Word of the Year Mini Tutorial

 In my last post I referenced the popular movement of picking a 'word' to guide you throughout the New Year, and as promised, here is a little exercise for you to visually put that word in action,  for you to see on a daily basis if you choose.   Are you like me?  Come May, I would KNOW that I picked out a word back in January, but for the life of me, I may or may not remember what that exact word was.  Who knows, I may surprise myself and remember it but more then likely by then I will be caught up in the hustle and bustle of the new year and not actually do much to implement it without a daily reminder.  If I could see it...see it day in and day out...there may be hope for me in remembering to focus on the meaning behind the word in order to guide me to a better form of myself.   

Okay so what do you need to get started for this little exercise?

Paper...in this case I used a Strathmore Mixed Media Journal, size 9x12.

This is really by far my favorite (store bought) journal. The paper stands up to a lot of 'wear and tear', whether you are collaging, drawing, painting, using markers...it holds and wears it all well without bleeding (for the most part, you may see certain markers come through the backside but they won't be on the next 5 pages). 

Brushes (small round or flat for details, medium round or flat for washes).

PAINT!! Okay I love paint.  Love paint.  Repeat..lovelovelove paint.    For this project, I'm using a variety of Twinkling H20s by Luminarte .

You are probably saying right now...but what colors, Jodi...what colors are you using and once again, my bad,  I probably had them alllllll out while I was painting and just plain old forgot to write the colors down.  But you know what? You can't go wrong with any color choices.  You can buy them individually or in little collections of 6-12 pots of color.  

Pencils: an hb will allow you to draw nice sharp lines and a 2b will be slightly softer allowing you to shade a bit.

Blending Stump:  get one. get 5.  If you took my class "Painterly in Pink" (session 2 is still available for purchase) you would see what wonders that little roll of paper can do for you.

Pens:  waterproof india ink pens in black,  at least 2 sizes (small for detail and larger for more bolder lines)

Water bucket...just because.I'm not sure why I even say this but you never know...someone may not realize you need one to paint with..or 3 in my case...lol

Spray Bottle:  you need this to activate the color in the twinks and to keep them moist.

 **Also of course you will need to pick out your guiding word for the year as this will be the basis of our project****

 Okay..first things first. I do not have the best handwriting...but I don't let it stop me. There are far more people out there than I count or care to count that can do it better.   So if you don't have great handwriting, don't despair....just do this!  And if you are like me and want to get better...continue to do it (practice your handwriting, or funky handwriting for journaling and beyond).  

In this instance, I simply did the following:

1.  With your HB pencil, lightly sketch your word in bubble letters or something similar to bubble letters so you will have an area to paint.  Connect the letters at several points..'sammich' them in together.  

2.  Retrace and darken the lines, especially where the letters connect with a 2b pencil. 

3. Blend the connecting lines together with the blending stump, also darken the areas by shading underneath the words and in the "holes' where the words are forming internally(in this example see the inside of the 'p' 'e'  etc.

4.  Repeat this process with your more delicate line to initially draw the word; and then use your thicker pen to shade or add depth to the connecting lines and bases of all the letters.

5.  With your pencil, go back to all the outside areas ( did mostly under neath, and in a circular motion, add swirlies, dangles, as well as maybe flourishes that come off the edge of the letters. 

6. In the corners, add a bit of dots to suggest shading, repeat around any 'cut out' areas of the letter to suggest depth and shadows.

 

7.  Next, choose a couple of colors of paint and lightly paint your letters in. You can limit your colors and make a pattern or you can do all different colors and be just wild and crazy.

8.  Next, take those colors and paint ever so slightly underneath the base of each of the letters, and then take your brush and splatter those same colors in various areas of your page.

9.  To create even more depth with the letters, add a second layer of paint to select areas where you would want to suggest depth (around the cut out areas of the letters, near the bases, or where the letters connect.  

Did you get all that?  Okay lets see it all in action one more time with the word I chose for my "Word of the Year"   Evolve.

Draw and start to paint (hopefully you can see the shading from the blending stump...it's the gray areas which add lots of depth to the picture.

oops...if I haven't told you how to activate Twinks..take your spray bottle of water and spray each pot of color generously.    Let sit for 5-10 minutes and walaaaaah .  *You can dilute the color by putting a bit of the paint on to palette paper or a palette of your choice and adding water until its the value you prefer.

Keep painting...keep painting...see the colors underneath to give the words a little extra punch?  

Add your splatters and add your additional shading by painting a second layer of color  (see the E...) or mix your colors to add an even more interesting effect (see the V....yellow and orange are mixed)

Remove your sheet from your journal (or keep it in there), mount on a frame and keep in an area of your home or studio that will remind you daily of your New Year's guiding word for the year.  

Ta-dah.  Easy peezy.

*****

To join one of my online classes over at Luminarte  simply click 

HERE for Twinks on Yupo

 Painterly in Pink Session 2

My next scheduled in person class will be at the amazing Random Arts in Saluda, NC which is very close to Asheville...oh my, this is a BEAUTIFUL area and the most charming setting for a weekend full of fun.

Stop by the Random Arts Calender of Events to purchase my classes coming up in March.

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