The junk journal project – diving intuition mixed media portrait

*****The junk journal is a dear project of mine I’ve wrote about here.

Some people are afraid to draw faces. I can see that and perfectly understand it because as weird at this may seem, I am myself ‘afraid’ that if I try abstract/intuitive paintings will not come as beautiful as I want them to be. But that doesn’t meant I won’t try, because I have already planned this for May this year. For example, Daisy Yellow never paints portraits. Her art journal pages are a mix of color splashed together with no particular intend: using bright and vivid colors she creates a fairy tale atmosphere. Maybe I can relate to that kind of art journaling when it comes to painting the background, but I cannot leave the page like that: it has to have a face on it!

Unele persoane se tem sa deseneze fete. Inteleg asta si vad de ce le este frica pentru ca, oricat de ciudat ar parea, si mie imi este putin ‘teama’ sa incerc sa pictez abstract/intuitiv de teama ca n-or sa iasa chiar asa cum as vrea eu. Dar asta nu inseamna ca n-o sa incerc, pentru ca deja am planificat sa incerc pictura abstracta pentru luna mai a acestui an. De exemplu, Daisy Yellow nu picteaza niciodata portrete. Paginile din jurnalele ei sunt un mix de culoare aruncata laolalta fara o intentie precisa: folosind culori vii si luminoase, ea reuseste sa creeze o atmosfera de poveste. S-ar putea sa-mi placa o astfel de abordare atunci cand vine vorba de fundalul paginii, dar nu pot sa las pagina asa: trebuie sa fie si o fata acolo!

And painting in my junk journal has been a great help: I can let go any frustration feelings of mixing the wrong colors or ruining the paper, because the ‘paper’ I’m drawing and painting on it’s simply what it is: junk left overs I would otherwise throw away.

Iar pictatul in junk jurnalul meu a fost de mare ajutor: asa pot sa inlatur orice frustrare legata de combinarea gresita a culorilor sau ca o sa stric hartia, pentru ca ‘hartia’ pe care desenez si pictez este pur si simplu ceea ce este: ramasite de ambalaj pe care le-as fi aruncat oricum.

This face was painted on a piece of card board that was once the packaging of a stamp set. And the other page is simply a leaflet from the local book store. And because I’ve used dark violet and pink to cover the background, I had to draw her face with a white pencil.

Aceasta fata a fost pictata pe un carton care a fost ambalajul unui set de stampile. Iar pagina alaturata este pur si simplu un pliant de la magazinul de carte. Si pentru ca am folosit violet inchis si roz pentru fundal, a trebuit sa desenez fata cu un creion alb.

Look at this stage of the painting! The colors look so messy, but still so beautiful!

Uitati-va la aceasta faza a picturii! Culorile arata atat de amestecat, dar totusi frumos!

Here is a close up of the face. I love how the paint stays on her face creating all those shadows and areas of interest! I’m starting to like this painting style more and more and the next page in my junk journal will also show the same style. Stay tuned!

Iata si un detaliu cu fata. Imi place cum s-au asezat acrilicele pe fata ei, creand acele umbre si zone de interes! Incepe sa-mi placa din ce in ce mai mult acest stil si urmatoarea pagina din junk journal va fi in acelasi stil. Stati pe-aproape!

Voi ce-ati mai pictat zilele astea?

Pe curand,
Cristina