New Grid-Based Art Journal Experiment





I was cruising around cyberspace several months ago and was reminded of my interest being piqued months before that by a blurb from mixed media artist Cathy Bluteau.  I had briefly seen an image of a unique approach she took to doing some grid-based art journaling.  When I came across it for the second time, I decided to investigate and ended up taking her online class.  

You can find out more about her class here:

Cathy Bluteau Sneak Peek Video

Here is the finished page.  It is in a 9" X 12" Strathmore journal.

Finished Journal Page - 9" X 12"

I just marveled at how easy this unique process was once Cathy showed me the way.  You just draw out squares and rectangles to fill your page, then you fill those shapes with all kinds of things, using all kinds of techniques.

I colored in all of the squares and rectangles first with markers (Spectrum Noir and Faber Castell Pitt Pens).  I tried to stick to a limited palette of colors - purple, pink, red, orange, gold and yellow.  After that was all done, then the real fun began!  I did some zentangle-inspired doodling, some funky lettering and then went to town on the collage/mixed media end of things.  I used all kinds of recycled materials and things that had been sitting around my studio just waiting to find a home.  Assorted graphics cutouts, old stickers and office supplies, dimensional paint, salvaged scrapbooking embellishments, vintage dictionary text, quilling paper and much more.  It was hard to know when to stop and honestly, I could still keep on going with it.

I will certainly be using Cathy's fabulous technique again for future journal pages.

Here are a couple more photos with close-ups of various areas of the page.

Cheers!
Joanna



Upper Left Of Journal Page


Upper Right Of Journal Page


Bottom Left Of Journal Page


Bottom Right Of Journal Page






12 comments:

Erin Fish said...

I've taken a few of Cathy's workshops and love them all. She has a unique way of putting things together. I love your combination of colours and additional ephemera. Gorgeous piece!

Artatag said...

Joanna, what a wonderful page! I love the great variety of patterns and the colour combination. Great work!
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Artatag said...

Joanna, what a wonderful page! I love the great variety of patterns and the colour combination. Great work!
I cannot sign in with my account
artatag.wordpress.com
so I have to take a google account :-(

Sandy S said...

Awesome Joanna....the layout technique is really interesting.... and all your repurposed scrapbook and embellishments... what eye candy...
Thanks for sharing...
Sandy S

Ginny Markley said...

Amazing work as usual Joanna!!!! Each section is a piece of art on it's own which I am sure will find it's way into some of your future art pieces. I took this class with 21 Secrets but have not done my lesson yet...you inspire me to get cracking....

Paisley and Brown Paper said...

I love this idea Joanna! I'm going to have a go at this technique. I love the colour palette in yours.

Coleen said...

Fun piece, Joanna. Love your colors. I like throwing in Scrapbook embellies too. They can really add a fun element. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Unknown said...

love this! great page!

scrapwordsmom said...

Oh this is sooo lovely and easy and I am gonna enjoy creating this way. THANKS!!!!

Joanna Grant Art said...

Thanks, everyone, so glad you all enjoyed this post. It was a very fun page to do and I plan on some more pages like this in the future. Love to you all! Joanna

Tracy said...

Love it! So many great details to look at.

Linbridge said...

Hello Joanna,
Just found your site and I love the grid pattern art journal technique.
Any chance you would put an online course available,as I can’t find Cathy’s site anymore
Linda
Kemptville Ontario Canada