Who Will She Be?

I wanted to make an art journal spread featuring a fairy (or fairies). You’ve probably seen photos of a country road with spreading trees arching overhead from both sides. It would have the look of a lush, verdant tunnel stretching into the distance.

I was pretty sure I had a magazine clipping or two depicting just that sort of scene, and knew it would be a perfect beginning for a spread with fairies. But as I was headed to the studio to search through my clippings, I got distracted and ended up going through three old Victoria magazines to mine them for their potential collage images.

A Change of Inspiration

By the time I finished that, I had a tempting new stash of clippings which were calling my name. Still wanting to do something with fairies, I drew the head and shoulders of one and decided to use it and whatever wonders my new clippings held.

the collage pieces for my next art journal spread

After much fussing about with all the potential bits, this is the approximate composition I “decided” on, and even took a photo so that I would have a reference once I began gluing.

I started with the floral wreath in the upper left corner and that’s when I made my first mistake. Unfortunately, I didn’t see it at the time and continued merrily on.

Do you see the big difference here, with the clippings all glued down?

the first collage layer on my art journal spread

That first piece, the one with the beautiful wreath of white and pale yellow roses, got glued down wrong. I’d turned it 90⁰ clockwise. In the process, I’d lost the good spot for the blue “wreath” which was the edge of a blue and white plate.

An Error Slows Me Down

I realized my mistake about five minutes after I’d begun, but it was four minutes too late. The glue had already stuck really well and all efforts to pull the clipping up again resulted in failure. There was nothing I could do but accept the situation and move on, but it was very sad and frustrating. (This is an example of not liking following where the piece leads!)

the first collage layer integrated with paint

Before doing anything else, I added color to the portrait. I’d initially thought I’d try watercolor, but at this point I felt a tad too beaten down by my early mistake that I couldn’t muster the courage for watercolor. Instead, I used transparent acrylic washes.

I’d thought her hair would be a darker brown, but I liked it at this stage, so let it be and turned to the background.

Most of my efforts were aimed at blending the various clippings in the background together with paint. At the same time, I pushed some elements back—like the dark green to the left of and above the foxglove spike. And as some elements moved back, others naturally moved forward.

I added a few paint details, like adding extra flowers to the foxglove spike.

Now Who Will She Be?

At this point, the background was pretty well integrated and I felt it was time to stop and let things percolate for a while.

I didn’t know whether or not I wanted to make her hair darker. Also, she’d been intended as a fairy, but now who will she be? Where would I put her wings? Originally, I thought they’d be delicate, intricate linework over a background dark enough to set them off. Had I lost that opportunity? If she just had antennae would she “read” as a fairy?

And, there were several different directions I could go with the background, including interpreting the horizonal grayish element between the girl and the foxglove spike as a balustrade in a garden scene.

In short, it was a good time to let those various questions swirl around. And perhaps others would suggest themselves. This is what I mean by letting the piece guide me, and that’s one of the things I love best about this type of work. Also, I want time to recognize what parts I really love and want to preserve as well as any parts that bother me and that I’ll either need to change or get rid of. It will be a fun adventure to see where this piece ends up.

NOTE TO SELF: I kind of see this as an ethereal, floating garden, bounded by the balustrade with the open sky behind.

---

I have a YouTube channel and there are several videos there about art journaling, as well as art project videos. You can access my channel by clicking the button below. Why not check it out? And if you like what you see, please subscribe. Subscribing is free and helps my videos get found.

Check ouf my YouTube Channel

---

I publish a weekly email newsletter, An Artful Path, which contains brief articles on art, animals, writing, the garden, and musings on life. You can subscribe on the home page of my website (just click the button below and scroll to the bottom of the page). Don't forget to claim your thank you gift for subscribing. And while you're on my website, www.KaarenPoole.com, take a look around!

Visit my Website to Subscribe to my Newsletter, An Artful Path

Your email address is safe with me. I don't share that information with anyone! And you can unsubscribe at any time.