Daily Paper Prompt #44: Leaf Prints

Paint a leaf with heavy body acrylics, fluid acrylics, craft acrylics or block printing ink. Place a piece of heavy cardstock on top of the leaf and press gently without moving the paper. You can also "roll" over the paper with a dry brayer to get the imprint. This is {seriously} messy, so prep your table with newspaper before you get started. You can try this with your kiddos too. Try imprinting on painted paper or scrapbook paper. More about this technique at Acrylic Leaf Prints. The spark for this idea was originally at Project Based Homeschooling (aka Camp Creek) here.

Find ALL of the prompts at this link: Daily Paper Prompts

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Daily Paper Prompt #43: Circles

The prompt for today is super simple, with so much potential. Use circle punches to create stuff for your collages, scrapbooks, artist trading cards & art journal pages. Cut circles from anything - maps, paint chips, receipts, abstract doodles, to do lists, even art journal pages {talk about re-use, re-cycle, re-purpose!}. 

If you don't have a circle punch, there's a delicious quirkiness in hand-cut circles, so don't let that hold you back!

With two different sized punches, punch one circle out then use the larger punch to punch a circle "outside" the empty space remaining of the circle you just punched. Then alternate on the page.

 

Cut a circle and cut a larger circle. Stamp something in the smaller one and glue on top of the larger.

Glue the circles in random groupings of polka dots and place a photo on top.

Cut circles from two different papers, one much darker than the other. Alternate the circles, overlaping, to create a border around a photo or a journal block.

I have no idea where I got this cake punch, but the idea is that you can punch other shapes or cut carefully with an exacto and layer that onto paint or patterned paper for a neat effect. Also do the large circle/small circle scenario an paint a number or letter inside {or stamp with alpha stamps, or use alpha stickers}. Use these to denote entries on a list or the order of things on a page.

The pages above are from the scrapbooks I did for my daughters (I did one for each kid, birth to about 6, took a year). I don't scrapbook any more, but it's fun to look back at the pages. So different from art journaling.

You can even cut up art journal pages or abstract paintings or experiments and use those little shapes too.

Find ALL of the prompts at this link: Daily Paper Prompts

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Daily Paper Prompt #42: Haiku

thousands of nightmares
evil men darken the sky
no peace this morning

  

Today's prompt is to write a simple haiku. 5-7-5 pattern.

5 syllables

7 syllables

5 syllables

my younger daughter's index card for july 4th seems appropriate again

Please feel welcome to create a haiku and post it in the comments. My haiku= simple words that came to my mind when I thought about the moments watching the unthinkable on tv the morning of 9/11/01, the planes flying into the towers, the confusion, the smoke, the sadness.

Daily Paper Prompt #41: Draw a Silhouette

Capture a shadow on the wall. Tape up some paper and stand when the sun streams through at an angle, usually early morning or late afternoon. One person stands sideways. The other takes the photo or outlines the shadow in pencil on the wall, very rough sketch. If you don't have a helper, try putting a doll, vase, sculpture, manekin or piece of fruit in the path of the sun to create an interesting shadow to draw. No sun? Try a flashlight or lamp. Remember, the prompt doesn't need to be done today. Just stay on the lookout for a good shadow and draw the outline when you get the chance.

Silhouette. A beautiful word, isn't it?

Find ALL of the prompts at this link: Daily Paper Prompts

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Daily Paper Prompt #40: Thought Bubbles {with Hanna}

The 40th DPP is brought to us by the creative Hanna, with sprinkles of magical fairy dust for your day.

Thank you Hanna!

Prompt: Draw or collage a small creature somewhere on your journal page. Could be a spider, a bird, or a dragon (or like on my page, a few water living animals). Then draw a speech bubble on a separate piece of paper, write something that they're saying and glue it in. The message could be funny, profound or just a note to yourself, like: "Do more art journaling prompts, it's so much fun!"

I found this one that I so love:

Full page view on iHanna's blog!

{Thank you, Hanna, for this bubbly prompt.}

Find ALL of the prompts at this link: Daily Paper Prompts

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Daily Paper Prompt #39: Practice Painting Lines

"The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask."
Jim Morrison

5x8" watercolor moleskine, watercolors

Prompt #39 is a painting prompt. Set up a piece of watercolor paper or drawing paper, watercolor paints, two jars of water, the thinnest round or pointed round brush you have and a paper towel to blot the water. Place a drop of water in each paint pan or just spray the entire paints with a spritz of water. Dip your brush in water, then blot lightly.

Dab your brush in one color of paint and "draw" a line with paint. I'm right handed, and I painted these lines by turning the journal clockwise so that I am painting left to right but on the paper that's bottom to top. Find what works for you. You might paint right to left, left to right, or at an angle to the paper. Practice until you find the most comfortable way to paint a line.

