“Life is a continual flow of events, streaming in from the universal stream of consciousness in such a way that it exactly matches our own stream of consciousness.”
Neale Donald Walsch
I like to use text in my art. My art journals and sketchbooks are strewn with scribbled down words and phrases, song lyrics and notes to myself. I jot down things I hear as I’m doodling, from the radio or a podcast. Sometimes words just appear in my head and I have to trap the thought on paper before it evaporates.
Other times words are just another form of mark making, a sort of a scribble to fill in a space, a dance for the pen across a surface and make some pleasing patterns. Words over words over words become a cacophony of layered shapes, delightful squiggles that merge into one vivid buzzing hum.
“Word Soup”
While we are exploring a single color at a time, I played this is with idea using word association. Words connected to “Blue”.
I grabbed a bunch of blue pens and set about filling my paper with a stream of consciousness about my thoughts on the color blue.
I set a few ground rules to begin:
- One word, change pen.
- Rotate the page between each word (to stir up the word soup).
- Don’t think – if nothing comes to mind – begin again with ‘Blue’.
- Repeating the same words is just fine.
- Keep cycling round until the paper is full or I get bored with it – whichever happens first!
The pens themselves effect how it turns out – some are chunky and make big, bold letters, some flow easily, some are scratchy and prone to skipping. All of this is great – it adds to the variety and fills the space with different shapes and marks.
I kept going until I’d filled the space, then gave it all a wash over with some water to merge the colors just a little bit more.
Here’s my Blue themed stream of consciousness
“Twelvty” 12 Colors in 12 Months
Every month this year I am making a series of pieces in just one color. At the end of the year I’ll combine them into one big multicolored work.
I’m sharing my process throughout this adventure here in this blog. (So far this year I’ve explored Yellow, Yellow-Green, Green & Blue-Green)
I’d love for you to join me. TWELVTY is open to everyone, and better yet, it’s free!
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