Daybooking, Monday 11/22

Outside my window... it is pitch dark, even though it is only 5:30 p.m.  Winter hours have definitely set in.  There are twinkling lights from the City, as I wait for my 6:30 p.m. class to begin.
I am thinking... sometimes there seems to be so many little parts of life to manage that I feel overwhelmed.  I think (fear) that I lost my iphone and that I have a flat tire on my car. The kids need to get to the dentist, and we just got a letter saying that our health insurance will no longer have a contract with their pediatricians (who I adore) after the first of the year.  Sigh.
I am thankful for...being featured in the member's spotlight over at Get It Scrapped.  Check me out at this link and you can learn even more about me.  I am also thankful for the fantastic blog prize I received today, a booklet with every recipe from the Let's Eat Blog Hop!!!  Thanks Beverly!

From the learning rooms...tonight I teach my last law school class for the semester.  On Saturday past, I taught a Christmas mini journal class.  Even though there were only two students, it was a lot of fun to teach. It has made me rethink the optimal number for classes.
From the kitchen...there's a turkey in the refridgerator, thawing out for Thursday. It's a small one because it looks like it will be "just us" for Thanksgiving, although we'll join the neighbors for a glass of wine before dinner and perhaps they'll come over later for pie.
I am wearing...my favorite work outfit . . . pinstriped pants, bright white shirt, rust colored sweater and Italian loafers.  Also the Claudaugh ring made of rose gold that I inherited from my Aunt Vera and Uncle Nano.
I am creating...plaster nichos for my December class.
I am going...to meet blog friend Karen this weekend, and I'm very excited about!
I am reading...Cloudstreet by Tim Winton, an Australian author who blog friend Amy also likes.  I am about to start Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver.
I am hoping...to do some actual scrapbooking this weekend!
I am hearing...cars driving by and last night I heard hail.
Around the house...Clara is getting ready for basketball practice.  She made the "A" team, and we are all horribly proud of her!
One of my favorite things...Discovering interesting things for my blog, like the Daybooking Site.  You can find it at this link.  Feel free to join the party. I found out about it from this post at Tammy Lee Bradley's blog.
A few plans for the rest of the week:  beginning to think about Christmas; Clara and Paul have been painting her room - I'll step in with some finishing touches this weekend; Henry plays in the Alumni Soccer Game on Saturday. Did I mention he made the Varsity High School team (quite an accomplishment for a sophomore).
Here is picture for thought I am sharing... the current view from my office.

and a self-portrait of my artist hand at work:

Hope you'll join in the daybooking!

Class Review: AJ103Composition and Color Techniques

Now Winter nights enlarge

the number of their hours

and clouds their storm discharge

upon the airy towers.

I just finished my fourth art journaling class with Dina Wakley, Art Journal 103: Composition and Color Techniques.  The class consisted of eight lessons, posted twice a week over a four week period of time.  The first four focused on composition theory and the second four on color theory.  Composition topics included symmetry & assymetry, white space, continuance, dominance, unity,  combining and overlapping.  Color topics included color combinations, contrast, color as a compositional tool and the power of black & white.  Each lesson included a thorough discussion of its topic, including explanations and examples.  At 20-25 pages per lesson (or almost 200 total pages), they were comprehensive enough to constitute a beginning course in visual design! To help put these lessons into action, each post contained a description of how to use the topics on art journal pages and a series of page challenge ideas.  One of the best and most unexpected parts of each lesson was a discussion of how to break the design rules and still create a pleasing page.  Last, but certainly not least, each lesson included an art technique to incorporate.  These were all really fun and interesting, and, for the most part, new to me!  These included watercolor with spray ink, painted & scraped backgrounds, butcher paper collage, underpainting, gel medium resist, and black spray paint. There was also a brief introduction to collaging, glazing and a download to make custom color charts.  Every single lesson came with a video where Dina explains the various techniques, and you get to see her create page after wonderful page.  The opportunity to see her at work as she explains her creative process is absolutely invaluable! The class included a discussion forum and gallery.  Dina monitored both closely, answering all questions posted to the forum and commenting on virtually every image posted in the gallery.  The activity level at the forum and in the gallery was enough to be interesting, without being overwhelming.  The class cost $65, and I think the content was well worth it.


Overall, I really enjoyed this class.  I found the page challenges and art techniques really useful as a way to jump start my creativity and make some art journal pages.  I especially loved the the spray ink watercolor, scraped backgrounds and butcher paper collage techniques.  The black spray paint technique really expanded my way of looking at things, even if I'm not sure how often I'll use it, and the color charts will be really handy.  I know I can use the color and composition theory when starting a collage and need to decide which color to grab or where to place an element, or when I'm stuck mid-process and need to figure out my next step. The only potential downside to the class was that it didn't contain any journaling prompts, so some students seemed at a loss for subjects for their pages.  This didn't bother me (especially because I was taking Shimelle's journaling class at the same time), but there did seem to be some frustration expressed about this. In all of Dina's other art journaling classes, there were lots of prompts and ideas for journaling topics, but that simply wasn't the focus of this class.
Look at the page at the top of today's post.  It uses the gel medium resist technique, black spray paint, concepts of flow, white space, color contrasts and the power of black and white. It's a page that brings together many of the concepts and techniques from the class and one which I happen to love!  Bottom line - I give the class a Solid A for helping me create this page and so many others.

Spray Pages

Lucky in Love (art journal page)

Long Term Plan (art journal page)

Here are two more art journal pages using black spray paint.  They are more detailed and layered and better follow Dina Wakley's spray paint technique than the quick page I posted yesterday (which kindof looks like a book cover to me).  The spray paint technique was part of her lesson on "the power of black and white," and you can see how I consciously used those colors in my designs here.
I posted these two together because I think they are interesting to view in tandem. Although they both have the same focal point, similar layouts, and both emphasize black & white, they have such different color palettes that they don't really feel like a "set" to me. What do you think?
The journaling on the top one is backward looking for me "She never knew if she would be lucky in love until she found the the confidence to be herself and wait."  The journaling on the bottom pages looks to my future: "Her long term plans definitely included moving to the City with him, late nights and the theater, drinking martinis in slinky dresses and otherwise enjoying their empty nest years." And, yes, that's definitely my long term plan!
Coming soon: Class Reviews of Dina Wakley's Art Journal 103: Color and Composition and Shimelle's True Stories.