Yesterday, I flipped to a page in my art journal that had been a a spot for extra paint. I wanted to convey a message I'd received while trying to go to sleep on Saturday night.
I got the distinct message that I had been ignoring my body for too long. I don't exercise, really (don't tell my doctor). I eat as well as I can, but honestly I probably eat too much in general. Portion control is not a word in my vocabulary. lol.
But, the way I got this message was "Don't ignore your meat suit."
Okaaaay. I repeated it to myself as I drifted off, so I could remember it. And it came back to me while I was journaling on Sunday morning. and I laughed out loud.
Lately, I've been embracing my every impulse. And some of my impulses have been straight-up weird. girls with huge cheeks? yes. one-eyed cats? cool. trees growing out of a shoulder? sure. a gothy girl with wings holding a crow and committing murder with a voodoo doll? um. maybe that's a step too far. But I did it anyway. lol.
Something inside of me obviously needs to express these things. And I'm along for the ride. Don't get me wrong. I love it. And it makes me laugh, so why shouldn't I keep going? My inner painty child is super excited by all this.
So back to the art journal page. I don't have step-by-step pictures unfortunately, but I can tell you that I started with a half-full page of paint of all different colors. The most dominant was a deep orange, then a violet, and some gold paint. So I rounded out the color palette with a light orange, some yellow, and magenta. *hearts for eyes* so pretty.
My first impulse was to grab one of my Julie Nutting cling stamps (Valentina) and stamp her right in the middle. I'd figure out the lettering later.
I stamped her in a light grey, and then traced and modified as I traced. She has boots, but I wanted regular shoes. I wanted the dress a bit fuller and the buttons became hearts. And I changed the hair a bit too. And of course added the cheeks. lol
Then I went in with white gesso and painted her, leaving space for the lines. I knew I wanted a clean space to choose a different color, which is why I went in with gesso. It's tedious, but I throw on Netflix and get meditative with it. And I like the after affect, too.
I chose pthalo turquoise for her dress and the shadow under her feet, and teal for her shoes and buttons. Green hair, 'cause why not! Added a few more details for shadowing and highlights and it was done. love her so hard!