Raw Art Journaling: Making Meaning, Making Art by Quinn McDonald

8/6/2019 Raw Art Journaling: Making Meaning, Making Art by Quinn McDonald

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R a w A r t J o u r n a l i ng Q u i nn M cD o n a ld

2 3

C o n t e n t s

W h a t ’ s R a w A r t ? 7

A G o o d S t a r t 9

Ma k ing Mean ing, Ma k ing A r t, Ma k ing M is ta kes 10

Dea l ing W i th t he G rem l in 11

R a w Ma te r ia ls 14

Jo u rna ls

14

E ve r y t h ing E lse 16

Fac ing F irs t Fea rs

18

M a k i n g M e a n i n g W i t h W o r d s 2 1

Fo und Poe t r y

22

Fo und Poem F rom a Magaz ine 23

Fo und Poem F rom Boo k Pages 25

P l a y i n g W i t h W o r d s 3 1

Bo x of Wo rds

32

Le t t he Un i ve rse Ta l k 34

F ram ing Wo rds 35

Wo rds as Ta ro t 36

R andom Wo rd P rom p ts 38

C a t c h i n g W o r d s 4 1

Sma l l Wo rds, B ig Mean ing 42

T imed W r i ting 43

D is ti l ling b y Ha ik u 44

K e e p i n g Y o u r S e c r e t s S a f e 4 7

Us ing Co lo r W it h Wo rds 48

Po we rf u l Mean ing, Faded Wo rds 50

Wo rds So B ig T he y D isa p pea r

52

La ye r ing Mean ing 54

H id ing in P la in 56

R a w E m o t io n s , R a w A r t 59Emot ions in R aw Ar t 6 0 Line dr aw ing s 61

Placement of Lines and Scale 64 R epet it iv e Pat terns as Meditation 6 6 Dept h in Tw o Dimensions6 9 Mix ed Pat ter ns on One Pag e7 2 The Color of Your Emotions 7 6

Y o u r W h o l e P a g e 8 1W or ds as Backg round82W or ds as For eg r ound 86 Planning Space 88 Creat e Emphasis 88 Diff erent Emot ions in Diff erent Spaces 89 Cr eat ing Doors and W indow s 92

U s in g P h o t o g r a p h y a s a T o o l 9 7F ound Ar t98 Found and Alt er ed98 Photos as Backgr ound 99 Photos U sed w ith W ords or Line Art 101Preparing Y our Eyes to See

102F inding Meaning in Your Imag e 103Choosing Paper 104

F in d i n g M e a n i n g W i th M i x ed M e d ia 106Pr int ing on Dif fer ent Sur faces 106 F ound R aw Art J our nal Pag es108Combining Ar t W ith Ly rics or Poet ry 114

G a l l e r y 118 C o n t a c t a n d R e s o u r c e s 124 I n d e x 126 A b o u t Q u in n 12 7



Secre ts. We lo ve to k ee p t hem. We ha te i t w hen o t her

s find o u t a bo u t

t hem. If yo u hesi ta te to k ee p a jo urna l b

eca use yo u are afraid it won’t

be pri va te, yo u are a bo u t to ha ve a lo t o

f f un hiding yo ur secre ts in

p lain sig h t.

Crea te a jo urna l page—a mixed media ra

w-ar t page— t ha t k ee ps

yo ur pri va te t ho ug h ts hidden f or yo u. W

an t to remem ber w ha t yo u

wro te? Yo u can do t ha t wit h t his vi bran

t, wo ven page, crea ted rig h t in

yo ur jo urna l. Or, pre pare the pages se par

a te ly and t hen inc l ude t hem

in yo ur jo urna l b y g l uing, se wing, or ri v

e ting t hem in to p lace.

T he bes t par t a bo u t t hese ins tr uc tions is

t ha t the y are no t mean t to

be f uss y or exac t. T he less p lanned yo ur

c u ts, t he be t ter the res u l t.

1. Prepare Two Pages With PaintUsing acrylic paint in a dark color, cover a page

in your journal. On a separate sheet (or a page

torn out of the back of your journal), use a

couple of bright, contrasting colors to cover the

page. Let both pages dry c ompletely.

2. Make Cuts on Dark PageSlide a cutting mat under the dark-painted

page in your journal. Using a craft knife, cut

seven wavy lines vertically on the page. Cut the

lines so they don’t line up with the spine. It’s

better to make them intentionally at an angle

than worry that they won’t be perfect.

3. Write Out Your Secret Using a poster-paint pen, a brush dipped

in ink, a gel pen or a permanent marker,write your secret on the light-colored

page. Let the writing dry completely.

4. Cut WriStripsLay the page, w

on a cutting ma

the same kind o

you made on yo

page. Make eno

they completely

writing.

