Your Handwriting As Art – Part 1

Last weekend, I had fun using my handwriting to create collage papers.  I learned this technique from Carla Sonheim in her online class:  365 Daily Creative Practice.  

I enjoyed taking the lesson a step further and make it my own.  I started by using watercolor paper that I had previously painted.  The colors reminded me of the beach so I started writing about my memories of the ocean and the lake:

I used a black Micron .01 pen, a Uniball white and blue gel pen and a pencil.  I like the texture it created.

Next, I started with a white piece of 140 lb hot press watercolor paper.  I started writing my thoughts with an orange and blue gel pen, added watercolor on top in stripes, added more writing with a black Pentel pen, added Tombow markers, more watercolor, then a blue and a green Posca pen.  I just love how the layers give it a pattern:

My next one, I used a similar process as above, except I added a gold metallic pen and I started writing messier… Super fun to write MESSY!!

In both of these, I kept turning my paper a quarter turn as I wrote.

My last experiment, I used an old advertisement in a magazine for a girdle and wrote over it with a white gel pen and a Sharpie fine black pen:

For the above piece, I wrote about my memories of girdles… thank goodness we don’t wear these anymore!! 😉

I discovered that part of the fun in creating these papers for collage is the writing.

Tomorrow, in Part 2, I will show you ideas that may inspire you to use your own handwriting in your art.

Cheers! 🙂