Continuing the Journey

Hello Lifers!

I hope you had an AMAZING weekend! Here...we FINALLY had decent weather-YAY!

Along with the projects I teased you with on Friday, I have also been plugging away a little at a time on an art journal page that seemed to be taking longer than I planned (I think that is the story of my creative life. lol)

There is a  quote that I have seen everywhere:"Not all who wander are lost." 

After a little research (and the help of an insta-friend) I found out that the quote is a line from a poem by J. R. R. Tolkien "All That is gold does Not Glitter" from Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings. 

Here is the complete poem:

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king

If you've read the books or seen the movies, you know this poem alludes to a HUGE part of the plot later in the trilogy.

For me...the quote had a different thought. I had been worrying that as I was stretching my creative wings, that maybe I was a little creatively lost. I hadn't found my "style" or my creative home yet. BUT...after reading that quote I had this thought: ART is a journey. How often do I say here that being creative is a lifestyle..not a destination? If I am constantly seeing my life as a creative JOURNEY...then I can never really be lost and wandering. I'm simply continuing my journey...wherever that may lead.

Here's is the project I came up with: 

Here is a little step by step of how I got here:

First I started with a pencil sketch:

Then I went over my pencil sketch with a fine tip Sharpie marker (my favorite...easy to find, inexpensive and works great!)

Next, I decided I wanted to fill in my blank spaces, so I decided to add some tangles. I am not great at coming up with my own ideas, so you will see me Googling "Zentangle Patterns" anytime I am working on a project like this. There are great ideas and a lot of step by step instructions.

Lastly came watercolors! This is the first time I had done a full piece in watercolors, so there was a little bit of a learning curve. 

One of the best tips I can give (as a newbie) is this: If you want the graduated look like on the blue/purple/green/gold scales section, using a thin brush, outline the inner edge of the section with a saturated color.. Then use a larger damp brush to blur the lines and draw the color slightly inward.  This will keep your more saturated colors on the edges and a washed out tone in the middle. 

There you go lifers! 

I hope this piece inspires you to not only try new things, but to let go of any worries you might have about being a wanderer. If life is a journey...we are all wanderers so you are not alone on the road. 

Until next time friends remember...make your art intentional...not an afterthought. 

XOXO,

KERI