Playing With Walnut Ink and a Stick

 I have signed up for a class called The Magpie's Nest at www.jeanneoliver.com , which I have not actually started yet, except for watching the videos and gathering up some stuff to work with. One of the first classes is learning to make brushes for mark making in journals out of various things like crooked sticks, dowel rods, feathers, grass, raffia, etc. They make different marks than regular brushes, which adds interest to pages.

I haven't actually made a brush yet, but one of the sticks I picked up from the yard was laying handy, and having just got a new bottle of walnut ink, I decided to give it a try in my sketchbook. These poor books see all of my good, bad, and downright ugly! Ha!

First off I love the color of the ink! Second I was surprised by how much I enjoyed using the double ended crooked stick! I tried both ends and holding it in different places at different angles and this wonky girl emerged. I love what looks like a little pin on her dress made by rolling the end of the stick with two tiny buds on it. For some reason they remind me of two little scotty dogs playing.

This one really got wonky when I spritzed her with water over the ink! She is okay in her own way though!

Just random marks I made with the stick and ink before I played with the girls. I'm still amazed at what a stick can do! The bottom two stripes are a swatch from a new acrylic paint I bought.

Don't be afraid to experiment! It's fun and builds confidence! It's what sketchbooks and scrap paper are for! 

I love it the most when I just let loose and play, without worrying about doing it "right". I can't do it "perfect" anyway. Never could. Even as a child I couldn't stay inside the lines when coloring, but I loved it, until I was taught in school how to color "correctly". I didn't fool with art again until after I married when I started dabbling and  painting plaster objects that I bought from another lady. Then I took a short tole painting class, which taught me to paint with thin paint and to paint precisely inside the lines. I still couldn't paint inside the lines and I still have some of the paintings to prove it! 

I went from that to taking correspondence art courses of all kinds by mail in the seventies,, where one of the main criticisms was that I made my lines to hard on everything, which made the subjects look like they had been cut out and pasted on. I'm still trying to learn to loosen up, use thicker paint, and softer lines, and I am continually taking classes and learning new things online. I may never paint like I really wanted to, but it doesn't matter. I love the process and the learning and experimenting in all types of art, whatever the outcome of the finished piece. 

Plus, I have a greater appreciation for everything, because doing art taught me to really see what I look at, and I see miracles in everything. And for that, I am truly grateful! I love creating art, whether it's "right" to anyone else, or not, and I plan to keep at it as long as I possibly can. It feeds my brain and my soul, and I'm grateful that it found me again. Gets me through lots of life's trials! :)

Until next time, stay well and create something just for fun, like when you were a child!