Cut the stri

from the light-c

They will have b

a pair of scissor

ends of each str

a point. Be careoff any of your

5. Weave SecrThrough Dark Weave the strips thro

wavy cuts in your jou

Snug them as close a

slide. The waves crea

esting visual pattern

also hold the strips in

you don’t need to glu

down. If you want to

you wrote, slide the s

turn them unpainted

them in numerical o

over again and read

While they are wove

page, it is impossibleyou wrote. No one w

secret!

4 5 R a w A r t J o u rn al in gQ u in n M c D o na l d

J o u r n a l e d S e c r e t s M a t e r i a l s your journal or loose

pieces of paper

acr ylic paint, both light

and dark colors

paintbrush

cutting mat

craft knife

paint pen, gel pen or

brush and ink

pencil



1. Create a WordStart on a fresh page of your journal, or on a loose piece of paper that’s a comfortable

size for you. Pick a word from the collection you created on page 32. Here, I picked the

word “Joy” from my word box.Hand-letter your word on a piece of paper. I’m not good at measuring, so try to avoid

it all together. If you’re like me, but you do want your letters to be the same height, just use

the top and bottom of the ruler to create a line about an inch-and-a-half wide. Neither the

spacing, nor the letters need to be perfect.

2. Try Out Repetitive PatternsNow it’s time to get to the raw-art part. Spend some time just

trying out these patterns on a separate piece of scrap paper.

Become accustomed and comfortable with the unevenness of it

all. Start anywhere on your scrap paper, and just draw.

ArcsYou can make these as big or small as you want. You can make

the first one small and the other two much bigger. They don’t

have to be even. You can space them so they barely touch, or

so they overlap. Stacks of these will look like lace, or clams, or

doorways.

TrianglesTechnically not triangles; these shapes don’t have a bottom

part—they are made with two lines. To make them look interest-

ing, don’t connect the peaks of the triangles. Vary their sizes for

visually interesting results. Stacks of these look like mountains or

zigzag trim. They are not supposed to be even, they are supposed

to lean and roam.

RectanglesMost of these are three lines—one goes up, one across, and

another one down. Stacks of these will look like building blocks

or a cityscape. Notice that they can tilt in different directions and

sometimes a single line is all you need, instead of three lines. This

adds interest.

3. Apply Patterns to Your WordNow it's time to play with the word you created i

adding the patterns from step 2 around each of t

are no rules to do this. I like to begin one row of

each letter and go from there. You can repeat line

as often as you like.

4. Add ColorKeep doodling around the letters until you have a

with. Here on my page, the top is filled in with vi

over and under each other. This breaks up the pag

looking too busy. If you draw these intersecting l

you can define the over-and-under parts in pen w

Now it’s time for even more fun—you get to c

intuitively. I wanted the word to stand out, so I use

the smallest arcs and did all those first. The second

and the largest is purple. If you leave a little white

to the completed piece. I used Pitt Pen brushes bec

bold color, but you can use colored pencils, waterc

acrylic paint and a brush or other markers. You ca

them. This is about fun and color, not about rules.

L e t t e r A r t M a t e r i a l s y our journa l or loose

pieces of pa per

see-through pla stic ruler

pencil

bla ck pen in medium or

fine

colored pens, pencils or

ma rk ers

Your a rt is intensel y persona l a nd wonderf ul —e ven if you don’t k no w

ho w to dra w. We hold onto the idea tha t we don’t k no w ho w to dra w,

when wha t we mea n is tha t we a re not illustra tors. You look a t a ca t

a nd dra w a ca t a nd your dra wing doesn’t look e x a ctl y lik e your ca t. So,

theref ore, you ca n’t dra w, rig ht? Wrong . Cha nces a re tha t you simpl y

ha ven’t been tra ined to see wha t your ca t rea ll y look s lik e. But I’m not

g oing to a rg ue with you, beca use rig ht no w, you still wa nt to hold

onto the idea tha t you ca n’t dra w.

Ho w would lik e to tr y dra wing something you don’t ha ve to look

a t, beca use it ca n’t be look ed a t. If it ca n’t be look ed a t, it ca n’t be

wrong . It ca n be colorf ul, it ca n be f un, it ca n be f reeing . You ca n pla y

without f ea r. Tha t is the secret to ma k ing a rt a nd ma k ing mea ning —

being f ree to enjo y your o wn a rt. Yes, I mea n enjo y your o wn crea ti ve

pla y without judg ing it, compa ring it to someone else’s a rt, or f inding

something simila r you ca n sca n, re-size a nd cop y. This a rt pours out

of your hea rt, your soul, your mind. It is intima tel y yours a nd deepl y

f un.

For this e x ercise, simple, repetiti ve, a bstra ct lines com bine to ma k e

wonderf ul pa tterns. Dra wing them is comf orting , g i ves you time to

think , a nd ca n be used a s a medita tion or ca lming e x ercise. It ca n a lso

be a lot of fun, pa rticula rl y when you g et to the coloring pa rt.

6 7 R aw A rt J ou rn a lin gQ u in n M c D o n a ld

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Raw Art Journaling: Making Meaning, Making Art by Quinn McDonald