April 06, 2009

Chameleon's Breath

There are echoes of uncertainty lingering in the vacuous entrails of the chameleon’s breath.  Insidious and beguiling is the beating of the dragonfly wings -- eloquent and imaginative.I started this page quite a long time ago, but it is a Picasso-like self-portrait. The drawing was pretty quick and easy, but I set it aside for a while and just completed the journaling to go along with it. This style of drawing was a stretch for me -- but so were the colors. I tend to do really complicated backgrounds, so lots of solid colors was waaaaay outside my comfort zone LOL

Crusade #30
This also goes along with the GPP Street Team prompt this month on adding words to your art journal pages. I started out adding very little text and am slowly learning how to blend the journaling with the art. This was an unusual style for me, so it took a while for the words to come. I used to use rub-ons and rubberstamps for lettering, but have been getting braver about writing my own.


There is no grand meaning in what I wrote on this page. Sometimes I like to just write things that evoke a certain feeling or require imagination to visualize it. For this one I brainstormed a few words that popped into my mind based on my portrait and spun them into sentences afterward.

13 comments:

michelle ward said...

Karen - I really like that the writing is so abstract and ends up being an element that emphasizes the portrait shape. Without eventrying to read it I think it's cool that some of the words get your attention, like eloquent and beating. Thanks for sharing this with the team!

Pocket Size said...

Great use of the space! I like your text, it's beautiful and poetic.

Melisa said...

This style of text seems to blend perfectly with the Picasso-esque portrait. It makes a really interesting page all together!

Marlynn said...

Karen - this work is fascinating to me. I have never tried anything like this and am very impressed with your art work. Thank you! Marlynn

Kathy McElroy said...

Great page Karen

Regina said...

What a fun page. I think having your own writing is so much more personal and is very appropriate for a self-portrait.

Anonymous said...

This is really neat to look at...well done..I used to feel like I needed to use rub ons or stamps too...don't you feel better now? Your writing is great!

Marylinn Kelly said...

Your use of words felt like the very thing Michelle is encouraging us to do. Our desire to produce great thoughts sometimes keeps us from recognizing something extraordinary. A perfect fit with your portrait, thanks for letting us see it.

Val Foster said...

I like this Karen. I like the colors, and your own writing is great. The face is pretty cool. It looks just like you (wink).

Penny Rabbit said...

Love your layout, the words surrounding your image are too cool for words. Love your self portrait....very awesome!

Anonymous said...

Such a fun page - I love it. I am very impressed that you did a Picasso style portrait of yourself :-)

Anonymous said...

So abstract and rad! Love the colors!

Kathryn Costa said...

You have great penmanship! I like how the words are in different shapes {containers} around the page. I also like how you filled in and around the letters.