New ABC of my Favorite Things Journal - WOYWW #291

Hello Desk Hoppers :)

For those of you who don't desk hop you should! It is fun and addicting. Check out Stamping Ground who hosts it every Wednesday here :)

What is on my desk today? Well, I decided another way to help myself further my goal of  'art everyday'...would be to give myself the gift of another art journal to work in. (50% off coupon at Michael's) Some days..I just can't figure out what to make on a page. I know..to get better at drawing I need to draw and to get better at painting I need to paint. But WHAT to draw and paint. So, I am starting a ABC of my favorite things journal. The idea....each page will be inspired be a letter, starting with A and ending with Z..and then repeating. I really love nature and so I am using one flower and one animal that starts with the corresponding letter. Then, because I NEED to be more positive...I am throwing in a positive word as well. So, here is my first page. 'A' of course :)

To start out the page...I needed inspiration. I searched the Internet for positive words and a list of flowers and animals in alphabetical order. Then I printed out a 'inspiration page' of what I picked. Here is also a photo of the journal I got at myself at Michael's with my coupon :)

I wanted to try out making a background with my new Faber Castell Gelatos I received as a gift for Christmas. (Thanks Mom!) Because my inspiration page was full of yellows, oranges and rusts, I chose those colors and scribbled them on my page. I blended the colors up with a wet brush. Then I used the butterscotch and chocolate sticks directly on stamps that had been misted with water and stamped those on the page.

Next, I added some words I had printed off the computer about my chosen page topics. I stuck those down with matte liquid medium. I blended them in with the same colors of Gelatos.Then, I drew the squirrel on a separate page. I knew there would be A LOT of erasing. I cut him out and stuck him on the page as well and drew him a log to stand on. I also drew in pencil some daisies directly on the page (not in the photo)

I colored in all my images using tube acrylics using either a brush or just my wet fingers. Once it was dry I added some shading with a black watercolor pencil blended with a brush around the flowers. I also went in with my white gel pen and added some highlights as well. 

I hope you enjoyed my project my first ever ABC journal page project :)

<3 Shel