Dealing with Busy Backgrounds January 30 2016, 0 Comments
Hey guys, Carolyn here, Art Journal Emporium Crew Member, and I'm taking over the blog today!
I’m excited to take you inside my art journal and share a little peek at how I deal with busy backgrounds. I LOVE layers but sometimes I don't know when to stop and I end up with something that looks like this:
Yikes! That is a LOT going on. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing to get to this point. Some people love it, in fact, and will call this page done and they go on about their merry way. Well, I'm not those people. I've not evolved to the stage of moving on and letting things go and I know that many of you feel the same way. In my mind, every page needs a focal image and/or words.
So what do I do when I get to the point of no return? Well, I keep it simple (about time, right?). I look for bold shapes or images with little or no pattern. I'm not a trained artist, but for me this drastic contrast to the busy background slows things down and gives my eyes a place to settle.
For this particular background I pulled out some of Tangie's collage sheets from 2015 (yes they're still available January 2015 Collage Sheet Workshop and May 2015 College Sheet Workshop) and simply tore out what I wanted, the hearts. I really liked how they looked but I felt they needed a little more oomph so I added some words and used a black ink pen to scribble around the edges. To finish this off I pulled out my florescent oil pastels and gave the hearts and the border a little extra color. I REALLY love how it morphed into this:
I'm so glad I pushed on with this page because now I feel like I have a beautiful, inspiring page in my journal with a very deep and personal meaning to me.
I hope that you'll give this idea a try and push through those busy backgrounds and finish them up with a bold statement that will keep you inspired.
Thank you all for sharing part of your day with me, I've really enjoyed hanging out here on the blog and look forward to my next visit.
To find out more about the Art Journal Emporium or the Art Journal Caravan, visit http://shoptangiebaxter.com.
[posted by Carolyn Albro (cfalbro)]