Paint By Numbers

A few more

Again, I thought I'd posted these, but obviously hadn't.  I've added a second image of two of them (each page spread has from two to five versions depending on how many times I scanned it).  One at least has been altered since.  I am trying to finish up my journal, but I'm away from my scanner for the last round of copies, so it will be a few days before I get a chance to get it on this blog.

  I've tried to scan each spread at several stages.  I'm sure it might be very boring just looking at little changes, but it's good for me to see the different impulses as they unfolded.  Not sure exactly what to do with that information yet, but maybe it just lets me trust the process.

I think I mentioned before that I've scanned the pages as spreads here, but I work on them individually.  I think of each page as a separate piece.  Sometimes I don't like the two together, but other times they work well. 

I loved loved loved adding the stamp in the last one here.

page spread 21

 

page spread 21, next

 

page spread 22 

page spread 23

 

page spread 23, again

More scans

More scans

I thought I had posted these already, but I forgot to take them off draft.  So here they are, later, but not late.

page spread 18

and later

page spread 18 (round 4)

page spread 19

and later

page spread 19 (round 4)

 

page spread 20

and then

(page spread 20, round 4)

I have continued to work as my character in my journal, and I am amazed how different this experience has been.  I am thinking about how this relates to my regular (to the extent that it is regular) journal practice.  How do I continue what has been so enjoyable without feeling like I'm dragging out this exercise that has been sufficient on its own.

The enjoyable part has absolutely been forcing myself to limit what I work with.  I had a few cheap acrylic paints, and in the end, limited myself to one brush and one pen.  I did try some papers, and then some photographs, the latter of which I continued periodically.  Those had whole stories that didn't end up in the journal.   I've tried limiting myself in other ways before, and it hasn't clicked the way this did, so that's interesting.  This time it seemed appropriate and didn't actually feel limiting at all.  Just simple and easy.

I also focussed on shapes and relationship in a more deliberate way.  I tried to NOT think too much, which was both a challenge and a relief.  

Continuing into May

First some pages.  Then some words.

page spread 15

page spread 16

page spread 17

Now is time for a bit of a wrap up, since clearly, the month has ended.  However, the work in the journal continues, mostly because it feels incomplete but also because I am enjoying it so much.

 My character this year, who is named Dorothy, but called Dodo, is very ordinary with very ordinary circumstances.  Without going into detail, she is just in a place in her life where she is going a great deal of care taking and so things are regularly chaotic and unstructured as she manages the needs of the person she cares for.  However, her journal is a place that she goes to center and calm herself.  

What was so fun for me, was not envisioning some complicated scenario, which I'm apparently not very good at, but rather living in the mental and emotional space of this woman and doing art from that place.  I found it very easy to slip into the mindset of my character and work from there.  Because her journal was a retreat, I didn't worry about the details of her life, because in creating, she let go of that worry.  What was so unexpectedly enjoyable for me was how that felt.  I thought I would really struggle with the simplicity she needed, but in fact, the magic of it was that by going to that mindset, I actually came away much calmer and happier each day.

Dodo works with simple shapes and lines, and that was a bit of a push for me.  Well, I mean I thought it would be a push, because I don't tend to go for simplicity, but limiting myself to a small set of paints, and one pen, I was very happy with how it forced me to consider using these things.  I ended up adding some photographs, and each one had a story, although it doesn't show in the journal itself.

Although I have scanned them as page spreads, when working, Dodo considered only one page at a time.  Each was a little composition.  Usually she would simply take a piece of paper and cover the side she wasn't working on. Each day she might only squeeze out one or two color choices and add those.  Or work on just the lines.  She might work several times for a couple minutes in one day, or for a longer time another day.  Often the journal stayed open as she would glance at it over the course of the day until she figured out what she wanted to do.  

Anyway, that's the beginning of my round up.  I will continue to post my pages now that my scanner is working again and as I have time.

Thanks to all who participated.  It's been a joy to see what other people are creating.