Try to paint each fluid line without stopping. So I paint a green line, for example, and a few other green lines on the page at various spots. Then perhaps an orange line, and a few others. My idea today is not to have the paint run together, but to have unique lines which simply overlay. So try not to touch one painted line with another unless the first line is fairly dry (maybe 5 min later). We are not painting stripes. Just delicate lines. 

This is line practice, with a brush. 

If you do not have watercolors available, you can do this with a pen. Take a thin marker and practice drawing lines that are parallel. Not ruler straight, but parallel. You can use different colored markers to achieve this sort of effect. 

Find ALL of the prompts at this link: Daily Paper Prompts

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Daily Paper Prompt #38: Music {with Marit}

DPP #38 was designed by Marit Barentsen.

A lovely round of applause please, for our daily inspiration!

artwork by Marit Barensten, shared with permission from the artist

Music can inspire you in so many ways... think alone of the emotions it evokes. When we hear music from our youth, we are catapulted right back in time. Certain songs remind us of loved ones, good times or bad times. Every emotion has a song to go with it and the lyrics often contain words for feelings we cannot describe ourselves, or not that nice anyway.

Different ways to get inspired by music or use songs on an art journal page.

♪ make a page that illustrates the feeling you have with a certain song
♬ make a tribute page about your fave song or musician
𝄡 make a page about your youth/teenage years and the music you listened to
𝄢 get inspired by a song title
𝄫 use the text of song lyrics to illustrate your own emotions

I partied quite a lot when I was a student and during those years, the song ‘It’s raining men’ by the Weathergirls was my favorite. Whenever they played that song, I just could not sit still. I HAD to dance! They don’t play it that much nowadays, but whenever I hear the song on the radio I get that happy, free and easy-going feeling again. And yes, I start singing along and dance around the room. The years slip away and I just cannot sit still... here’s the page I made about that.

{Thank you, Marit, for this music-inspired prompt. I interviewed Marit this summer.}

Find ALL of the prompts at this link: Daily Paper Prompts

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Daily Paper Prompt #37: Block Letters

“I think that is what film and art and music do; they can work as a map of sorts for your feelings.”
― Bruce Springsteen

Today's prompt is to practice drawing block letters. Not just any block style, but starting with a square or rectangle and carving (by drawing) out spots to leave the letter as the negative space. You only draw the lines that give the impression or hint of the letter. You can be as tricky or devious or cryptic as you wish. These fonts are not drawn for readability but for interest and intrigue. Design your own letters, or follow an example you find on the web or a block letter font. 

Fillmore concert poster from 1966-67 from artist Wes Wilson. Hand-drawn psychedelic art from The Art of the Fillmore: The Poster Series 1966-1971 (Lemke). The collection is described on the jacket as an "intoxicating compendium of the funkiest posters of this century." 

places i've been, drawn july 2011

Examples of negative space in logos and fonts at WebUrbanist.

Beautiful example at elbow blog.

Find ALL of the prompts at this link: Daily Paper Prompts

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Daily Paper Prompt #36: Found Words {with Natasha}

Our Daily Paper Prompt for today was designed by Natasha White. Without further ado, some poetic inspiration.

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."
Rudyard Kipling

art journal pages by Natasha White, all artwork shared with permission of the artist

The prompt today is ‘Found Words’. How delicious does that sound? I have been doing the Daily Paper Prompts each day, and then adding found words to my pages to make a poem. At the moment I really love the exploration of words and how they fit together, and the new meanings you can give those words. The concept of rewriting a story or an idea with borrowed images or phrases.

detail of found words on an art journal page

I have three books and all they have in common is that they were paperbacks from the library discard sale. Because I knew I was going to cut them up I chose books that I didn’t think people would read and that also had words that yelled out to me when I flicked through. But you can use any words you find.

So look around you today. If you don’t want to cut up a book and give it new life (:)), try a magazine, or advertising material, or a newspaper. Or maybe you overhear a conversation and you record a snippet of what you heard. Put on your detective hat and find some words today and then put them on your page. The background you have already may inspire the words you find, or the other way around. Or maybe they will be entirely unrelated. You may make a poem, or write a sentence, or begin to tell a story. I often find that my mood dictates the phrases that stand out to me, and I don’t question that initial gut feeling. I cut it out those words and begin lining them up, watching a poem take shape, rearranging phrases. Some days I can find words instantly, other times it takes me a little while. You can cut out single words, phrases, whole sentences, it is up to you, just begin looking for words, and then take them as yours.

{Thank you Natasha for this poetic prompt. I interviewed Natasha this summer.}

Find ALL of the prompts at this link: Daily Paper Prompts

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Daily Paper Prompt #35: Ten Tiny Things {with Rhomany}

Our guest postress is the wildly creative Rhomany!

