Documented Life 2015 - Week #2 project completed.

Hello Friends,

I have been following along with the prompts for the The Documented Life 2015. This week the challenge was to use gesso on your page. The prompt was a quote from Mary Shelley about each day being the beginning. I had also been watching a video by Nathalie Kalbach at Creative Jumpstart about using photos on your pages. Recently I was looking at some photos of a hot air balloon festival I went to years ago, so I wanted to use a baloon on my page. I printed out a photo and trimmed it up and then printed a quote that had the same feel as the prompt. Here is the resulting page in my DLP journal :)


Since the challenge was to use gesso I started out the page by applying gesso and letting it dry for a base on the page. Gesso seals the page and gives a nice surface to work on.


Then I wanted to make a sunrise and sky for my balloon and quote to live in, so I used Gelatos by Faber Castell and blended them using cosmetic sponge wedges.


Once that was done, I decided maybe the sky was too overpowering so I blended it more with a baby wipe. That didn't work for me at all.... so I tried to go back over with more gelato but it wouldn't really stick to the baby wiped surface.  


The challenge was gesso on the page so I just decided to make the whole page more 'grungey' instead of my origional idea, so I used a brayer and white gesso over the whole thing. Then I added some painted gesso lines as well. 


I attached my balloon with matte liquid medium. BUT I was JUST HATING THIS PAGE! So, I decided to just go get something to eat and let it rest. Sometimes that is all you can do when you hate a project... the more you add the worse it gets!


When I finally returned to the studio, I used some of the deli paper that had dried gesso on it from my brayering to make collaged clouds. Then I added and blended in my quote. After that I went to town doodling with my white Sakura gel pen...and called it done. I still don't LOVE it...but life is all a learning process anyway :)


<3 Shel


Comments

  1. DapoppinsJanuary 12, 2015 at 6:24 PM

    Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - because I really do love it! I know you work with a lot of paper and do collage, but I think the colors are just brilliant and I love how you "went to town" on the balloon. Also, your printer must make fantastic prints!

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    1. PaperOcotilloStudioJanuary 14, 2015 at 4:29 AM

      Thank you Dana :) That white gel pen is my favorite thing at the moment,,lol..been doodling on everything.

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  2. HeatherJanuary 12, 2015 at 8:26 PM

    the picture where you added the white painted lines...that is when I fell in love! I really like how it looks!! I am even more in love after the tangles...it is just so fun and everything I love about hot air balloons.

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  3. UnknownJanuary 12, 2015 at 10:54 PM

    Love your spread, the background is great and your ballon is gorgeous!

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  4. Win Dinn, ArtistJanuary 13, 2015 at 6:02 AM

    That's a wonderful spread, Shel! I can feel that lift immediately!

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    1. PaperOcotilloStudioJanuary 14, 2015 at 4:30 AM

      Thank you Win. I think a ride in a balloon right now would be great except maybe a bit cold.

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  5. Zsuzsa Karoly-SmithJanuary 13, 2015 at 1:58 PM

    This is so lovely and a perfect project for Gelatos! Love the coulours in the sunrise and the doodles on the hot air balloon.

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  6. VickiRossArtJanuary 13, 2015 at 6:33 PM

    Great job, +shel c. I'm with you all the way...this is supposed to be experimentation for us! Remind me I said that. After all, the tutor had time to make theirs look just right. They don't show us the ugly phases :)

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    1. PaperOcotilloStudioJanuary 14, 2015 at 4:31 AM

      Thanks Vicki :) That is true...if I was teaching I would never show all my flub ups lol

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