Painting ONE Face • SIX Different Ways Art Journaling
- Denise Cerro
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
You may remember from my last post, that I was working in my art journal creating faces x 6. This week I went back in and finished painting each one separately to practice a few new mixed media techniques...one at a time.
This is one of my very favorite ways to loosen up, experiment, and build a little more confidence (we all need that, right?) without the pressure of making a “finished” piece. Each face became its own little study in layering, mark making, texture, and color...and best of all, I got to explore different ways to do a face....6 times!
If you’ve ever felt stuck or unsure of what to practice next, or how to figure out a technique... this is the simplest exercise you can do...pick up your journal. And...as long as you've got your journal out...be repetative with whatever your working on! Practice, practice, practice...
haven't we heard and experienced that most of our lives?
You might be wondering...was she happy with how the faces turned out? Let me remind you, art journals are for experimenting, not performing...this is where growth happens! I was happy that I took time out of each day and played in my journal...even when I was also painting something larger on canvas in my studio. For me...I'm wanting to add faces into the next piece I've been thinking about in my mind...this is a great start to get things moving in that direction and figuring out what I might want to show up on my larger surface...with no commitment!
Take a look at my recent YouTube video where I created one of the 6 faces.
You'll get a taste of...
Creating multiple faces • Working back into each face individually • Practicing layering techniques • Exploring mark making • Building texture in mixed media • Letting each study evolve differently
As I mentioned before...whenever I talk about journaling...
it works with just about any topic you're interested in.
Idea Dump Book: No pressure, just raw ideas.
Visual Voice Journal: Notes on artists, techniques, palettes.
Color Diary: One color per page with swatches + emotion words.
Mark-Making Practice Book: Daily 10-minute experiments.
Creative Risks Log: track bold moves you take.
Inspiration Collector: Words, overheard phrases, textures.
Travel Journals: with written words, sketches, receipts and mementos
Poetry: putting thoughts and words down on paper
Gardening log: flowers and plants, garden plans
Foodies Journal: restaurants & dishes
And the list goes on and on and on and on...make it your own!
So far this time around...I've created pages of color palettes, flowers and now faces...and have created a place to refer back to when I finally get my larger, sectioned out, wooden surface built and ready to paint. I'll be sure to share that process when the time comes.
"Practice is the best of all teachers"
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