Art Journal Challenge week 5-Cartoon yourself and fun with watercolor!

Last week was nutzo so we didn't have an assignment but I have a really good one for you this week!

I am all about pushing us to try new things but I don't want anyone to have to go buy a bunch of stuff so this week I wanted to push the envelope the other way....how to do the most with the least!

So....for this week's challenge we are going to use one color of paint ( your 'signature color') and water. Other tools are optional....paper towel, a straw, salt: sea salt, Epsom or table salt.

For our composition you will 'cartoon yourself'. This can be the simplest form of cartoon, just make sure your cartoon you has at least 3 of your unique qualities. For my cartoon, I included my cat eye glasses, my 'too much blush' (If I don't...it wears off by 10 am!), a simplified statement necklace and my bad case of resting bitch face. ( If you see me in public and I'm frowning at you...trust me I'm happy as a little clam on the inside!) I drew my cartoon me with plain black ball point pen (because I knew it wouldn't run with the amount of water I planned to be slinging around.) Make your own design decisions about how and where to put your cartoon you.

You can use a kids' watercolor set for this assignment, or you can just add a lot of water to any acrylic paint.  Use whatever you have around the house.

The following are some techniques you can try with your watercolor assignment.
*Splatter (darkest value of your color)
*Ombre wash (darkest to light or lightest to dark)
*Remove some areas with wadded up paper towel
*Apply some paint with wadded up paper towel
*Clean water splash
*Tilt (sideways drip)
*blow wet paint around through a straw
*drip
*clean water on a previously dried area
*pull up excess with dry brush
*sprinkle salt into wet area  (after it completely dries you can leave salt on, or brush it off)
*remove some areas with cotton swabs (make wiped out polka dots)

These techniques are sure to be subtle. Here are some blown up areas of my process.

I began by painting my cartoon first.  Then I splattered some blue around and let that dry.

I washed on a very wet area and then sprinkled on some salt. The salt draws up the water and you get a very unique look. As a side note I did my journaling last after everything was dry. I just did a stream of consciousness writing about how much I love blue, how it makes me feel and some of my favorite things that are blue! (Obviously this particular shade of blue is my signature color!)

 Area with pattern created by paper towel removal.

You really can't go wrong, if you don't like an area, just let it dry and add another technique over the top! Have fun with your watercolor/cartoon challenge!