Thank you for sharing this wonderful "little" prompt today!

 

How often do you look at things? I mean, really look at things, take in all the details, the nuances, the subtleties? Have you ever noticed that you 'see' more when something is really small, than when it's big? It's easy to miss something when you're faced with drawing a building. You sketch, approximate, try to do the best you can in the time you have, skip over the things you don't feel you can capture adequately.

Rhomany's drawings of ten tiny things. [artwork shared with permission of the artist]

When something is small, you have to look at it and notice all those tiny details. You can't capture a needle and miss out the eye, you have to draw it somehow. So let's do that. Find 10 objects, no bigger than around 1-2 inches in size. Small things that have interesting features. Then draw them roughly to scale, in as much detail as you can. You'll find a really fine pen or pencil is just the thing for this sort of work.

If you enjoy the little details and studying tiny things, Andrea Josephs does amazing work in ball point pen and does a lot of these 'little things' exercises.

Find ALL of the prompts at this link: Daily Paper Prompts

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Daily Paper Prompt #34: Puzzled

Paper.

The newspaper.

The crossword puzzle.

A sudoku.

Today's prompt {can be finished any time before the end of September} is to do a crossword puzzle or sudoku or find-a-word or maze and then use it on/in a piece of art. Stitched onto a journal page, glued and then lightly gessoed as an art journal background, the background for an ATC... your call. 

Above, today's Sudoku stitched into a postcard.

Find ALL of the prompts at this link: Daily Paper Prompts

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Daily Paper Prompt #33: Layers {with Lauren}

Our Daily Paper Prompt for today was designed by Lauren Bergold. So I will turn the microphone over to Lauren and you'll note the APPLAUSE sign flashing in the corner.

"Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we’ve already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there."
Bruce Mau, an incomplete manifesto for growth

Hi, I'm Lauren Bergold, I've been playing in the Daisy Yellow Universe all summer, and I'd like to thank Tammy for thinking up her brilliant ICAD/DPP idea in the first place, for continuing to provide us with interesting prompts and encouragement throughout September, and for inviting me to come along as a guest hostess.

The layers in my collage include: my own enhanced photographs; book paper with a stenciled and misted bird; hindi newspaper and vintage sheet music stained with paints and inks; an old sewing pattern; some vintage trading stamps; swirly rub-ons augmented with machine stitching; and clear texty deco-tape.

My first love artistically is collage, and my primary art journaling goal is to be more interested in process than outcome, so for today's prompt I'd love for you to join me in making a collage which incorporates *LOTS* of layers! Your layers can consist of different papers, images, ephemera, techniques (sewing, drawing, writing, folding, beading), media (ink, paint, mist, gesso, charcoal, pastels), colors, ideas, artistic styles... in short, a "layer" can be anything you want! Don't worry about achieving a lovely end result, concentrate on the creative process, on trying at least one thing that's brand new to you, and-- especially-- on having ♥FUN♥! There are no boundaries or limitations, you don't have to make sense, or even wind up with a "finished" piece, so go as wild as you want!

Be sure to add a link here to your creations, and post to the flickr group; I can't wait to see what you will make!

Find ALL of the prompts at this link:Daily Paper Prompts

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Daily Paper Prompt #32: Re-Purposed Papers

 Let's sit at our sewing machines and sew paper.

Cut out strips of paper of about the same length. No measuring needed - guesstimate about 1/2" x 5" inches. Just cut freehand. Imperfection, right? Cut about 10-12 strips of scrap patterned cardstock (aka scrapbook paper), stuff you've painted, paint swatches etc. This is a great way to use up papers you've {shall we say...} accumulated over the years. Hide papers you don't adore amid papers you adore, to use them up.

Align one strip under the sewing needle and put the needle in the down position. Slide the second strip under the first, about 1/3 overlap. Stitch through both. 

this is the front, showing the papers loosely attached

this is the back, just one paper under the one before it

front, finished

back, finished

Then we cut the papers to be somewhat similar and sew back and forth with the machine. You can sew curves if you are an advanced paper sewer deluxe. Just move the paper back and forth slowly while the machine sews and you will get waves. Don't jerk the paper, just smooth movements.

Another option is to sew the papers to a strip of paper, a little easier for beginners. You might feel like you have more traction, less paper moving about. Follow the same process. Put a strip on the white paper, put the needle down, slide the next strip 1/3 under, stitch. If you go too far and forget to add the next paper, just stitch backwards, then add it on top instead of under. Feel free to add fabric, ribbons, anything, even a tea bag!

the back of the one where i sewed to a strip of white paper instead of leaving the strips of paper loose

Here are some similar projects with fabric:  Square Scrap Fabric + Ribbon Buster and Leafy Scrap Fabric Buster

Learn How to Sew Stripe Paper where Hanna sews in the direction of the stripes, rather than across.

