Art Journal Peek: Polka Dots + An Invitation
I love to hand paint repeating patterns in my art journal, especially polka dots. I love the simplicity of dots, and how expressive and fun they can really be if you give them the space to exist on their own – not just as decoration. Polka dots is such a happy pattern, and they make me happy.
Around my studio you’ll find plenty of polka patterned things including my desk. Quite a few of the pages in my art journal have had their fair share of dots this year.
Today I wanted to invite you to paint some polka dots in your Art Journal along with me, because it’s so quick and simple (though it can also be something you do for a couple of hours, and then it’s called painting therapy – perfect to calm your mind if you too are stressing about setting the ultimate goals for 2016).
But if you want to make it simple, just pick one color and get started making marks…
I used the acrylic set I got for Christmas, and added white to most of the colors to create more variation. Turned up some music on Spotify and made these two pages today. Yay painting time!
I had a vision of the whole page filling up with different colors, but then I like the movement of the dots, so I left white space around the edge. This is rather unusual for a maximalist like me, but I like how the dots flow from one end of the page to the next.
Blog Hop and Art Journal Prompt
This post is part of Kiala Givehands blog hop for the Art Journal Class I already talked about, called A Journey Within – A Year of Handmade Art Journals. Kiala has asked all the teachers to give her one prompt for her Art Journal this December, and I’m the last gal out. My prompt is:
If you have the time before the year ends, please join Kiala and me and make a page (or several) with polka dots. Big, small, one color or all the colors on your palette – just dive into it. Make it simple and fun, maybe it will be the last page of the year…
Have fun with all the dots you can dream up and paint!
Feel free to share a link to any polka dot pages you create in the comments below, or tag me on instagram and I’ll come check it out!
If you are planning to join some awesome creative adventures in 2016, may I suggest you sign up for The Journey Within 2016? You’ll get:
- 19 Teachers
- Make 12 Handmade Art Journals
- 6 Tutorials a Month
- Monthly Virtual Meet-ups
- Monthly Themes
- Weekly Prompts
- Daily Inspiration
- Private Community
- A Year of Inner Exploration and Capturing Life Through Creativity
- AND one art journal lesson from me (!), in February – it’s going to be a colorful, fun exercise on self love which will be the theme for February!
By the way, this is what Kiala looks like:
Video explaining the class, if you can’t see it click to view on youtube: A Year of Handmade Art Journals – An Invitation by Kiala Givehand.
Of course I appreciate if you join via my affiliate link, for a Year or you can also just join the first quarter and see what you think!
Join The Journey Within 2016 NOW!
Wishing you all a happy new year, and see you in class!
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A lot of something simple can be stunning . . . and a great way to explore how colours work together. Happy New Year Hanna.
I can see how polka dot-making could become quite soothing and addictive! It is a fun way to explore color combinations, too. I enjoyed finding out more about the art journal workshop, and checking out some of the teacher’s web sites. How exciting that you are contributing! Looks like a very worthwhile program.
Aww, thanks Andria! Maybe the best part of teaching in bigger workshops like this one is getting to “meet” the other teachers online and learn new things from them. That is just so much fun to me.
Thanks for the inspiration! Using a pencil eraser to paint dots is even more fun!
Happy New Year,
with Hugs from Alaska
Sherry
HI iHannah:
As usual I find your ideas fun and inspiring! Thanks so much. I will be sharing this!
Cheers,
Amy