Graciellie Design

I've noticed that my creative process is very intuitive and usually impulsed by strong emotions, from dissapointment to utter joy... I'm learning to embrace it and that is how all of a sudden I've found myself drawing more than ever. Of course, this is not only about drawing to me, it's far more significant and spiritual. Today's art journal spread came from a place of happiness and content. I sketched my girl, left it there and came back to work on it again yesterday. Again, my heart was in a happy place when I started painting and although I didn't know the details and the story that would emerge, the final meaning of these pages turned out to be very significant to me. How I painted my pages For the first time ever, I painted my pages with gouache. My husband got me lots of coloring media on his last work trip to China, including a large Marie's Extra Fine Gouache set of 36. I enjoyed working with them. It makes so much sense that artists ofte...

Today I wanted to stop by and share a new Bible Journaling page I worked on this morning. I know I had promised you to come back every weekend with a new art journaling inspiration project and that has not happened in the last couple of weeks. That is why I decided to come today, just because, to share a page inspired on a verse that blessed my life yesterday during a new church we visited, called Living Hope. This is the church's verse and of course I had to journal it. Hope is such a powerful word. We literally hold on to our hope during these trying times the world is going through. It seems like chaos, confusion and tragedy are everywhere we look at. But when that hope is a hope that relies on our Lord, we remain strong and positive. I know it is hard to realize when we are surrounded by personal challenges, bad health, family conflicts, social crisis, a suffering economy and more, but this verse is a reminder that we have a living hope in Jesus for a bright, good and bles...

I promised I would be back with a new art journaling inspiration project today... This might as well become a habit! This time I have a page from Psalm 31 that I handdrawn and colored with PanPastel . The softness of the PanPastel goes so well with the bible pages and it so easy to blend and color with. I knew I wanted a bold floral image on this page. I love floral illustrations and I had to try out this Magnolia here. I handdrawn the flower in pencil first inspired by a photograph online. This time I did not feel the need to prep my page because I was not going to be using any wet media on it. Then I started shading my flower starting with a 430.5 Magenta, adding highlights with 380.8 Red Oxide Tint and 100.5 Titanium White (trying not to touch the rest of the image and only blending it on the lightest spots of the flower). I also added 470.8 Violet Tint to create a little bit of shadows but since my coloring is usually whimsical it is ok if the tones shadows and highlights are so...

So you have a new art journal... A few questions come out of no where to haunt you... Where do I start? Will I ruin my journal? Can I fill all these pages? Well, have a little faith! That's the first ingredient. And then, I'd tell you to relax and have fun, but I know it's not always easy... Let me tell you what my experience was! Well, yes, I've finally started art journaling... First on my journaling bible (see that post here) and now on a proper art journal... I'd say the process starts even before having the actual journal... Remember that there are many kinds of art journals out there and each of them was made for a different purpose. I'd say you should go for the one that you can afford, a journal that holds the media you plan to use well and of course something you feel comfortable with (meaning size, paper color, paper texture, etc.) I, for instance, enjoy a hard cover, small journal (reminds me of old books). In this case I went for a Strathmore 500...

This year I started out declaring that all things were possible... I've truly seen my limits stretch and expand into new territories and it brings so much joy to my heart knowing that God does listen to His children and that He is faithful always. For years I've been flirting with the idea of Art Journaling, but something about having to start from scratch on a white page felt intimidating. Nevertheless I've studied and tried out techniques and somehow today I find myself doing exactly what I was the most intimidated by... Bible Journaling. So please join me as I rediscover myself through this beautiful artistic and spiritual outlet. I'll be sharing some tips today that you might find useful! Bible Journaling with PanPastel I knew that one of the first things I wanted to journal on my bible was the journey of women of God.. Each of their stories encourage me and that is how this illustration started off. I sketched it in pencil and knew right away that I want...

One of the things I've been noticing this year is I've been diving in the world of mixed media, willing to experiment more and being more technique driven than ever. One of the beautiful things I've come across with all of my interest is art journaling and mixed media illustration. It's so new to me, not that I didn't know about it, but I honestly thought I would never find the time or the ability or the resources... Being able to start is just amazing and so, so inspiring! That comes with a price -at least for me-. Insecurities come to light when you're trying out something new, they surface as a reminder of how impossible achieving something is. But if I've learned something in this life, it's that nothing is impossible, it may require some time and effort and patience. The key is doing what you love, sooner or later you will get there. By no means am I saying that I dominate this thing -this beautiful thing called Art Journaling-, but I'm so...

If you follow me on social media you've seen me share a few personal projects that I have never shared on the blog. But of course, if you read my blog you've seen hints of my gradual creative evolution into mixed media. Lately I've been incorporating a lot of art products in my papercrafting projects and it's becoming more and more obvious that I am having a serious crush with coloring and mixed media. So for that reason I decided to create a new section on my blog for all my art oriented projects. This new section will include all of my personal art journaling pages, drawings, and mixed media project ideas with the purpose of inspiring you to let go of whatever holds back your creative freedom. Mixed media has not been easy for me because I am a perfectionist and a fan of neat, symmetric designs but I have been able to conquer a few fears. To begin I am sharing today one of my girl drawings. This is the fourth face I draw and with this one in particular I want...