Find ALL of the prompts at this link: Daily Paper Prompts

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Daily Paper Prompt #31: Finishing

Today, a little break. Go back and finish up any of the prompts that you didn't do. Or re-do a prompt that you particularly liked. Or use one of the techniques in another piece of art.

Find ALL of the prompts at this link: Daily Paper Prompts

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Daily Paper Prompt #30: Creative Reading

DPP #30 is to read a bit of a book on something creative. Perhaps one chapter. Mixed media art, journaling, sewing, quilting, collage, writing, etc. If you don't have any books on creative stuff, time to hop over to the library. There's a list of goodies at Art Journaling 101.

The goal is to finish DPP #1-31 by the end of August or at least by the first week of September. 

A fresh batch prompts start September 1 with DPP#32.

Find ALL of the prompts at this link: Daily Paper Prompts

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Daily Paper Prompt #29: Swirly Writing

Today's prompt is to draw a swirl or waves in pencil and then write your thoughts along that line. The line should intersect itself at least once and there can be doodles as well. You can do this on a painted background or plain paper or even as part of an art journal page. Or on a postcard or index card. Paper. Just paper.

Good News!!! The DPPs will continue in September! I have some guest daily-paper-prompter-people lined up too, lovelies that will share their ideas with you in the spirit of simple prompts for paper lovers.

Find ALL of the prompts at this link: Daily Paper Prompts

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Daily Paper Prompt #28: Garden Sketching

{click to see the original post about the nature drawings in this 5x8" moleskine}

The prompt is to go out into the garden and sketch what you see. Individual plants, randomly drawn on your paper. Not the whole scene. The details. No order. Pencil {without erasing}, pen or marker. Think of this as DOCUMENTATION rather than art. You are simply trying to CAPTURE the shapes so that you can remember what they looked like. Does the leaf have a deep vein running through the center? Are the tips of the petals pointy? Is the rock a circle, or more oval, and is there an indentation? Sometimes you have to squint to SEE what you want to see. We aren't drawing the entire scene, just picking out bits and pieces and documenting. Nature journaling.

Find ALL of the prompts at this link: Daily Paper Prompts

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Daily Paper Prompt #27: Slow Journaling

5x8" watercolor moleskine journals, top in pitt pen, bottom in two different J. Herbin inks with rapidograph pen

The prompt is to do some seriously slow journaling. Start by drawing wavy lines on your paper. Make the waves irregular, not the same each time. Some go up down up, some down up down etc. Don't make it too easy to journal. After the wavy lines, write your words by stretching the letters to meet the top and bottom of the waves. Go slowly to ensure your words are legible. Keep the lines of the letters stretched. At the end of each "line" you have the option of stopping at a syllable and putting a hyphen, no hypen, ending on a full word... or my favorite - just keep going. No syllabic breaks, no hyphens! Break the word wherever it breaks.

The reason the journaling is so darned slow is that it takes awhile to form each letter, each word. It is quite meditative, calming. So the prompt is to do one page of slow journaling before the end of August. Consider slow journaling with a purpose. Try to describe your situation or surroundings in infinite detail. Use descriptive words. Or try to solve a dilemma.

More.... 

• More info about Slow Journaling
• Less of Comfortable Shoes Studio created a video about Slow Journaling
• If you like Slow Journaling, you might be interested in One Sentence Journaling {Liz Massey of Creative Liberty interviewed Quinn McDonald about one sentence journaling a few years ago, good stuff}. Quinn blogs at Quinn Creative.
• Check out the {free} Art Journaling 101

Find ALL of the prompts at this link: Daily Paper Prompts

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Daily Paper Prompt #26: ATC

watercolor on watercolor paper, cardstock

watercolor + paint marker

colored pencil

fluid acrylics

collage, acrylic

collage

collage, acrylic, neocolors

collage, neocolors

Artist trading cards! I thought it would be fun to share the ATCs I did back in 2008. An early "canvas" and a fabulous one at that. Even smaller than an index card, just as risk-free, just as full of potential. The dimensions are 2.5x3.5" or the size of a playing card.

an ATC from 2010, stitched with embroidery floss

Artist trading cards are made to be traded, never ever sold. Create collages, cut watercolor paper to size and splash paint, stitch around the edges and put a quote inside, make a collaged person with scrapbook paper, layer papers with words on top. The prompt is to create three artist trading cards before the end of August.

Find ALL of the prompts at this link: Daily Paper Prompts

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Daily Paper Prompt #25: uʍop ǝpısdn ǝʇıɹʍ

uʍop ǝpısdn ǝʇıɹʍ

Practice writing upside down. 

With a pen, marker or calligraphy pen.

Find ALL of the prompts at this link: Daily Paper Prompts

What's the Daily Paper Prompt?