Bloom Where You are Planted

So here is another art journal I did. This one was inspired by my 15 year old twins.  My husband and I always expect the best from them. We have high standards for them and constantly push them to be their best. Every once in a while they will disappoint us and when they do, we will be right there to guide them back onto their path. Our one goal for them is to make them successful happy adults. We will not give up on them and we will continue to encourage and motivate them to be the best that they can be.

This Art Journal represents how I feel about the Twins. Our family is the roots, this is where their morals and values are planted. This is where they learn respect, determination, work ethic, responsibility, respect, etc. The trunk is their journey. How they apply what they learn. This tree is in bloom, leaves have sprouted and they are vibrant. This tree represents how we want to raise our kids. I would only wish this journey for any child out there!

Here I started with a sketch then traced it with a .8 archival ink pen. Next, I covered with gesso then traced again with a .05 archival ink pen. The wording is hand written and intertwined onto the roots.

Next, I applied gesso to add texture to the tree trunk. I used a heat gun to dry the gesso and painted with brown acrylic paint.

After coloring the tree trunk I used a water color pencil and shaded in the back ground in blue to simulate the sky.

The grass was colored with watercolor in three different types of green. I used Tim Holtz distress markers to  trace the lettering then misted it with water so that is blend and give my letters some shading. I also added dark green and blue between the grass and sky to add some definition.

This part was tedious! I hand cut out about 200 leaves and traced most with green moss distress marker. I then misted it with water and oddly it did not spread like I thought it would. I still like how it came out!

Lastly, everything was covered with gloss modge podge!

Final Product. Hope you enjoy! :)