Documented Life Project - Weeks 35 and 36

Catching up on weeks 35 and 36 since I was in Albuquerque babysitting Drew and Grant most of this past week.

Week 35 - Aug. 29

August Theme - Faces, The Human Form and Characters

Art Challenge: Self Portrait

Journal Prompt: Mirror, Mirror

Yikes, this month is really challenging! I must admit I never, ever would have done something like this unless challenged! I took my inspiration from Rae Missigman again who altered a photograph with a sketch app and then traced and painted the drawing.

I imported a cropped photo into the app, Pencil Sketch, on my phone and then printed it on my computer.  I then traced this the good old-fashioned way by rubbing the back of the copy with a regular pencil and then tracing over the lines on the front side with a stylus. This transferred the graphite to my journal page so I didn't have to draw "from scratch!"

I used Neocolor II watercolor crayons for coloring the drawing. The more I retouched it, the worse it got, so decided to leave it as is! At least I did the challenge, it looks like a person and somewhat resembles me!

After all that work, I was "done," so just drew random lines in the background and filled in with oversized journaling about the challenge.

I am so ready to move on from August and drawing faces!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


September Theme - Journaling with Photos

Week 36 - Sept. 5
Art Challenge: Photo Transfer
Journaling Prompt: From Here to There

For this week, I used a photo from the Internet which was a Life Magazine cover from 1957. I highlights a model in a Christian Dior dress in from of the Louvre Metro stop in Paris.  Since I spent a year studying in Paris in college (1968-69) I decided to use this photo as my focal point of the spread about how much life has changed from that point to now.

I started with a background of collaged book text, random papers and napkin pieces, then created layers of white, blue and ivory - adding and removing many times until I was happy with the result.

For the photo transfer I used a new transfer paper (TAP - Transfer Artist Paper) where you print your image onto the paper and then iron onto your surface.  For whatever reason, the image did not transfer well - I suspect my paper was old as it was a sample from 2011 and the directions say it lasts about 3 years :(  

So, I moved on to Plan B, using the gel medium transfer method. First I repainted over the area where the partial transfer was, then spread gel medium generously but smoothly in the same area. I used an inkjet print and laid it face down on the journal page, burnishing it well.  Some directions say to dry well, preferably overnight, but I couldn't wait, so used my heat tool to dry it thoroughly.

I sprayed water on the back of the paper and let it sit for a minute to soak in. Then I gently rubbed until all the paper was removed, leaving a reasonably clear transfer. (Transfers are never perfect and that is their beauty. I love the sanded, grungy effect.)

I added more paint around the transfer to integrate it with the background and also used many Paris-themed stamps. I also stamped a Tim Holtz quote, "Life is what happens to us when we are busy making other plans," and cut it apart.

Now to work on this week's challenge and, hopefully, get caught up!