout to the Art Journaling Gallery HERE prior to Midnight EST July 3, 2022 and then post it in this thread by copying the code (at the right of your gallery image) from the box under "Share BB Code".

We will draw a winner at the beginning of next month for a coupon!! Every layout you create is equal to one entry in the random draw. So if you create 1 layout you are entered once, if you create 4 layouts you are entered 4 times.

You can use any products in The Lilypad store or retired products from current Lilypad designers, (just make sure you follow our gallery guidelines).

If you have any questions then please ask away!

 

Yes, by all means, you can do that for sure! Actually I was going to add that to my post as abstract type artwork is always a fabulous idea for a background on which you can display a photo, and beauty of digital is that you can always add the photo in later! yay!!

 

Actually I think abstract type art as a first go at mixed media in your journal would be an awesome idea Susie! I would select say three main colours and then use white and black to accent here and there. You can't go wrong!! You can always go back to it further down the track and add some collage to it if you are not totally happy with it or just leave it as is, your journal, your rules!! It also gives a chance to just play with your paints, pencils etc. just remember to prep your page first with some clear gesso. Have fun!!!

 

Susie, mark making is just another term used for scribbling, drawing circles, crosses etc. Just making marks of some kind. You can use your paints to make the marks, pencils, pens or even use a sharp pointed tool (or sharp kitchen skewer) to scratch into wet paint like Red Queen Art does in her videos. Like in my digital layout above, the marks like the botanical foliage, the round circle shapes, the dashes that look like rain, the crosses etc are all classed as mark making.

But you can also use all sorts of things from your kitchen for stamping with paint as well, like a metal pot scrubber/scourer, you know those round soft ones, not sure what you would call them in the US, but you can use them like a stamp, dip in white paint and then 'stamp' onto your work, or even bubble wrap can be used.

 

Gorgeous pages Amanda and Zakira!!