Step by step

It takes a year to get to know a garden. 

This is a photo-heavy post as I thought it would be fun to record the different layers that made up this page. I don't always think about the way my pages come together, so it is good to look at my process from time to time. I had no idea in mind when I started out - as is usually the case with me - so there was no end product in mind. 

I'm working in a black journal at the moment but I started out the same way I often do - with some collage elements. This was a plate from a book about the work of  Piero della Francesca. I ripped it into three and placed the pieces, gluing them down with gel medium.

Next I applied some white gesso to push the collage elements back a bit and obscure some of the details.

Picking out colours from the images, I added some red acrylic paint (Golden cadmium red mixed with a little Golden high flow transparent yellow oxide) applied with a colour shaper

and some olive applied with a brush.

Using the pattern on the hat of the figure for inspiration, next I added some cream paint, just using the shape of the brush to add marks. I thought at first that it would be an arc across the top of the figure's head, but it ended up being a spiral. Also some stripes at the top right as in the background behind the second figure.

More paint - burnt sienna swipes and stripes.

I got a little caught up, then, adding a few elements before remembering to take a photo. Some spotty washi tape, white stripes, and some leaves have grown from the hand (done with a black Copic ciao).

I'm really enjoying adding loose lines of neocolor II to my pages recently. Here I used light olive in a couple of places. Also some black lines on the leaves and to outline the spiral.

I don't usually use a stencil so late in the process, but felt the urge to push the spiral back a little as it felt very dominant. This is a hand-cut stencil and I used the black Copic ciao to outline the shapes and add some stalks.
A few white spots and the page was finished.

I stepped back to think about the journalling. It made me think about how I am seeing new things popping up in our garden almost daily. You have to live with a new garden for a year before you really know what is there. A few bushes of 'lifeless' twigs have turned out to be currant bushes. Strawberry plants are popping up all over the place. I'm getting to know where the ground is waterlogged even after a week of dry weather. It's the same with new people and places. You learn about them over time.

And here are some close-ups: