And the journey starts!!! First face for 29 Faces challenge

Hello everyone, even though I woke up sick today I manage to make my first face for the Feabruary 2016 #29 Faces challenge.

 I used Polychromos and white gel pen. I am glad that I made my journal the way I did (check video below). It did work for me to be fearless and just start drawing. I did wanted to put some gesso on the paper but since I wasn't feeling well I just went straight to drawing. At first I was like, "oh this is going no where", "it is not nice" and all that blah blah blah. However, since I wasn't afraid of messing up the page I stuck at it and the final result, to me, is not that bad. However, the experience of the moment is well worth it. It showed me that if I keep moving forward I can accomplish something good. So I will keep pushing forward, and I know that not all of them are going to be successful, but I also know that I will learn something from the experience so at the end I will have success. Remember, it all depends on how you look at the half glass of water, do you see the empty space or the filled one?

Art journal page: Dragon's chivalry

Created on my altered journal, this page spread took a couple of days, just because I only had the girl sketched but did not know what else to do. Suddenly the other day I got the inspiration, and this lovely dragon came to life; my second dragon ever. 

For the dragon scales I used Distress crackle paint; then used soft pastels to color it. The girls was color with prismacolor pencils, spectrum noir alcohol markers, and Faber-Castell Pitt artist pens. For the suggested flower forest, I used Distress ink, acrylic paint and soft pastels.

Dragon's chivalry, as I have called this art journal  page, has given life to the idea of making a challenge for the month of July, based on fantasy creatures. I want to try to create a fantasy creature every day. Right now I'm off by one, but it is okay; I can't wait to see what other magical creatures will come to life.

Playing on my altered book/journal with art supplies

This are the latest art journaling pages I've done on my altered book. Here I have tried different mediums, without fear. I got the book at my local Goodwill for a $1 and started playing with it. The motivation to start an altered book/journal came from Jane Davenport's class, Supplies me. A wonderful class, where she shows how to use lots of art supplies. I got fearful and started trying all the supplies I have been piling and not using.

This girls was made over fiber paste with water-soluble oil pastels (Portfolio, from Crayola). I sketched her with india ink; trying not to worrying about mistakes, just letting my self loose and seeing what could happen. She is not perfect, and if I would have sketched her with pencil, I might have made a few changes for sure. However, my goal was to let it loose and have fun, instead of seeking perfection. I didn't have to apply much pigment since the surface was very textured. The pastels were blended  with a water brush, they reacted beautifully. The only thing I found out is that I should have used some fixative, because after a couple of days, the pink on her cheek moved to another areas; also the colors started transferring to the opposite page. It has never happened to me before, so I guess it is do to the textured surface.

The next girl, was made over absorbent ground. It is used over gessoed surfaces to prepared the surface for watercolors and acrylics as well. It is very absorbent, and for me, the watercolors did not behave as on normal watercolor paper. I tried wetting the surface but it dried quite fast, so I feel that basically it was more of a wet on dry technique. For this one, I used TCW stencil (mini time travel), distress stains, india ink, acrylics, homemade glitter mists and watercolors. On this page I was practicing drawing arms, for the supplies me lesson. I really like this one, she is looking at the horizon waiting, for what? who knows. But it look serene and calm.

I really enjoyed the process of making these pages, they helped me with the art block I have lately. Welcome back my art muse!!!

Holly Mary Journal Page

by: L. Rios all copyright reserved 2012

A page from my Moleskine portrait journal, I loved and thoroughly enjoyed the process for this one. It took me more than one day but I don't regret it. This is the first time I used light modeling paste on any of my journals; I put it around the head and borders of the other page, to give texture and dimension. The modeling paste take some time to dry, so I just left it overnight to make sure it was dry before applying the blue paint. Also, added extra modeling paste after applying the acrylic paint and while it was wet. I did that, in order to create different tonalities. The face was made with Prismacolor pencils over a coat of clear gesso. Acrylic paint and ink were used on the rest of the pages; three-dimensional stickers complete the image. Writing on the right is a prayer to Jesus' mother, Mary.

The soft look of her eyes and the young and pure look of her face made me think of Virgin Mary, so I wrote down a beautiful prayer on the other page. This is one of my favorites pages; it is calming to look at her eyes, plus I can't stop touching all the textures on this pages.

My latest artist journals

I just made these art journals and love them.

This one I made using canvas panels to make the cover. Also the papers are a mix of watercolor, canvas, acrylic, pastels, drawing and charcoal papers sew together. I had a lot of fun binding and painting it. You can check the three part videos part 1, part 2 and part 3.


The second one I just made it for my upcoming holidays trip. It is simple and was quick to make with the your story machine and one of their albums. Here a short fast forward video showing the making of this watercolor travel journal. Enjoy it.