My writing block, which has been going on since April if you can’t tell by my lack of posts, is no longer stifling my inner artist. As Julia Cameron, author of what many artists consider their Bible, The Artists Way, taught me that being blocked doesn’t mean the creative juices have stopped flowing. Since it is everything I can do just to write my daily Morning Pages, I have been channeling my creative energy and kept my inner artist happy with painting and arts and crafts.
My first piece was inspired by a quote that always makes you smile. Bob Marley ingrained in our heads that “Every little thing is gonna be alright” and as this really hit home with the aches and pains that my writing blockage has been causing, I decided it was the perfect quote to put on my wall. Here’s how I created this piece:
1) I began by modge-podging newspaper to the canvas.
2) Because I only wanted bits and pieces of the newspaper to stick to the canvas, I waited just a few minutes for it to semi-dry before pulling it off until I was happy with the amount left on the canvas. I felt as though this gave the canvas an older, vintage look, which seems to be the theme of my home.
3) I then freehand sketched the letters, in a font I found online, onto the canvas.
4) For the painting portion, I wanted to maintain that vintage look across the entire piece so I mixed a bright yellow with a bit of grey to create an older, worn down looking yellow. Below was the end result and I’m happy to say that my inner artist feels great about it.
My next piece was inspired by one of my favorite blogs A Beautiful Mess. I followed all of her steps, mixed in a bit of my own personal taste, and created something I’ve fallen in love with. For a quick tutorial this is what I did:
1) I bought letter stickers from Michaels, and after being inspired by my first Bob Marley piece, I decided to follow the theme and use “Don’t worry ‘bout a thing”. (Clearly I will be displaying these pieces on top of one another.)
2) For the canvas, I used an old painting, but you can use any vintage canvas or even create your own background. You can collage images from a magazine, use an old book, or newspaper, but make sure you don’t adore what you are using because you won’t see much of the pattern when your done.
3) I then arranged the letters on the canvas in a way that fancied my taste.
4) Time to paint! I used acrylic paint from Michaels, and I mixed mostly green with a bit of grey to maintain that vintage feel, and went to town. I had a great time playing with the strokes to determine which one I liked best, and which showed the right amount of each color. You can’t go wrong in this step.
5) After letting the canvas dry, peel the letters off to see your almost finished piece.
Although the words aren’t flowing, (I even felt as though I struggled writing this out), I’m discovering that our first art choice doesn’t mean we aren’t great in other platforms. I encourage everyone to try an art that you might’ve never tried before. You might discover that you’re actually pretty great in other specialties.
HAPPY ARTISTRY!
CLEAVER AND FUN!!
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